No chance
The Kings tied a season low by allowing only 15 shots on goal to Florida, and within that, the Kings allowed only a handful of scoring chances. The defensive focus pleased Terry Murray, who gave much of the credit to the forwards...
MURRAY: ``I think it might have been the second-lowest game this year. I think a lot of that credit on that side of the game goes to the forwards. I really thought that they did a tremendous job with smart decision-making through the middle of the ice, getting the puck in and putting the puck in the right place so we could go and put some pressure on and get it back and continue with some offensive-zone play. When the play was coming back at us, the responsibility was there. Your defensemen can only play as well as what the forwards' mindset is, coming back and holping out. I thought that was pretty solid last night, throughout the game.''
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Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews.com.
Let's hope that the guys can use the Florida game as a stepping stone and a confidence booster and not fall on their faces, like they did after their impressive win on the road against the Blues when Nashville skewered them.
The Kings allow the fewest shots per game of any team in the league (24, on average) and have a GAA of 2.67 (13th overall, 5th in conference), which is more than the half goal per game I said I thought they needed to shave from last year's average (3.24, from memory) if they were going to make the playoffs this year. Of course, I was mocked for suggesting 2.75 was a reasonable target (and of course, it could turn out to be, but so far so good). What this says to me: if the Kings can get their offense up to speed without losing their new-found defensive abilities, this season could work out pretty well.