The Kings' sneak-preview tour, March edition, of potential playoff opponents continued Tuesday, winding through the Central Division. Another night, another look and another loss. Minnesota moved back into a wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference as it defeated the Kings, 2-1, at Xcel...
Vinny Lecavalier couldn't play for the Philadelphia Flyers, trapped in the two-word abyss known as the "healthy scratch" for close to two months before the Kings life raft came calling. Similarly, defenseman Rob Scuderi found himself on the outside in Chicago. He cleared waivers and played three...
A few more takeaways after the Kings completed a short tour through the Central Division, beating Chicago and Dallas on consecutive nights and outscoring the Blackhawks and Stars by a combined 10-2. Pluses and minuses The attack against Dallas was well-balanced with goals from five players: Kris...
Anze Kopitar's victims were numerous. The Kings center won faceoff after faceoff against Stars center Cody Eakin. Kopitar burned Stars defenseman Kris Russell, going around him with the greatest of ease, and then made Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen look helpless, waiting him out and finally lofting...
Here's the burning question for the day, or really for the rest of the regular season, with less than a month to go.Say Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby manages to win 44 games this season — he needs three to tie the victory total by Montreal goalie Carey Price last season, when he...
Not long after the Kings' Jonathan Quick completed his 41st career shutout — a 5-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night — the goalie swiftly paid homage to one of the two men he moved past to get the record for U.S.-born goalies. Quick had recorded his 40th shutout on Dec. 28 at...
The Kings' to-do list grew considerably longer after Saturday night's overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils. What would be a good starting point? How to fix the power play, a woeful 0 for 5 against the Devils? Or, perhaps how to avoid another sluggish first period such as the opening 20 minutes...
A few more takeaways from the finale of the Kings' five-game home stand, before they move on for what will be a busy week, starting with road games against two Central Division foes, Chicago and Dallas. The Unstoppable Keith Kinkaid OK, he's not totally unstoppable. Kings center Anze Kopitar in...
The mystery known as Keith Kinkaid was finally solved. Sort of. Yes, the Kings were finally able to get one past the understudy goaltender, the guy who shut them out last month in Newark, N.J. But only one on Saturday night, as the New Jersey Devils beat the Kings, 2-1, in overtime at Staples Center....
Let's play trivia with Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. The question for the Kings' Norris Trophy contender: How many players remain on the active playing roster from the New Jersey Devils team that pushed the Kings to six games in the 2012 Stanley Cup Final? Doughty immediately named three — Travis...
Darryl Sutter chose part of the third period Saturday against the Ducks to fall back on a tactic he occasionally uses, just to keep things interesting. The Kings coach moved his No. 2 center Jeff Carter, onto the right wing of his top line, alongside center Anze Kopitar and left wing Milan Lucic,...
Fans at Staples Center might be getting kind of used to seeing Kobe Bryant hanging out in street clothes. Since announcing his impending retirement back in November, the Lakers superstar has sat out 10 of the team's 25 home games. It was more of the same Wednesday night at Staples -- well, there...
In a year when they are running away with the NHL's overall standings, the true measure of the Washington Capitals has been the third-period comeback. It was something former King Justin Williams was remarking on before the game — how the Capitals' one true Achilles' heel this season has been their...
Justin Williams' pregame mental checklist might deviate, depending upon the familiarity of the opponent. The Washington Capitals right wing realized he needed to add another entry to the list. He was sharing a meal with some of his former Kings teammates when they were in town last month to play...
The special teams can be, well, special: Not only did the Kings take the lead on Anze Kopitar’s second-period power-play goal — the team’s third goal in two games with the man advantage — but they also killed off five Vancouver power plays. “Obviously, the power play has been scoring a lot lately,...
If the Kings haven't started scoreboard watching, they might want to consider giving it a try. Because while the team has all but clinched a playoff berth, there's still a lot of work left to do to determine who and where the Kings will play in the postseason.And much of that work will be done...
The Washington Capitals have been here before, a powerhouse with the NHL's top regular-season record and big playoff ambitions. Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau didn't need to be reminded; he coached them to 54 victories and 121 points in 2009-10, but the Capitals extended their epic book of postseason...
There are some occasions when you know it isn't going to be your day. One fine day? Not really. Saturday appeared to be just that for Kings winger Kris Versteeg. Like some of his NHL colleagues, Versteeg doesn't wear a helmet in pregame warmups and he suffered the consequences in the moments leading...
Forward Rickard Rakell has become a catalyst in the Ducks' remarkable rebound from the depths of the NHL standings to the top of the Pacific division by using his hands, not his fists. So the 22-year-old Swede seemed embarrassed Saturday to confirm that his tussle with Kings forward Kris Versteeg...
The Ducks lost one of their big-minutes defensemen and penalty-killers before the game was seven minutes old. Meanwhile, the Kings were down a forward by the 6:58 mark and lost another for the final two periods. Which raises the questions: How can these teams possibly survive a playoff series against...
