Wheels Falling Off...Color Me Shocked

[PuckinUgly57]

What a absolute train wreck of a game last night. The Ducks set the tone on how they wanted to play and the Kings fell right into it.

They got pushed around all night and this was arguably Quick's worst game all season, although he has not looked sharp the last few weeks. Not sure why Stevens isn't letting Keumper play, there is no reason not to.

Kings T6 looks soft too, I'd be looking to add some toughness in there. Not a huge fan of Kane because of the off ice issues but it may be worth looking into, this teams needs a little bit of a shake up.

 

[Kings4OT]

Pearson and Muffin for.....?

 

[pete6835]

The whole Bob Miller ceremony was great, but whenever there is a ceremony like this, they always lose.

When I saw Lewis on the PP late in the game, I knew they gave up. Pearson on the top line is a joke.

When is Carter coming back??????????????????

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I haven't read anything official but I've seen is sometime in February. You have to figure it'll take at least 8-10 games for him to hit top flight which puts us around March.

That isn't a lot of time left until the POs especially if the Kings are stumbling or jostling for PO position or even worse fighting for a Wild Card spot which is a total possibility considering this team has played sub .500 hockey since that 8 game tear. Of course he is a high end player, so maybe that 8-10 games becomes 3-5 but I am not banking on that, that is a serious injury to recover from but him hitting the ground running would be the best case scenario.

Pearson has regressed this season, I'm not sure what it is but I mentioned "new pressure" in a different thread. He isn't shielded anymore as a young player and has expectations on him similar to every day players, it takes some time for these guys to adjust to that sort of thing but he skilled enough to where his production this season is unacceptable. Stevens gave him a pass early when he said he's doing all the right things, the "process" as they like to say, but that process needs to yield some results eventually before you figure maybe tht "process" isn't working. It happened with Iaffalo earlier and he came back like a man possessed last game, back to what we saw early in the season from him. I still think he needs to be a little more selfish and go to the net instead of making plays for others but he looks like he has learned a lesson of sorts.

I'll have to look at the advanced stats from last season (zone starts, opposition, etc) but I wonder why he is scoring less in a more wide open system under Stevens than he did under Sutter's smothering defensive system. It doesn't make sense for a player like him, guys like Andreoff, Clifford, etc. aren't nearly as talented so their production would pretty much be the same no matter what system they play but Pearson has truly baffled me this season.

Still wouldn't trade him though, he is a good T6 player struggling this season. Muzzin, hands down if the right offer came up which would need to include a hidden gem on defense since the Kings would be losing a veteran defender and still haven't found a viable solution for Voynov almost 4 years later. I can already see the "Kings have lost both games without Muffin in the line up" comments in Kingster land even though I haven't looked, he has taken on the divisive role of J-Blow in recent years - you love him or you hate him, I never liked him from day 1.

Interesting article with Brown's comments, sounds like some players took their roll for granted and assumed they could back off the pedal:

Brown: Better individual preparation could solve Kings woes – Press Telegram

I'm assuming it's directed towards the younger players but you never know, it's impossible to sustain both physical and mental consistently throughout an 82 game season and you'll have ups and downs. The issue is when that becomes the norm and not the blip.

Right back at it today, Kings need the points. Not a fan of days games at all, the Kings generally suck at them but they need a W desperately.

 

[Psych3man]

Kings and Hawks to miss the playoffs in the same year for the first time in forever...