Final: Toronto 3, Kings 1

Offense did not show up tonight. I hate to say it but may have to move POS up with Kopi and drop Brown down a line or two. Brown and Kopi can not get it going and Kopi has gotten points with POS when Brown has been off the ice.

wonder if i'm gonna be the first to say it...Labarbera played well tonight. first goal was fluky as all hell, second goal was because of an awful turnover by o'donnell.

Again, LaBarbera can't make a save when the puck is at his feet. He's out of position, scrambling around and has no idea where the puck is. A Toronto player barely tips it, and it slides into the goal. Nice game, Jason. I hear it's nice in Manchester this time of year ... why not let him enjoy his winter vacation on the East Coast?

What a tough loss.
Especially to an inferior hockey team.

TM made three crucial mistakes.
First: An easy one to call, playing Calder with Kopi & brown.
Once again Kopi and Brown finished with 0 points. They're both starting to look like average players with Calder. And I feel sorry for them.

Second: Starting LaBarbi instead of Ersberg. Truthfully, even though the leafs scored on a 5 on 3, Barbs looked lost when he shouldn't have. The second goal could have been avoided by a simple poke check.

Third: He wasted his only timeout early, when he could have used it in the last minute when they pulled the goalie.

What happened to all that experience DL was bragging about.

Second: Starting LaBarbi instead of Ersberg. Truthfully, even though the leafs scored on a 5 on 3, Barbs looked lost when he shouldn't have. The second goal could have been avoided by a simple poke check.

Hmm, this seems to clash with your statement earlier that:

For once i don't care if Beachball #2 starts.
Toronto is a _hitty team with a poor defense.

That's from the post "Murray: both goalies will play."

Kopi and Brown had several awesome chances and failed to score. Calder had nothing to do with their issues scoring tonight.

Brownie, Brownie, Brownie blew it. Break-away, nothing; open net, nothing; terrible penalty. Terrible penalty!

Santa LaBarbara was so lost on the second goal that he needed to ask a policeman to call his mother to come pick him up. That's the goal that the more composed, better positioned, Ersberg doesn't give up.

So frustrating, considering the good chances we had to score. I'm lookin' at you Brown, Frolov (he shoots from two feet and misses by four. Nice dent in the boards, though.), and Kopitar.

Simmonds and Moller are too content to live life along the boards. Someone needs to light a fire under their butts to get the puck to the net.

Arrgg.

anthony, you are by far the most clueless "hockey fan," and I use that term lightly, ever.

Some of the comments on here are just laughable...

It's Calder's fault that both Brown and Kopitar missed gimme goals on the doorstep? Them having 0 points is all Calders fault? Come on.

Also, Nick is right - LaBarbera played well, especially in the 1st period. You can't blame either goal on him, no matter how much you want to. The reason the Kings lost was that the offence didn't do their job, it's that simple. The chances were there and plenty of them! They just didn't convert. Otherwise it was a strong game by the Kings, just need to bury the chances next time.

Nick,
It was a joke.
Didn't you get it?

Which idiot would prefer Barbs over Ersberg.
Oh Sorry, forgot to consider the genius behind the bench.

I'd rather the genius behind the bench than the genius behind Anthony's posts, but that's just me

Anthony, what game were you watching. It really pains me to respond to you, but I was going to speak of what I saw tonight anyway. Our big boys unfortunately let us down tonight. How many open nets is Kopitar going to miss this year? Oh I forgot, Calder is playing on his line, that explains it. Brown had a bad night, and in my opinion cost us the game. Couldn't connect on the breakaway, couldn't get the handle on 3 passes thrown his way on the 4on3, then the 5on4, then proceeded to lose his composure, and started taking runs at people. Which lead to his penalty and ultimately to a 5on3 for Toranto. Beginning of the end for our club tonight. Oh ya, Calder is on Browns line, that's why he didn't score and lost his head. Bad games are going to happen to individuals every once in a while, but please stop blaming them on Calder.

LaBarb may not be as good as Iceberg, but he played well enough to win tonight.

Bring Back the Shield, the shot by Fro tonight that dented the boards, kinda frustrates me a little too. Have you noticed the last 2, or maybe 3 games where we've had at least 6 shots from the middle and we don't hit a darn thing. If you're going to miss. miss in, so at least you have a chance to score or get a rebound.

Up till the bad penalty, Kings played well. Great effort in the last 6 minutes or so. I was pleased with the game.

