Los Angeles Kings Need Early-Season Version Of Mike Richards To Return

February 8, 2012 Leave a Comment

Center Mike Richards has struggled since returning from a concussion on December 22, 2011. The Los Angeles Kings desperately need him to regain his early-season form.
Photo: David Sheehan

LOS ANGELES AND EL SEGUNDO, CA — With an assist on Dustin Penner’s goal at 17:46 of the second period, giving the Los Angeles Kings their final margin of victory in a 3-1 win at Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, center Mike Richards ended an eight-game point scoring drought.

Richards’ performance in this game may have been his best since returning to the lineup after missing eight games due to a concussion that he suffered on December 1, 2011, when the Kings handed the visiting Florida Panthers a 2-1 defeat.

But since returning on December 22 (a 3-2 shootout win against the Anaheim Ducks at Staples Center in Los Angeles), Richards has been a mere shell of his former self. Read more of this post

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Los Angeles Kings Can’t Afford To Keep Giving Points Away

January 20, 2012 4 Comments

Los Angeles Kings Forward Trevor Lewis earned some solid praise from head coach Darryl Sutter after practice on January 20, 2012, at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California.
Photo: David Sheehan

LOS ANGELES AND EL SEGUNDO, CA — 48 games into the 2011-12 National Hockey League season, the Los Angeles Kings have a 23-15-10 record, good for 56 points. That puts them in second place in the Pacific Division, one point behind the San Jose Sharks (through games played on January 20), and in seventh place in the Western Conference, four points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, their next opponent (Saturday, January 21, 7:30 PM PST, Staples Center).

San Jose is third in the conference, and the Chicago Blackhawks, with 64 points, leads the West. As such, the Kings remain in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, and could still come out on top of the Pacific Division, even though the Sharks have four games in hand. Read more of this post

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LA Kings’ Slumbering Offense Awakens: Anze Kopitar, Justin Williams Leading The Way

January 19, 2012 6 Comments

Right wing Justin Williams has provided an offensive spark for the
Los Angeles Kings, playing on a line with Dustin Brown and
Anze Kopitar during their last five games.
Photo: David Sheehan

LOS ANGELES AND EL SEGUNDO, CA — Since taking over the reins as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings on December 20, 2011, head coach Darryl Sutter has already juggled his line combinations a few times, trying anything to get his team’s struggling offense going.

The first, most notable change was to move center Mike Richards to left wing on the first line, with center Anze Kopitar and right wing Dustin Brown. Read more of this post

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Key To Unlocking The Los Angeles Kings’ Offense Is Getting Pucks, Bodies To The Net

January 12, 2012 3 Comments

Los Angeles Kings right wing Dustin Brown spoke extensively with the media following practice on
January 11, 2012, at the Toyota Sports Center
in El Segundo, California.
Photo: David Sheehan

LOS ANGELES AND EL SEGUNDO, CA — On January 9, the Los Angeles Kings, owners of the worst offense in the National Hockey League, averaging just 2.09 goals per game, miraculously scored five goals against the Alexander Ovechkin-led Washington Capitals, in a decisive 5-2 victory, shocking a sell-out crowd of 18,118 fans at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

That night, fans were so thoroughly shocked at the Kings’ offensive explosion that throughout the arena, they were pinching each other to make sure they weren’t dreaming. Some made appointments with psychiatrists, fearing that they were suffering from some sort of mental breakdown. Others were fearful that the end of the world was upon us, and began to get their affairs in order.

Seriously speaking, that massive offensive output from the Kings was a rarity this season. After all, they have only scored three goals or more (during regulation play) twelve times in 43 games this season (through games played on January 11). Read more of this post

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Frozen Royalty Audio: Varlamov, Avalanche, Steal 2-1 Shootout Win From LA Kings

January 3, 2012 3 Comments

Los Angeles Kings right wing Dustin Brown (center) scored his tenth goal of the season, but it was not enough, as the Colorado Avalanche won a 2-1 shootout decision over the Kings on January 2, 2012, at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein/NHLI via Getty Images and the LA Kings

LOS ANGELES — Despite controlling the play, often dominating the game, the Los Angeles Kings came up against a white hot goaltender in Semyon Varlamov, who led the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-1 shootout win over the Kings at Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 2.

Dustin Brown scored his tenth goal of the season to give the Kings a 1-0 lead at the 1:34 mark of the second period to give his team a 1-0 lead. Read more of this post

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Frozen Royalty Audio: LA Kings Finally Break Through 3-Goal Wall In 4-3 Win Over Phoenix

December 27, 2011 Leave a Comment

LOS ANGELES — It took them 15 games, but the Los Angeles Kings finally scored three goals in a game on Monday night, defeating the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-3, in front of a sell-out crowd of 18,118 fans at Staples Center.

The last time the Kings scored three goals (in regulation time or overtime, not in a shootout) in a game was on November 22, a 3-2 victory at St. Louis. From that point forward, until Monday night, the Kings never scored more than two regulation/overtime goals, earning a poor 5-7-2 record over that span, two of the wins the result of shootouts. Read more of this post

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