Murray, on making mistakes

Here’s Terry Murray, as quoted on the Kings’ website, talking about last night’s game and some of the mistakes the Kings could have avoided…

“The first period, I thought we did some good things…getting pucks to the net, we were not over-analyzing things and trying to make plays that were not there, we were keeping it pretty simple and that’s the kind of game we needed to follow through with.

“And unfortunately, we made some plays through the middle of the ice as we get into the second period, and gave a lot of momentum back to the Red Wings through turnovers.

“We knew they were going to come out there… They’re the Stanley Cup champions and they’re going to change things, make adjustments and come with an up-tempo style of a game. But I thought that even with that, knowing that, we still had the puck several times through the middle, and instead of just getting it in and continue with what we were doing in the first, we gave them the opportunity to transition and they came at us pretty hard.”

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Moller (non-)update

In following up yesterday’s discussion of Oscar Moller, the Kings are not sure what they’re going to do with him yet. How do I know? Because I messaged Dean Lombardi about his plans for Moller, and he responded with “Not sure.” He’s a man of few words these days…

I’m sure there will be quite a bit of talk, today and tomorrow, between Lombardi, Terry Murray and the staff, about what to do with Moller.

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Postgame notes (2/27)

— The Kings fell back to .500, at 26-26-9, and finished the season series against Detroit with an 0-3-1 record.

— The Kings were outshot 41-31. It was the sixth time this season the Kings have allowed 40 or more shots on goal in a game. In their three previous games against Detroit, the Kings allowed 37, 36 and 31 shots on goal, respectively.

— The Kings have scored two regulation goals in their last three games and, at one point, went six consecutive periods without a goal. This streak follows a four-game stretch in which the Kings totaled 15 goals.

— The Kings dropped to 2-20-4 when trailing after two periods, and 4-20-6 when allowing the first goal.

— The Kings went 1-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

— Alexander Frolov had a goal, his fourth goal in his last seven games.

— Kyle Quincey had an assist, his 30th assist of the season.

— Jonathan Quick stopped 39 of 41 shots and fared much better than he did in his two previous games against Detroit this season. In his first start of this season, Dec. 20 at Detroit, Quick allowed five goals (on 35 shots) in a 6-4 loss. In a Jan. 15 home game against the Wings, Quick allowed four goals (on 31 shots) in a 4-0 loss.

— Dustin Brown returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games. Brown had stayed in Los Angeles to be with his wife, who gave birth to the couple’s second child on Monday night. Brown had played all 58 games for the Kings before Tuesday and has missed only nine of a possible 308 Kings games since the start of the 2005-06 season. Brown played 17 minutes, 25 seconds.

— Raitis Ivanans took a shoulder to the head early in the second period and did not return to the game.

— Drew Doughty led all Kings in ice time, with 22:37. Patrick O’Sullivan led all Kings forwards at 20:32.

— Dustin Brown and Teddy Purcell each had a team-high four shots on goal.

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FINAL: Detroit 2, Kings 1

FIRST PERIOD
No scoring.

SECOND PERIOD
Detroit: Meech from Draper and Leino, 12:08

THIRD PERIOD
Detroit: Kopecky from Filppula, 1:43
Kings: Frolov from Quincey, 4:48 (PP)

—–

These would appear to be the lines, in contrast to what was posted on the Kings’ website this morning…

Frolov-Kopitar-Brown
O’Sullivan-Handzus-Simmonds
Calder-Stoll-Purcell
Ivanans-Armstrong-Harrold

Also folks, I’m going to ask for help on something. Please stop the posting of the streaming websites. It’s not that I don’t want you to watch the games. I just don’t particularly want to deal with cease-and-desist orders. Thanks.

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Quick vs. Wings, round 3

As previously posted, Jonathan Quick will start in goal for the Kings against Detroit. It will be Quick’s third start against the Wings this season, and the first two didn’t go very well. In his first start of the season, Dec. 20 at Detroit, Quick allowed five goals (on 35 shots) in a 6-4 loss. In a Jan. 15 home game against the Wings, Quick allowed four goals (on 31 shots) in a 4-0 loss.