I'm not going to blame anyone for the loss tonight, as they were all busting their A$$'s to score. What gripes my a$$ is the pi$$ poor to unbearable officiating, Toskala absolutely went out of his way on the trip of Kopitar, and there were a couple of others that should have been called, but boy's the Kings are going to have to play great to get the Ref's breaks. I don't know if Jason started yelling for help and direction when that puck went up in the air but that was just a rub of the green and I'm sure OD didn't see the Leaf between him and the guy he was trying to pass to. All I know is, these guys are going to be ok and it's going to get better and even more exciting. I made a statement before training camp was over when alot of the "Hockey GM's" here were crying for more experienced players for leadership and I said " evidently you don't know or understand the heart of a young player just out of Juniors, I said we'll be alright with what we have and we are and we will finish with the heads high and a warning to the other 29. Keep up the good work boys.

One other thing that I want to comment on, I don't know how many of you have Center Ice but there were some great replays of just how bad the ice is at this "High Tech" arena. They better get someone in there that knows how to control the situation that Staples has with all the other venues that take place there. The bad ice is why Brownie didn't nail the open net and there were a couple of other chances that it happened also, when that puck starts bouncing it's like a darn football. Maybe Kopi should go to a "Woodie" so he can hit the net instead of the shaft flexing all the time.

Al
I notice the same thing last night..the ice looked terrible. Passes were bouncing over sticks all night long. That's not the reason we lost, but it does take away from the game and makes it look sloppier than it was.

Regarding the loss, what can you do? This game was lost because of the special teams. We couldn't get the goals on the PP when we needed them. We had chances, but didn't excute.
Tough way to start the 3rd period 5-3 and it cost us dearly. OD had a bad few minutes with the turnover and then the penalty. Brownie's penalty was a bad one to take. He has to know better in that situation. He was running around all night looking for people to hit. I didn't think it was one of his better games..but it's hard to blame a guy who's hustling.

Barbs was solid in goal. He made saves to keep the game close all night. Go ahead and fault him on the 2nd goal..he did look out of position, but the guy played terrific.
The only way Anthony will ever be satisfied with Barbs is if his GAA is 0.00%..even then, he'll still complain.

This was one of those games that you say..oh well. We certainly weren't out-played, but we lost the opportunity to pick up a couple of points. I give Toskla credit. He played well.
This loss makes tonights game a huge one. We need to come out hard against Phoenix and take the play to them for 60 minutes. This is a big game for Ersberg as well. Let's see how the boys respond tonight.

This is a hard one to swallow when you're taking a one goal lead into the third.

Labs isn't Hasek but anyone blaming him for this one might as well call themselves a casual fan because they don't know what they're talking about. He came up huge in the first and second to keep them in the game. The second goal was a bang bang from behind the net where nobody in a horrible third jersey was anywhere near the guy camping in the crease for a slam dunk one timer.

One of the frustrating things was the Kings taking penalties. I was sitting at the game and the first thing I told my friend when the third was about to start was that they have to stay out of the box. Well that went out the window.

Ivanans is a minor penalty waiting to happen. The Leafs have a bunch of closet tough guys that wouldn't drop gloves so there was no reason to have him there. He tried a few times but they hid until they had 3 players between them and Ivanans and then became tough. The refs have him pegged and anything he does is going to get him in the box.

Armstrong sticking up was nice I guess but he's lucky he didn't get a 2 and a 10 tacked on for third man in. Moller needs to keep his head up and he doesn't get hammered.

Our breakout seems to be ineffective. Other teams break out and have speed entering the zone. We send the puck up and are lucky to get to the blue line before dumping it deep and chasing. I don't know what the cure is but it's something that needs looking at.

Doughty is great but for some reason he's trigger shy on the power play. I want to see him use that shot more from the point. I was watching Schenn last night and man we got the way better player in Doughty. Schen is ok but isn't as fast and doesn't like to be touched. He gets snippy when people hit him but he's the first one to take a cheap shot after a whistle or play. I was hoping to see Brown put him through the glass.

The team was uninspired tonight for a large part of the game. They turned it on in the last 5 minutes but it was too little too late.

One more thing...if you rely on your goalie pitching a shutout every game...you're going to lose a lot of games. It's unrealistic to expect Labs or Ersberg to shut out the oponent night in and night out in order to win a game.