You can be assured that this won't be a "pajama party," as Kings Coach Darryl Sutter once humorously described the sleepy nature of afternoon games. Not with first place in the Pacific Division up for (temporary) grabs between Southern California rivals, the Kings and the Ducks. Not with the Ducks...
A few more takeaways from the Kings' 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens before moving on to Saturday’s big game, the Kings versus their Southern California rival, the Ducks. Suffocating Kings Montreal couldn’t generate much against the Kings, putting forth a season-low 15 shots on goal. Canadiens...
The Kings lost their long-held lead in the Pacific Division for a little more than an hour Thursday night.This time, they could do something about it. They took matters into their own hands with a welcome burst of offense, defeating the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2, at Staples Center and jumped over...
Kris Versteeg was sounding like a man in a hurry. Yes, a good thing for a hockey player. The newest Kings winger met with the coaching staff Tuesday, had his first practice Wednesday — on a line with center Jeff Carter and winger Tanner Pearson — and addressed the nature of the stretch run. "You...
Blame Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman for turning Monday's trade deadline into a dud, with a nod to Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon for also getting a jump on the trade action and diminishing the drama of the final hours. Bowman, aiming at a fourth Stanley Cup championship in seven...
What we learned from the past week in the NHL: • Could 20 NHL teams be wrong? At least that many teams reportedly pursued defenseman Justin Schultz when he became a free agent in 2012 after refusing to sign with the Ducks, who had drafted him 43rd in 2008. The Edmonton Oilers got him. Then-general...
The Kings opted to make their bigger moves before the trade deadline, pulling off one small deal on Monday, not involving a current NHL player. What was interesting was the familiar name: forward Brett Sutter. He is the oldest son of Kings Coach Darryl Sutter and had been with the Iowa Wild, the...
The NHL’s trade-deadline action was more like a dud, with few deals of significance being completed before noon Pacific time. The Ducks acquired forward Brandon Pirri from the Florida Panthers for a sixth-round draft pick, an apparent steal that was not confirmed as of early afternoon because the...
Like a greyhound chasing the rabbit on the track, the Ducks are inching toward the Kings in the Pacific Division. A 4-2 win Sunday brought the Ducks to two points behind the first-place Kings. The Ducks are 22-4-2 since Christmas and 15-1-1 in their last 17 games, while the Kings’ five-game point...
Add the trade deadline to a Kings-Ducks game and it might as well be a full moon. Both teams had been plodding through low-scoring games of late until they combined for perhaps the most entertaining meeting of the season Sunday night.There was Corey Perry's hat trick, plus a fluky bounce goal,...
Through the worst of times, when the Ducks were winning once in their first 10 games and right wing Corey Perry's scoring touch was nowhere to be found until the team's 12th game, he and they refused to accept that they were as bad as the standings and the statistics indicated. "We dug ourselves...
Sure, it might seem like a bit of a nostalgia move at first glance, but re-acquired Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi is out to show he still can help out on the blue line. “I've never been a guy that's going to rack up points and make a flashy play,” Scuderi said after Saturday's morning skate, a few...
The Kings reached into their past, opting for a familiar face and making a low-risk move Friday by bringing back defenseman Rob Scuderi. It was accomplished in what amounted to a swap of minor league defensemen. The Kings sent defenseman Christian Ehrhoff to the Chicago Blackhawks for Scuderi,...
This looked like the game everyone expected to see from the Kings earlier in the week, one in which they were lacking chemistry, were sluggish and flat-out tired after returning home from a seven-game trip that lasted almost two weeks.The impact didn't hit them Tuesday in a win against Calgary...
Back in the grim days of October, Sami Vatanen and Frederik Andersen were unfortunate examples of the Ducks' struggles. The Ducks scored one goal in the first four games of the season, courtesy of defenseman Vatanen. Andersen was a profound case of a goalie with literally no scoring support. Both...
KINGS VS. EDMONTON OILERS When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 790. Update: Reaching the 30-win mark, while notable and impressive, is getting to be routine for Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. Quick recorded his 30th victory of the season with Tuesday's 2-1 result against Calgary,...
Always beware the backup goalie. For nearly 30 minutes, the Kings looked like they were tumbling into a familiar trap, one that confounded them more than once on their recent seven-game trip — trying to solve the puzzle of the goalie who is often in the shadows. Luke Schenn finally got one past...
For the Kings, relief came in several forms. They were relieved to be finished with their longest trip of the season and reunited with their families. They were pleased that they have only nine road games remaining, two in California. Another positive came Monday with the on-ice presence at practice...
So what is it about Kings left wing Tanner Pearson and overtime? "I don't know, but I like it," said Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin, unleashing a good-sized laugh. Pearson scored the overtime goal at 1:18 for the Kings as they beat the Nashville Predators, 2-1, on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena. The...
The injuries continue to mount for the Kings as they head into the final stop of their seven-game trip against Nashville on Saturday apparently without leading scorer Anze Kopitar and fourth-line forward Jordan Nolan. Neither were on the ice for Saturday's morning skate here, usually a sure sign...