Game Thread: Los Angeles Kings at Nashville Predators - 10/17/13

[Cobiemonster]

Cup season is over, you're only as good as your last game.

I think a big reason why the team is struggling is actually Penner. Sure, he didn't light it up as much as we wanted him to but he retrieved a lot of pucks against the boards and against big defenders because of his size alone. That created a lot of chances, bought time to get guys in scoring position, etc.

Losing him wasn't that bad of a thing but replacing him with either King or Carcillo was. That LW spot has been a constant pain for LA on and off for years it seems.



As long as the Kings end up with more ROWs than most teams I'll be happy.

The point is, that Kings team you mentioned from a few years back did not have the experience and the Ducks team of last season(while having Getzlaf and Perry) was a little bit younger than previous teams - this Kings team has been through just about every situation as a core, good and bad - this stuff doesn't phase them, they just play the game

As for Penner - I loved him for what he did in big games, but to say it was a big loss, I wouldn't go that far - the bigger loss might be Rob Scuderi, considering that Willie Mitchell has gotten off to a slow start(I'm sure he'll get better as the season goes on)

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I understand the point, I'm essentially saying I hate the SO. Any of these guys here will tell you I have hated it since day 1 and think it's a stupid way to decide a game. Nothing wrong with a tie as I see it.

I'm not overly worried about the Kings right now, they always tend to start off slow it seems and it takes a little while to get rolling. If they are still having to go to OT/SO say at the end of November I will start to be concerned.

Regarding Penner, I was referring to the offense and the LW in particular. It's been a pain in the ass position for LA essentially since Robitaille left for Detroit in 2001. There have been stop gaps (Heinze), some OK players (Frolov), and some busts (Rasmussen) but nothing really has been developed there. I certainly don't think Carcillo or King are the answer and I would take Penner over those two any day of the week (wouldn't you know, dude has 2G/2A in Anaheim already).

Scuderi started losing a step last season but was still a good, solid defender. He left for the same money essentially because he wanted to be closer to home, can't really blame him and he did everything he was asked to do in LA.

Best wishes and thanks for the service but I'd much rather have a slower Scuderi than what the Kings have in Regehr currently.