Looking at the LA Kings
by Casey Richey on Oct 15, 2009 1:15 PM CDT
in Game Preview
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PrintLos Angeles Kings: 4-2-0 (8 pts)
Key wins: 6-4 over San Jose, 2-1 over St. Louis
The Kings come into the game at Joe Louis Arena as one of the biggest surprises of the young season. But maybe we shouldn't be all that surprised after all. They've been building a solid, young team over the past few years and are on the cusp of returning to the playoffs. After opening the season with a loss to the Coyotes, the Kings ripped off four straight wins before running into a hot New York Rangers team that beat LA backup goalie Erik Ersberg. This team has been very impressive thus far and the game should be very interesting to watch.
| Category | Stat | NHL Rank | Leading… | Stat | Player |
| Goals per game | 3.50 | T-8th | Scorer (Points) | 10 (4 G, 6 A) | Anze Kopitar |
| Goals Against per game | 3.17 | T-20th | +/- | +5 | David Drewiske |
| Power-play | 28.6% | 6th | Hits | 24 | Dustin Brown |
| Penalty kill | 59.1% | 29th | PIM | 12 | Raitis Ivanans |
| Shots per game | 28.3 | 23rd | Shots | 24 | Dustin Brown |
| Shots against per game | 28.0 | 6th | Blocked Shots | 18 | Matt Greene |
| Faceoff percentage | 43.0% | 30th | Faceoffs | 43.80% | Michal Handzus |
| PIM per game | 11.30 | 10th | Wins | 4 | Jonathan Quick |
| PP drawn | 28.0 | 8th | GAA | 3.00 | Jonathan Quick |
*Stats and rankings as of 10/15/2009
Anze Kopitar, Ryan Smyth, and Justin Williams have become a great first line unit and are a true offensive threat. The offense doesn't end there as the Kings have guys like Dustin Brown, Alex Frolov, Jarrett Stoll and Michal Handzus on the other lines. Add in a great scoring defense with Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson and the Kings are a tough, tough matchup for the Red Wings.
Jonathan Quick is starting to show that he is indeed capable of being the starting goalie for the Kings. Detroit could have trouble offensively with Quick in net, Rob Scuderi (familiar to Detroit from the Stanley Cup saves he made), Johnson, and forwards that are ready to help out defensively. The Wings should look to take advantage of the faceoff and penalty kill woes for the Kings while trying to stay out of the box against a good power-play unit.
Players to watch on offense: Anze Kopitar, Jarrett Stoll, Dustin Brown
Players to watch on defense: Jack Johnson, Rob Scuderi.
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I'm living in LA now
and actually have season tickets to the Kings (been to all their home games this year). I’m still a die hard Red Wings fan, and never miss a game on TV (Vs, Center Ice, NHL Net…) and wear my Wings Jersey when they are in town. Still I cheer the kings on for the other 78 games a year.
This is gonna be a tough matchup. Thankfully the Kings played last night, so they’ll be a bit more worn down. Unfortunatley they used their backup against the Rangers and saved Quick for us…i’m guessing because they think getting points in the West is more important…not because they respect the Wings over the Rangers this year (sadly…)
They key really might be in the faceoff circle, as the Kings just had their first game in the +50% column in that category. Its been a huge struggle for them. The PK #’s are a bit skewed. They let in like 7 of of the first 8, but are back on track now with 10 straight kills leading up to last nights game.
I’m looking for the Red Wings to come out angry after being embarrassed and go up at least 2 goals early to get the Kings players out of it. If we go behind, i’m not terribly concerned as the Kings have been losing leads pretty hardcore in the first few games, tho they held on tough against Stl and the Isles.
Lets go Wings!
by OriginalRecipeIzzy on Oct 15, 2009 2:16 PM CDT reply actions
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