Pre Game Prep
It's been twelve days since the last Kings game (All Star break) and all key players are healthy. No excuses.
Of concern is, with thirty-two games left, we are 8 points behind the last wild card spot presently occupied by the Avalanche, who basically own us in head to head battle. Also, today begins a grueling six game north east road trip against tough opponents: Islanders; Rangers; Devils; Flyers; Bruins; Capitals. I believe the Grammy's will be occupying Staples Center during this road trip.
Deep breaths here people. Also of major concern is the loss of Jake Muzzin, a very competent defenseman. The first time I saw him play he was pretty horrible, worse than even Modry (#44 back in the day). But he developed into a solid, intelligent defenseman who complemented Doughty quite well. I liked when he shot from the blue line in traffic, wish he would do it more.
I still think the Kings have a glaring hole on defense that hasn't been filled since we lost Vojnov. He was a top five defenseman on a worldwide level. Under those circumstances it's a little confusing on how we let Muzzin go at this time. It says a lot about both parties involved in the trade. Have the Kings given up on this season? Are the already amazing Maple Leafs assured a Stanley Cup with the addition of such a solid D Man?
They say Forbert will be playing with Doughty. This concerns us, we've given our opinion of 24 in a prior article. https://steemit.com/sports/@sportsmania/kings-lose-in-columbus-what-s-going-on
I was looking forward to see Tavares play but luckily for us he was out to injury. The Islanders should be tired from playing through shoot outs in Tampa Bay last night. Should be but won't be, they are 7-0-0 in the second of back to back games this season. Seems like excuses have no place in their locker room.
The Islanders lead their division with 64 points, that's more than the Penguins and the Capitals.
The Islanders coach is Barry Trotz, who was head coach of the Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals last year. They also have a new GM.
The Islanders had the worst goals against last year, this year they have the best. they have the best record in the league since Dec. 15.
Mathew Barzal is their top scorer and captain, I look forward to seeing his performance.
Post Game Review
Kings lose again.
Silver linings.
It was nice to see the Kings were instituting the cross ice one timer mainly on the power play. We called for this strategy several times and even predicted Kovalchuk would be the best shooter. That's who they set up and he had a good game.
The Kings had a lot of shots, 36. This is great, my favorite thing to yell while watching a game is "SHOOT!"
Going forward I want to address an issue I thought we put behind us. For the old Kings the most dangerous time on the ice was right after we scored a goal. It was disappointing to see the Islanders score half a minute after we took a 2-1 lead. Extra vigilance after scoring is a fundamental we need to get back to.
J Quick had a good game even though he let through 3 goals. The Islanders could have had a lot more goals against any other goalie. Keep it up.
Bottom line, if we continue to play like today our success rate will improve. We didn't lose because we played badly, both teams had a great game.
Trotz means business. 4th all time winningest coach.