Do some of you people read what you write on here? "Move Brownie down a line or two", Brownie blew it, terrible penalty". Get frigging real. This guy busts his ASS every game for this team and then gets this type of reaction after one tough night. Let's see, he had 6 shots, 0 misses, 0 giveaways and 8 hits. Where is the negativity for Kopi and his failure to pass the puck to an open Brown on the two on one? Kopi had 1 shot, 4 misses, 2 giveaways and 0 hits but he's the Messiah. Bull! POS takes those Cammy shots from impossible angles and he walks on water. POS, 4 shots, 1 miss, 2 giveaways and 1 hit. The breakaway was stopped by a good goaltender paid to do just that, stop shots. The open net shot was stopped by a great defensive play to hit Brownie's stick just as the puck arrived. The power play should be called a penalty kill since all they do is pass back and forth instead of shooting while Brown stands in front screening the goalie. Have any of you so called experts stood in front of the net like Brownie does game after game and get pounded by two guys? I doubt it though you'll say you have. We should thank our lucky stars that Deano signed this kid for the bargain he got him for because I'll guarantee there are a dozen teams in the NHL that would sign him for much more in a heartbeat.

Annonymous

I said tht it was a terrible penalty to take in that situation. that doesn't mean anything negative towards Brownie.
If you can tell me that he took a good penalty at that time, go ahead.
He was lucky that he didn't get another penalty when he stuck his leg out on a Toronto player. If he would have made contact, he would have gotten another penalty.
I agree with you that he busts his ass every night, every shift. I thought he had a tough night..that was all.
The guy is still a great player and I can't think of too many players I'd rather have than him.

duckhunter - Sometimes there needs to be some secondary scoring. We haven't gotten anything from Simmonds or Moller lately, and they're playing on scoring lines. Why are Kopi, Brown, Fro, and O'Sull guilty of the loss? There are 8 other forwards and 6 or 7 defensemen that need to contribute offensively, too.

Bring back the sheild - I seriously disagree with your comments and think they're more about frustration at a loss. I don't read any relevant points in your comments, just random blame, like Anthony.

Al - Great post, I agree with you and admit that I was a couch-GM who didn't think these young guys could play this well. We couldn't have known then that we'd have Quincey and O'Donnell, or that Doughty would adapt this well, but the cohesiveness is great. .500 hockey played this way is something to be proud of. And if Murray can't get beyond a certain point, he at least is building a good ethic of hard work and accountability.

DanH - I think makes some good points as well.

The Calder bashing is hilarious. He is what he is and that is a mediocre NHL player. The one thing he does do is go to the front of the net and that is probably the reason that Murray is playing him on the first line. Simmonds and Moeller cannot do what Calder does at this point in their careers. Murray could try Frolov with Kopitar and Brown but then he would have only one real scoring line on a team that is really struggling to score. If Boyle, Moulson or Purcell would have worked out Calder would not be in the top six. Kopitar needs to man up and start playing like the elite player he is supposed to be.

Anonymous, regarding Brown. Dustin is by far my favorite King. Matter of fact, last year, on a different site, I got in a great discussion on what player makes a bigger impact on the Kings. In a nut shell, I said I would take 6 Browns over 6 Kopitars. I still feel that way today. Yes, Brown play's his ass off and does most the dirty work. He is great, but the fact of the matter is, he was a major contributor in the Kings meltdown last last. Not the only, but a big part of. If there's anything not true about what I wrote on my earlier post, please call me out. Everybody has a bad night,(Brown doesn't have many) and we/I can handle that, but pretending it didn't happen or isn't true doesn't do anyone any favors. Brown is a leader and the Captain now, this was a good learning experience for him, on how he can't lose his cool. And yes anonymous, I am a "non-expert" who has taken my share of beatings(on a different field of battle) like Brown and others do in front of the net.

Eat the Rich, I can't agree with you more, we do need secondary scoring. But again, we pay and expect our stars to produce like stars when the opportunity arises. I was more responding to Anthony's post blaming Calder for all of the first lines woes. But I still stand by the fact the top guys need to produce like top guys and that includes Fro and O'Sull. It very well could by attributed to TM's style of play, but I think the boys can do better don't you? When I say these thing, they're not attacks, it's just what I observe.

Al, I was also one who said we needed more experience to compete. The defense side of the puck is absolutely incredible. TM and the boys are doing a great job. I'm not scared to be or admit when I'm wrong. Boy was I wrong on the defensive side. The scary thing is, the def. can get a lot better with just a little more skill on the blueline. Another ironic thing I didn't see coming was Frolov. I thought in TM style of coaching, Fro wouldn't make it. I think he's adapted the best. Who knew!

Duckhunter above me you have things right on. Right now the offensive core stars of the team are not producing enough goals for the team to win and until they do the team will continue to struggle. Brown brings the physical aspect of his game to the table most every night and you have to respect that. Guys like Calder and Armstrong are what they are and if the team is counting on them to score they are in alot of trouble.