Quick was quoted on the Kings’ website about whether he will feel more comfortable playing in Detroit a second time…

QUICK: “I’d definitely say so. I’ve gotten 20 or so games in the league since then, so I obviously feel a lot more comfortable. I know the team a bit more, and you know the game plan a little bit better and you know the routine. So this is also the second time I’ve played them since then, so you know their team a little bit more, and you know what to look for a little bit.”

The Kings also lost 4-3 (in a shootout) to Detroit at home on Oct. 27. Jason LaBarbera took the loss in that one.

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Brown in, Richardson out

Adding another twist to the whole Moller/Purcell thing…It seems, based on today’s morning skate, that Peter Harrold will remain at right wing on the fourth line and the scratches will be Brad Richardson and John Zeiler.

Frolov-Kopitar-Purcell
O’Sullivan-Stoll-Brown
Calder-Handzus-Simmonds
Ivanans-Armstrong-Harrold

That would leave the defensive pairings the same as the previous game:

Johnson-Doughty
O’Donnell-Greene
Quincey-Gauthier

Jonathan Quick will start in goal tonight.

Royal road report: Homecoming

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Moller’s conditioning assignment

For those who haven’t been charting it on the calendar, Oscar Moller’s conditioning assignment in Manchester will end after this weekend. I have a message in to Dean Lombardi to see if he has determined what he will do with Moller (return him to the Kings or send him to his WHL team). Monarchs coach Mark Morris, in comments to the Union-Leader, expressed satisfaction with Moller’s play.

“I wish we could have him for the rest of the year,” Morris said of Moller. “He sensed when he first arrived here that there was a little urgency to win, considering we’re in a tight playoff race. He’s fit in greatly, is a dynamite competitor and we’re fortunate to have seen a flash of what he’s going to be.”

To reset the roster a bit…the Kings won’t have to make a move if Moller returns, because he has remained on the roster as a healthy scratch. Based on the way the Kings practiced yesterday (and their likely lineup tonight)…

Frolov-Kopitar-Purcell
O’Sullivan-Stoll-Brown
Calder-Handzus-Simmonds
Ivanans-Armstrong-Richardson
(Scratch: Zeiler)

…there are a couple different ways this could go. 1) Moller takes Purcell’s lineup spot and Purcell goes back to Manchester. 2) Moller goes into the lineup in place of someone such as Armstrong or Richardson, and Purcell stays. 3) Purcell stays, and Moller goes to Seattle. I don’t see the Kings keeping both Moller and Purcell if they’re not both going to be in the lineup on a regular basis. Keeping a young player as a healthy scratch is counter-productive. Given the situation, and his placement in the lineup, this could be quite an important audition game for Purcell tonight…

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New lines

Here’s how the Kings skated at practice today in Detroit, according to the team’s website:

Frolov-Kopitar-Purcell
O’Sullivan-Stoll-Brown
Calder-Handzus-Simmonds
Ivanans-Armstrong-Richardson

Not sure which line would be considered the “first line” there, although I’d have to suspect it’s Kopitar’s line.

Here’s what Kopitar said about the changes: “Change is always welcome. We haven’t scored a whole lot of goals the last couple games, so I think Terry had a good reason to mix it up a little bit, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Read more, including some anecdotes from Bob Miller, Royal road report: Lineup shakeup

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Good sources

Adam Proteau of The Hockey News had a good, funny item today about the trade deadline, talking about his “five tips for handling trade deadline day like a pro.”

Screen Shots: Mentally preparing for the deadline

Obviously, it’s going to be a fun week to see how all this trade-deadline stuff shakes out around the league. If you’re really looking for credible information, posted by writers who use their actual names and do reporting by talking to actual people, any of the blogs linked on the right side of the page are good resources.

I’d like to point out two more, for those who might not be aware of them. Greg Wyshynski posts news, and a lot of really entertaining features, at his Puck Daddy blog on Yahoo. Paul Kukla does a fantastic job, at Kukla’s Korner, of posting the latest news and actually attributing it to sources. What a concept!

No payola involved. Those are just two sites I happen to enjoy visiting. Feel free to post others that you think do a good job.

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