On October 13th the buzzer sounded at Staples Center, the scoreboard read 0-3 in favor of the road team and the Kings where 0-3 to start the year. These were not three close game either, the Kings had been outplayed and outscored 12- 2 in their first three games, all at home, of the 2015 campaign. With two games left in a five game home stand to start the year another loss or two may have been catastrophic for the Kings’ Season.
Now the Kings stand at a disappointing but respectable 2-3 on the year and have a two game winning streak heading into Thursday’s tilt in San Jose.
What is changed? Let’s start with the offense.
From the second the trade that brought Milan Lucic to LA was announced he has been slated to be on the top line with Kopitar and Gaborik. 3 games into the year and 0 points to show, Lucic has been moved to the 2nd line with Carter and Taffoli where he has looked much more comfortable. It’s understandable why he may be looking more comfy on the 2nd line. The expectation to come into a new organisation, pair with two world-class players and succeed right off the bat, added with a contract year and all the talk about his diminishing numbers, sounds like a fair amount of pressure for a 27 year old. I wouldn’t count out seeing him back on the 1st line but getting a chance to remove the spotlight from him, learn the system and gain some confidence may not be the worst thing for Milan.
Dustin Brown, whom Lucic was supposed to relieve from his top unit duty, has found his way back to the 1st line. Whatever Dustin’s magic off-season conditioning plan was, it seems to have given him a nice jump to start the year.
Dustin Brown… You stud you.
For now, “That 70’s Line” is no more. Tanner Pearson has given up his spot on the second line to Lucic (#17) and has been moved to the third unit with with Nick Shore and Trevor Lewis. A nickname for this line is still pending.
The anticipated debut of Jordan Weal was very uneventful. He finished with a minus one, zero shots on net in a bit over 7:30 worth of ice time in the second game of the year vs the Coyotes. He has not been back in the lineup since, though he did practice with the 3rd pairing at practice on Wednesday. It would be interesting to see how Weal performs in a top 6 roll if the opportunity becomes available.
Sutter was not content on just shuffling the O, the majority of the credit for the turnaround may be owed to the changes on D.
The Kings surrendered 5 Goals to San Jose, 4 to Arizona and 3 to Vancouver in a very ugly looking start to the year. Following back to back games of only surrendering 1 goal to the Wild and then the Avalanche the D looks to be back on track.
Since the departure of Rob Scuderi we have seen Jake Muzzin consistently paired with Drew Doughty. Three straight less than stellar performances by Muzzin has prompted a change. He has since been moved to a pairing with Alec Martinez and for whatever reason has looked better.
Matt Greene, Martinez’s usually partner has been dealing with an “upper-body” injury and is slowly working his way back into game shape.
I love Greener but watching him get beat numerous times, while clutching and grabbing his way to the penalty box, may be an indication that he has not fully recovered from the injury that kept him out of the end of preseason.
Brayden McNabb started the year as a healthy scratch but has gotten an opportunity to get into the lineup and now has been moved to the first pairing with Drew. McNabb has played solid since his promotion to the first unit and has earned time on the PK. McNabb is 6’5”, 24 years old and already has 112 NHL games under his belt. If the kid from Saskatchewan with the left handed shot can be a good compliment to Doughty it would go a long way in pushing the Kings towards a successful season.
Get to know Brayden McNabb, Hockey player, farmer, concussion survivor.
The Kings have taken a very patient approach with their 2010 first round pick, Derek Forbort, and after 3 years in North Dakota, 2 full seasons in Manchester and 3 very long games as a healthy scratch he has gotten a chance to skate on the Kings 2nd pairing with Christian Ehrhoff. So far he has been worth the wait. The 6’4’’ American (born in Duluth, Minnesota) has looked comfortable in his roll and seems to be able to handle the speed of the game at the NHL level. He has played about 10 minutes a game while posting an even plus minus and adding some athleticism to the Kings D.
You got to give it to the rookie. He has the generic hockey interview down.
It will be interesting to see how Jordan Weal plays into this whole mess, especially when Dwight King returns. Weal is in the last year of his contract and if he isn’t earning P.T. maybe he is the asset the kings look to package at some point this season for a classic Lombardi Trade Special.
See you in the cheap seats!
-JD Dorfman
PuckTheDucks 