haroldsnepsts

I didn't see the game but he played over 21 minutes tonight. More than everyone but Dekeyser. Maybe Babcock was testing the kid?

I honestly still don't know. Playing one good game has not been Mrazek's problem. So you either start him and hope he can manage to play several good games in a row, which he's never done. Or start Howard and hope he stops letting in brutally bad goals throughout the course of an otherwise good game. Pick your poison.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 55m55 minutes ago Babcock confirms Mrazek starting. Said that doesn't mean he's the playoff goalie Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 54m54 minutes ago Kronwall, Smith. Datsyuk, Zetterberg out tonight

I'm honestly surprised they called a penalty on Smith rather than just have the faceoff.

The problem is that Mrazek has not been by far the most consistent one. He can't seem to string together two good games. Lately it seems like neither one wants the starting job.

A goalie who can play lights out and steal games? A top Dman who can move the puck, carry it into the zone himself, and throws hip checks? A top center who plays a similar game to Zetterberg but is 6'3" and 225 lbs? A sniper who actually gets the puck on net and is also a good two-way forward? Guys like Nolan and Clifford who pretty regularly drop the gloves, plus half a roster that will fight when called upon? come to the dark side..... MWUAHAHAHAHAH. *cough* ok, right now isn't exactly the best time to follow the Kings but you see what I'm getting at.

That would be hilarious! Yeah they were without Mitchell for all of 2013 due to a knee injury that required surgery. It's why they signed Robyn Regehr, who is a decent d-man, but not Mitchell. Then he may have had a concussion somewhere in there as well? In 2012 he played even more minutes. If I remember correctly he was usually their top pairing at even strength.

Seeing the clip actually makes it not quite as monumentally stupid as I thought. Seems like he thought the puck was headed into the bench and just reached to grab it? Still not a smart play, but not as unbelievable as what Clowe did a couple years ago, which was not penalized.

Definitely. I couldn't remember what stretch he struggle in. Some time earlier in the season I think, but eventually found his form. They started the season well, lost Voynov, then team just never clicked enough to make up for their crappy start outside of another hot streak in February. And they couldn't seem to hang on to a lead, which is familiar. They ended up 19th in Goals per game, and were mediocre at best in other areas. So I do agree, with the parity in the league those kind of numbers aren't going to get you in the postseason.

As I said in another thread. As someone who watches the Kings I think it came down to: -Not re-signing Willie Mitchell. He was an important part of their defense and Cup wins and left a hole in the blueline before the season even started. -Which made losing Voynov an even bigger loss than it would've been. There was also the cap issue until the league changed their ruling. But for at least a handful of games I think they couldn't even dress a full roster and had to make some odd moves and call a kid up from the minors based mostly on his salary. -Some key players not producing, like Richards. It was apparent last season he was declining. Lombardi gave him a chance to turn it around. He didn't. That also contributed to the cap problems. -The Kings being a team that struggles to score as it is, and having played a ton of hockey in the last three years.

Mitchell played 20 minutes a night last season and was a stabilizing force for that blueline. No Mitchell, then no Voynov, then losing Martinez in February. Throw in some lack of production on a team that already struggles to score goals in the regular season and they were done for. They traded some prospect I'm not familiar with and a conditional first rounder I think.

Honestly when I watched the highlights I had to watch the Montreal feed, and I think they may have misspoke and said Subban with the pass. Or maybe I just flipped them in my mind. Or maybe because he was so slow I thought it was Subban?? Who knows, I'm old and tired. I stand corrected.

I thought it was Subban with the pass that got picked off but Markov chasing Helm down (or trying to)?

You might want to skim Nightfall and my posts about the Kings. We actually watch their games.

It's a tough call because they've both been letting in awful goals even when they play well otherwise. Watching the highlights from tonight's game, Howard made several huge saves. But then let's in a couple brutal ones. I swear it's like he's turned into Fleury. Mrazek seems to play more consistent throughout a game, you just don't know if it'll be consistently good or awful. I still think you have to go with Howard but on a very short leash.

For the last time, talk about the game or at least hockey, not each other. The next person who goes off topic with any posts about "real fans" or anything of the sort is getting suspended.

I actually did tune in just in time to see that. Every once in a while, he has soft hands.

The craziest part about the Clowe play is the Kings were fighting for a playoff spot, he reached over with his stick and broke up an odd man rush. Had they called a penalty I think it would've been a 5 on 3 for the Kings. I could never understand how all the officials on the ice somehow missed him reaching over and breaking up the play. You'd think the officials would be watching the puck. The water thing was unbelievable too. Since it was Thornton the general attitude seemed to be it was all in good fun. I can't imagine the s***storm had it been Subban squirting Thornton from the bench.

Discuss the game, not each other or what constitutes "real fans."

Good lord. I always feared smith may just not have it between the ears, but I never thought he was as stupid as Clowe. (I'm still annoyed Clowe didn't get a penalty or fined for that)

I wasn't able to watch the game tonight. But can someone explain what exactly Smith did to take a penalty? Played the puck with his glove somehow while on the bench?? I guess he should've used his stick. Clowe did that from the bench to break up an odd man rush against the Kings in 2012 and there was no penalty called.

Even nicer since the second longest streak just came to an end at 10 years.

Not buying out Richards was a loyal but bad move by Lombardi. He gave him one last chance to get it together and it didn't happen. More than anything I think it was just the merry go round that was their blueline that hurt them most. Muzzin has definitely been good. But they didn't have the money to re-sign Willie Mitchell in the offseason, so they were already starting in a hole. Then the Voynov thing, which put them in an awful cap position until the league changed their ruling. Then they lost Martinez for a long while. They trade for Sekera then he gets hurt for this last key run. Doughty has been playing a ton of minutes as a result of their thin blueline, which has hampered some of his effectiveness. The team just can't hold a lead to save their life. They went on a tear in January and have been pretty good since, but in a tough conference they couldn't quite do enough to make up for their bad first few months.

And I'm guessing a fair amount of people saying the Kings were the team to beat based it on the fact that they won two out of the last three Cups. I don't know that they would've been the team to beat, but between what happened with Voynov and some injuries, the Kings blueline was pretty decimated this season.

What was the original quote from Babcock again? Did he really call them meaningless? Because Babcock has also referred to working on them. I remember Howard ripping on them in a post game after losing yet another shootout, which is pretty understandable. But that's a long way from meaning they don't work on it. If the Red Wings aren't working on the shootout because Babcock doesn't like them, he deserves to be fired. As does Holland for continuing to employ a coach who refuses to work on something the team sucks at, even though it could cost them making the playoffs and the revenue that goes with it.