Game Thread: G19 12-3-3 Kings vs 93 Cheaters 11/25/23

[PuckinUgly57]

Just got in from Ludlow, the kind of midpoint between Kingman and my place to get Ms Puck II who was visiting her mom since last Friday 11/17. Ms Puck I actually drove her there, still tripping that I have an adult kid who can do that. Talked to her for about 30 minutes, got the other kids some snacks and then headed back, Cajon Pass is already a mess but glad I got her today and not tomorrow which will be worse from people coming back from Thanksgiving vacations and what not.

Moore just scored to make it 2-0, I see 9 SOG for the Habs. How does Copley look, did I miss anything major from the first period?

Let's Go Kings!

 

[davnlaguna]

Can’t even glimpse this one
At my moms for her thanksgiving
No sports channels

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Actually grabbed seats and went to this game. Copley looked fine. They ended up giving him 1st Star of the game, which is kind of an joke. Shots were 8-1 Kings after 1st period. Kings honestly dominated this game start to finish. Copley with a few timely saves, but 18 shots against is just a solid team effort. He played good, but 1st star is just not how I saw it.

I thought Byfield could've had two but he really doesn't have the best hands. He's so much more improved in the corners and how he's using his body downlow, but his hands aren't great. That line is hard to deal with though. Byfield, Kopitar, Kempe all are big guys that move pretty well and it's really taxing on teams. Dubois with two assists but it felt like secondary ones. My buddy is not a hockey guy and asked if they just hand out assists like they do tackles in football. Thought that was kinda funny. But all lines seemed to be rolling against a tired Montreal team that seemed like they have nothing going well right now.


Fiala is wild to watch live. When he's out there, it's like the Kings play a box and one. The other 4 guys plays traditional, structured hockey, and Fiala just wanders around, for good and bad. I think he does really drive plays with his speed, but they had him at the point on the power play and I absolutely hate that. He fumbles it as the last guy back at least once per PP. I think against better teams, this is gonna be a big problem. But he could've had two goals himself so he's dangerous out there and that's good.

Kings looked really good and part of that seemed like Montreal looking pretty bad. Allen also made like 3-4 hero saves, but then let in some questionable ones. Overall fun game to see the home team win one.

Kings keep rolling along. Copley confidence booster game is good. Not a ton to complain about.

 

[Kings4OT]

They need to move Fiala off that top spot on the PP, he CANNOT be the last guy back, get him on the left or right but not up top. He is very skilled and Kings need him on the pp but those gaffs will kill them in PO. Buster is playing better, but im skeptical he will ever get hands....thats not a learned thing really. But as a line it works for now

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Can’t even glimpse this one
At my moms for her thanksgiving
No sports channels

Firestick and VPN is what a friend told me. Load up all your apps on that and you can take it with you apparently. I was going to try this last weekend in Kingman but forgot, and when I tried to log into YTTV on the laptop and cast it on the TV it was shut down because YTTV recognized I was using a different IP address.

Don't know if that idea will work but maybe worth a try if moms doesn't have sports.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I thought Byfield could've had two but he really doesn't have the best hands. He's so much more improved in the corners and how he's using his body downlow, but his hands aren't great. That line is hard to deal with though. Byfield, Kopitar, Kempe all are big guys that move pretty well and it's really taxing on teams. Dubois with two assists but it felt like secondary ones. My buddy is not a hockey guy and asked if they just hand out assists like they do tackles in football. Thought that was kinda funny. But all lines seemed to be rolling against a tired Montreal team that seemed like they have nothing going well right now.

His finishing ability is definitely subpar but maybe that will come. This guy's development arc has been slow as mud to date, it's taken over 3 years to develop what I consider basics in puck protection and board battles. Laferriere for example has been doing that basically from his first NHL game. Maybe in 2 more years we will see Buster scoring more but considering he has already scored more goals in 19 games than 55 or whatever last season that's a positive relatively speaking. I'm still not overly impressed because of the 2OA factor and expectations. He needs to have a much faster development pace the rest of this season.

Funny comment from your buddy, that's exactly how I felt when Buster had that stretch of racking up assists when he basically was just looking at the puck. PLD is still acclimating and 25% through the season his linemates have already changed. The Kings play an extremely smothering system in all but the neutral zone which is entirely different from what he played in Winnipeg, I expect him to settle in and start showing the offense around the midway mark of the season.

Fiala is wild to watch live. When he's out there, it's like the Kings play a box and one. The other 4 guys plays traditional, structured hockey, and Fiala just wanders around, for good and bad. I think he does really drive plays with his speed, but they had him at the point on the power play and I absolutely hate that. He fumbles it as the last guy back at least once per PP. I think against better teams, this is gonna be a big problem. But he could've had two goals himself so he's dangerous out there and that's good.

Scares the bejesus out of me when he is that point man. He tries some fancy stuff and the PKer is gone. But like you and I and others have said, he creates from nothing as well. Most people use the term "high risk, high reward", with him it's all risk, all reward. There really isnt any in between with him and I'm sure brass did their homework on him and knew this coming in.

I do like how McLellan challenged him saying he needs to be better basically everywhere and to his credit he has been since about 5 games ago.

