Initial notes

I was puzzled when I noticed that Purcell was benched the entire period.
I didn't notice him have a bad game.
He was no worse than Handzus or Stoll.
Somebody fill me in on that one.

For being a 16 year NHL veteran, O'Donnell didn't show me any experience when he threw his stick at a player which resulted in a penalty shot.
Bad move by a veteran.

Positives - Kopi and Sully look awesome together, although they looked a bit soft during the game winning goal.

Negative - Who else. There are 30 NHL teams in the league with 60 goalies. Barbi is the worst goalie in the NHL.
PERIOD.
I can't believed he stared at Doughty after the goal was scored. Like it was all Doughtys fault.
This guy is polluted.

Eazy MF E! come back buddy

I cant wait till the road trips begin! Im going to make tons of cash taking the OVER every King game Labarbara is in.

OD didn't throw that stick. It was in his way along the boards and he tried to move it out of the way. It made a bad bounce onto the boards and caused the penalty. It was just an accident.

The Kings certainly deserved a better fate than just one point. Maybe he's been called this before but I haven't seen it, but my new name for Jason is LaBadbera...the dude makes the easy save look difficult and he's a great beer league goalie.

Dean needs to upgrade goaltending. Everyone knows, including Dean, Labarbera isn't good enbough. This team looks like it really wants to compete and sneak a playoff spot. They need a ROCK back there, someone these young players will have confidence in.

It seems obvious to me that LaBarbera is not and will not be a #1 goalie in the NHL. He fails to use his size effectively and is extremely susceptible to deke moves. His save % in shootouts and breakaways is nothing short of awful. Even though Ersberg is currently injured (hurry back please), I can't understand what the team must think after losing tonight. Jason only faced 3 shots in the 1st and should've stopped the first goal. I would think it's really deflating for the team after dominating play for the first 20 minutes. Obviously he had no chance on the penalty shot. Why even have him in net? The Kings would have a better chance with a Shooter Tutor in goal. Terrible positioning on the OT goal, too. I'm not looking forward to watching the road games against Buffalo and Detroit if Barbs is going to play. Quick deserves to get a few starts because he may well provide the team might get better goaltending. Since DL's not going to rush any of the kid goalies, I expect this to be another wasted season with LaBarbera's goaltending costing the team critical points in what was an already difficult climb into playoff contention. The Kings won't win a single shootout this season with LaBarbera in net. Bill Ranford needs to work with him. If only Ersberg could withstand a heavier workload. And as much as I like Nick and Daryl, they sound like LaBarbera apologists on their post-game show. C'mon you two, take off your purple colored glasses and admit that LaBarbera is a bad goalie. Rich and Jill - Happy Holidays to you both! The work put in here is greatly appreciated.

Two words: Play Quick

Anyone but Barbie, I'd take Brust at this point.

"For being a 16 year NHL veteran, O'Donnell didn't show me any experience when he threw his stick at a player which resulted in a penalty shot.
Bad move by a veteran."

In 20+ years of hockey and having watched way over 1000 games, I have NEVER seen that called, and I have seen similar types of plays where the player is moving a broken stick to the board and it comes in contact with the puck or the player with the puck. The rule states that if a player throws/shoots a stick or object AT the puck or puck carrier in the defensive zone AND it interferes with a shot or pass, then it should be a penalty shot. In other situations, it should be interference or no penalty at all. O'Donnell clearly moved the stick towards the boards, not the player, and the the contact had no affect on a shot or pass, so this should not have been a penalty shot.

"Jason LaBarbera allowed his first penalty shot (he's now 3-of-4 in his career)"

wow, that's a surprise

Anthony...Doughty screened him. Your posts show how very little you know about hockey. As a defensemen, you NEVER, I mean NEVER skate across the front of your goaltender as a shot is coming in. This is defense 101...of course, I wouldn't expect you to know this.

O'Donnell wasn't shooting the broken stick at the player. Of course, you could be an idiot, and say your words to his face. I don't believe he meant to have happen what happened.

As bad a game as Handzus and Stoll? You mean Stoll, who was all over the place, including hitting the post once? Or Handzus who shut down his opposing centerman so much (Gomez), he was completely innefective? Those two.

Good lord, your inability to know what is really going on is amazing.

how in the world is Labs 3-for-4 lifetime in penalty shots when he is so absolutely horrible in shootouts. who was shooting, Mike Peluso and George Parros? unfathomable

-J

I don't care if Doughty was doing jumping-jacks in front of Santa, but for him to give Doughty the What-the-hell-are-you-doing-skating-in-front-of-me look, considering the disproportionality of the quality of play between the goalie and everyone else, man that looked pissed me off. And considering how supportive the players have been of Santa, that's something that could accellerate the locker-room turning against him.

The lack of looking like he's in control of himself is a big reason why the LaBarbara-haters exist. He often doesn't get much credit even when he makes the save because his movements don't inspire confidence. Ersberg gets more of a pass from observers precisely bacause of his calmer demeanor. Last night's nonverbal calling out of Doughty is just a different exhibition of a lack of physical self-control. And it too won't win him any fans.

NHL goalies are supposed to track the puck with four pairs of legs blocking their vision, yet Jason blames Doughty for skating across the slot before the shot even arrived?

If JLB had stopped 50 shots in the game perhaps he would have been justified in implicitly criticizing a teammate. In this case the goalie let the team down, not vice versa.