Hello Kings fans, it’s been awhile.
I haven’t been around for the last month or so because I got the opportunity to go to Europe and do play-by-play at the World Selects Invitationals. These tournaments involves some of the best 12 to 14-year-olds in hockey, in what could be described as the future of major junior and the NCAA.
My travels took me to Italy, France, and Spain and also took up quite a bit of my time during this period so I could not entirely focus on Kings stuff.
So what did I miss?
Well, right before I left, the Kings were swept by the Vegas Golden Knights and we now live in a world where the Golden Knights are Stanley Cup finalists. For Kings fans, that was frustrating and a bit of a moral let down because the Kings were the more experienced team and, at times, the more complete team during the 2017-18 season.
However, having a couple of weeks to think back on it, this is a movie that has played out before. The Kings lost by a total score of 7-3 and lost games by scores of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2. Both Jonathan Quick and Marc-Andre Fleury were playing at an MVP level where the Golden Knights were able to get on the board early and shut things down.
This was the surprising thing for me during that first round series. Up until Golden Knights series with the Kings, they didn’t strike me as a “shut it down, clog up the neutral zone” type of team. In fact, that describes the Kings more than the Golden Knights.
However, Gerard Gallant’s plan came through perfectly against the Kings, forcing LA to slow down or line up at the offensive blue line and force the puck carrier to go one-on-four in order to enter the zone. This is what caused all those odd man opportunities because while the Kings were standing still trying to enter the zone, the Knights were able to get that long two line pass out behind them.
The Knights ability to play both an offensive minded game and a trap style game is the reason they are where they are. I just didn’t think they had it in them.
So the question now is where do the Kings go from here? To be honest, I’m not entirely sure.
This team has depth up front but they lacked speed. That will be hard to rectify without giving up a key cog in return, and even then, speed is a rare commodity these days. Rob Blake attempted to add it prior to the deadline by getting Tobias Reider but the Kings were not a Reider away from winning this series.
The other factor for the Kings was that their defense was not 100 percent. Jake Muzzin and Derek Forbort both missed time due to injuries while Drew Doughty’s suspension didn’t help matters. This forced some players to play more time and bigger minutes than they’re used or should be playing.
Not starting games on time really killed the Kings in the playoffs, but it didn’t help in the regular season too. When a team gives up the opening goal 50 out of 82 teams, it is a testament of the leadership in the room that they ended up just shy of a 100 point season. LA did that for three of the four playoff games as well, which enabled the Golden Knights to set up the trap early and often.
So it will be interesting to see what Mr. Blake and the rest of the Kings brain trust does in order to shore up this roster, because there is no easy fix.
Lastly, for my finals prediction, I’m going to say Washington Capitals in 6 games over the Golden Knights. I give the forward and defensive corps edge to Washington and a slight victory in net to the Golden Knights. It really depends if Fleury continues to play out of his mind.
I will be back consistently now, so feel free to send comments and reaction either here or on Twitter (@Kirshenblatt).
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»