Kings looked really good and part of that seemed like Montreal looking pretty bad. Allen also made like 3-4 hero saves, but then let in some questionable ones. Overall fun game to see the home team win one.

Habs didn't look good at all, and while Copley got the SO I didn't see too many high danger saves and I believe saw only 11 SOG at the end of two. That tells me the team was very conscientious defensively not letting him see high quality shots. I agree he shouldn't have been 1st star but they threw him a bone since he's been under the gun a bit. But good for him for doing his part, maybe he gains some more confidence and quells the crap we need a backup goalie talk for now.

And damn, I forgot Jake Allen was still in the league. I remember St. Louis switching up and putting him in during the 2012 run because both Brian Elliot and Halak were getting beat up by LA, I think he was a 22 year old rookie at that time.

 

[davnlaguna]

Firestick and VPN is what a friend told me. Load up all your apps on that and you can take it with you apparently. I was going to try this last weekend in Kingman but forgot, and when I tried to log into YTTV on the laptop and cast it on the TV it was shut down because YTTV recognized I was using a different IP address.

Don't know if that idea will work but maybe worth a try if moms doesn't have sports.

Have the fire stick but it was a big family thing. Mom didn’t want tv on so we all would talk( meaning Steve would talk and we would pretend to listen)

 

[PuckinUgly57]

It wasn't my year with the kids for TG (it is my Christmas though) so they were with their moms and it was just me and the GF and then my buddy and his GF came over for dinner. Went off the reservation this year and smoked my 7 hour ribs instead of a turkey and it turned out great. The boys' mom made a traditional TG dinner and then headed out to AZ to visit a friend on Friday so when she dropped the boys off she gave me all her leftovers. Win win.

I hear you though, I wasn't in the mood to entertain. My sister wanted to come over and I canceled on her about a week before, I didn't want to hear her talk my ear off. I would have completely tuned her out.

 

[Kings4OT]

TG is the only holiday i want, i dont care who is married to who or who wants to do what...i do TG at my house every year, everyone else can fight over every other holiday. Only 18 this year, im gonna have to tune up a few again.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I'm usually excited for TG, but this year I really wasn't. Maybe because I didn't have my kids so it doesn't feel the same.

Last year was great, the boys' mom offered to cook at my place even though it was my year because she doesn't have a big kitchen and she killed it as usual (very few things I miss about her, have to say her TG dinner is one of them haha), I just had to buy everything and clean up - I'll take that trade off any day of the week. All my kids, my family were over, it was a great day.

Next year I'm sure it'll be better. Christmas is the big one because last year we had to live in a BNB from Dec- Feb 2023 while my whole lower floor was rebuilt (7 rooms) from the dreaded slab leak. Ruined the entire bottom floor, mold, all that and we pulled all the decorations and what not down not even a week after they went up.

The BNB experience sucked too, awful all around. I adopted an older dog late last October, poor guy spent more of his first 4 months with us in a BNB than his actual home. I should have known it would be a rough experience, dude fell into the pool there not even 3 minutes after we got there for the first time and I had to jump into 40° December pool water and drag his 100 pound ass out (total omen of how this shitshow was going to go) so I'm really excited to be back home, in a "new" house (my contractor killed it) and with my kids this year for Christmas and NYE which is also Pucky Jr II's 11th birthday.

 

[LAKINGSFAN]

Just got in from Ludlow, the kind of midpoint between Kingman and my place to get Ms Puck II who was visiting her mom since last Friday 11/17. Ms Puck I actually drove her there, still tripping that I have an adult kid who can do that. Talked to her for about 30 minutes, got the other kids some snacks and then headed back, Cajon Pass is already a mess but glad I got her today and not tomorrow which will be worse from people coming back from Thanksgiving vacations and what not.

Moore just scored to make it 2-0, I see 9 SOG for the Habs. How does Copley look, did I miss anything major from the first period?

Let's Go Kings!

Just got back from a roadtrip to NM two weeks ago. Stopped in Kingman for gas a quick bite and off we went. Drove through Flagstaff and it was beautiful. Stopped in Gallup NM for the last fillup and what an armpit that place is. So, on the way back we bypassed Gallup and stopped in Flagstaff. If we can get out of CA that would definitely be on the list. It was quite the drive but the 40fwy is so much better than taking the 10fwy our to AZ.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Sounds like a fun trip, glad you had a good time. I've only passed through NM, but was just thinking over the weekend I'd love to visit Albuquerque either driving or on the Harley with my buddy on a long ride. We did AZ/CA/NV about 2 years ago and that was a blast. So many hidden two laners, dips and turns, nice scenery in these states. Met so many bikers along the way, little diners and gift shops, just a nice time.

The 40 is definitely easier to get to AZ once you get through the 15 mess in Barstow, it's wide open. It's much better in a car though, on that same trip I got hit head on with a wind gust so powerful it almost blew me off my bike, I would have been killed on that freeway. Didn't panic and just held on to the grips harder but it also kinked my neck from the jarring force since I was doing about 85-90 and relaxed on cruise control. Wasn't expecting that at all.

