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Los Angeles Kings Are Holding On By A Quickly Unraveling Thread As They Face Elimination

June 8, 2013 by Leave a comment

LA Kings center Anze Kopitar, shown here during a recent practice
session, has scored just two goals in his last 33 games
(17 playoff games and 16 regular season games).
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings are in Chicago, hours away from a win-or-go home Game 5 matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks, who lead their best-of-seven Western Conference Final playoff series, 3-1.

The Blackhawks, even without their top defenseman, Duncan Keith (suspended), used their superior speed and surprisingly strong physical play to force the Kings into numerous turnovers and to keep Kings forwards on the perimeter throughout most of Game 4, a 3-2 Chicago victory that was not as close as the score might indicate.

Indeed, the disparity in quality scoring chances fell heavily in favor of the Blackhawks, who could have easily won this game by a two or three-goal margin, if not for the strong play of Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, even though the Blackhawks’ first goal by forward Bryan Bickell was a soft goal.

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Jeff Carter, LA Kings Are Not Thinking About Retaliation After High Stick By Chicago’s Duncan Keith

June 6, 2013 by 1 Comment

LA Kings forward Jeff Carter showed off facial injuries when he met
with the media on June 5, 2013, at the team’s practice facility, the
Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California.
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: Gann Matsuda/FrozenRoyalty.net

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Let’s just say that the aftermath wasn’t pretty.

Indeed, the day after falling victim to a high stick to the face, courtesy of Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith, Los Angeles Kings forward Jeff Carter has definitely looked better.

On the play, after Carter appeared to chop at Keith’s glove, which was down on the ice, as Keith was picking it up—Carter’s stick blade may have contacted Keith’s hand—Keith immediately responded by swinging his stick, with the blade striking Carter squarely in the mouth.

“We were battling in front of the net, up the ice,” said Carter. “I think I took a swing at his glove there, he was trying to pick it up. I was in front of him. Next thing I knew, I was getting a stick to the face.”

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LA Kings Trevor Lewis Is Thriving Under Head Coach Darryl Sutter

May 26, 2013 by 1 Comment

VIDEO: Includes video of May 25 media interview with Los Angeles Kings head coach Darryl Sutter with bonus footage available only from FrozenRoyaltyNHL on YouTube.

LA Kings forward Trevor Lewis
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net

EL SEGUNDO, CA — At this point in his National Hockey League career, it is quite clear that Los Angeles Kings forward Trevor Lewis is not likely to become a gifted sniper or a dazzling playmaker.

But that is what Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi thought he could be getting when he dealt center Pavol Demitra, the Kings’ best player in the 2005-06 season, to the Minnesota Wild on June 24, 2006, in exchange for center prospect Patrick O’Sullivan (now playing in Finland), who was the top prospect in the Wild organization at the time, along with the 17th pick in the first round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

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LA Kings Need To Fix Scoring Woes, But Problems Don’t Necessarily Start In Offensive Zone

May 23, 2013 by Leave a comment

VIDEO: Includes video of portions of media interviews with Los Angeles Kings Rob Scuderi and Justin Williams that are only available from FrozenRoyaltyNHL on YouTube.

LA Kings right wing Justin Williams
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net

EL SEGUNDO, CA — That their Western Conference Semifinal series against the San Jose Sharks is now tied, 2-2, might be the bottom line for the Los Angeles Kings heading into Thursday’s Game 5 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. But of greater concern is that the Sharks have dictated the pace and controlled play for the vast majority of each game, using a heavy forecheck to keep the Kings bottled up in their own zone.

The fifth game of a National Hockey League playoff series that lasts six or seven games is often the key contest in that series, something that was not lost on the Kings.

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San Jose Sharks Present A Whole New Post-Season Challenge For LA Kings

May 14, 2013 by Leave a comment

VIDEO INTERVIEWS: Includes video interviews with Los Angeles Kings Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Matt Greene, Jarret Stoll, and head coach Darryl Sutter.

LA Kings center Jarret Stoll.
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net

EL SEGUNDO, CA — The Los Angeles Kings are heading into Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the San Jose Sharks on May 14 (7:00 PM PDT, Staples Center) knowing that were not at the top of their game in the first round of the playoffs against the St. Louis Blues. To be sure, the Kings have not looked much like the team that won the 2012 Stanley Cup Championship.

“I don’t know if we’ve played like that yet,” said defenseman Drew Doughty. “I think we still have a long way to go. We were OK in the St. Louis series. We weren’t great. We didn’t play to the best of our abilities, so we’ve got a lot to work on, and we’ve got to start doing it in this series.”

“Our defensive zone coverage, composure with the puck under fast, quick pressure, heavy pressure, like we saw in the first round, I don’t think we handled it too well,” said center Jarret Stoll. “We need to be a lot better in that area. We relied on our goaltender too much. He was great, he was awesome for us, but we need to be better in that area, and just bearing down, offensively. We had some chances that went by. We scored some timely goals, but I think we could’ve put more pucks in the net, and we didn’t.”

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