Having just traveled it twice in a week, the wind was definitely swirling bad especially after Ludlow and into AZ and vice versa. But it's a nicer route than the 10 for sure.

 

[LAKINGSFAN]

Sounds like a fun trip, glad you had a good time. I've only passed through NM, but was just thinking over the weekend I'd love to visit Albuquerque either driving or on the Harley with my buddy on a long ride. We did AZ/CA/NV about 2 years ago and that was a blast. So many hidden two laners, dips and turns, nice scenery in these states. Met so many bikers along the way, little diners and gift shops, just a nice time.

The 40 is definitely easier to get to AZ once you get through the 15 mess in Barstow, it's wide open. It's much better in a car though, on that same trip I got hit head on with a wind gust so powerful it almost blew me off my bike, I would have been killed on that freeway. Didn't panic and just held on to the grips harder but it also kinked my neck from the jarring force since I was doing about 85-90 and relaxed on cruise control. Wasn't expecting that at all.

Having just traveled it twice in a week, the wind was definitely swirling bad especially after Ludlow and into AZ and vice versa. But it's a nicer route than the 10 for sure.

Downtown Albequerque is pretty nice. Lots of restaraunts around and even a Fudruckers there. We definately hit that spot since all of them closed down around here. We didnt get a chance to get out of the Albequerque are much but there didnt seem to be much outside of downtown. We ran into some of that same wind once we hit the 40 but it did subside pretty quickly.

 

[histkng23]

If there's historical nostalgia involved on an extended roadie, I'm always down. Couple of years ago, me, my daughter, and my dad drove from SoCal to Dallas to visit one of my brothers, due to he & his wife having my nephew. Took the 10 the whole way. Did stop in Tombstone, AZ, just to say I've been there. Spent the night in Las Cruces, NM, then got up the next morning and finished the drive. Got caught in a sand/wind storm coming out of El Paso, then caught up to a storm about an hour or so west of Aberdeen, and stayed in the storm all the way to my brothers in McKinney. After a few days with my brothers, we drove up to Sayre, OK to visit more family, spent the night and then drove to Flagstaff on the 40. Did stop in Albequerque. Have an aunt there. But looked up and found the house used as Walter White's house in Breaking Bad. Owner is kind of a dick though, even though I can understand to a degree. Guess he was having an issue of people throwing whole pizzas on the roof of his garage (if you've seen the show, you know the reference). So even though I'm trying to take a selfie from 100 feet away, dude stands obnoxiously out on his driveway making a point to obstruct my picture. But I've also always wanted to drive out to Ft. Sumner, NM to visit the Billy The Kid gravesite. Also, now that it has become more focused on, also Trinity, NM, where there is a monument placed there from the first Nuclear explosion test site.

Any way, from Flagstaff, if you go south towards Phoenix, you can swing into Sedona, which is pretty nice. I've also stopped in Winslow a couple of times as well, even though it's a glorified truck stop of a town.

Later that same year, after driving to Dallas and back, wife, daughter and I did a 7 week roadie up to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier Nat'l Park, Mt. Rushmore, and Badlands Nat'l park. I am biased, but Yellowstone is a place that everyone must see and experience in their respective lifetimes.

 

[LAKINGSFAN]

If there's historical nostalgia involved on an extended roadie, I'm always down. Couple of years ago, me, my daughter, and my dad drove from SoCal to Dallas to visit one of my brothers, due to he & his wife having my nephew. Took the 10 the whole way. Did stop in Tombstone, AZ, just to say I've been there. Spent the night in Las Cruces, NM, then got up the next morning and finished the drive. Got caught in a sand/wind storm coming out of El Paso, then caught up to a storm about an hour or so west of Aberdeen, and stayed in the storm all the way to my brothers in McKinney. After a few days with my brothers, we drove up to Sayre, OK to visit more family, spent the night and then drove to Flagstaff on the 40. Did stop in Albequerque. Have an aunt there. But looked up and found the house used as Walter White's house in Breaking Bad. Owner is kind of a dick though, even though I can understand to a degree. Guess he was having an issue of people throwing whole pizzas on the roof of his garage (if you've seen the show, you know the reference). So even though I'm trying to take a selfie from 100 feet away, dude stands obnoxiously out on his driveway making a point to obstruct my picture. But I've also always wanted to drive out to Ft. Sumner, NM to visit the Billy The Kid gravesite. Also, now that it has become more focused on, also Trinity, NM, where there is a monument placed there from the first Nuclear explosion test site.

Any way, from Flagstaff, if you go south towards Phoenix, you can swing into Sedona, which is pretty nice. I've also stopped in Winslow a couple of times as well, even though it's a glorified truck stop of a town.

Later that same year, after driving to Dallas and back, wife, daughter and I did a 7 week roadie up to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier Nat'l Park, Mt. Rushmore, and Badlands Nat'l park. I am biased, but Yellowstone is a place that everyone must see and experience in their respective lifetimes.

That sounds like an awsome trip. I have always wanted to go to Tombstone but I heard that it is now basically a tourist trap. Billy the Kids gravesite would also be a cool place to visit if I was going to be around the area. I dont think I could justify the drive for just that. LOL