Archive for the 'Kings' Category

Kings claim Ellis

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 21, 2008
in Kings, Matt Ellis and Roster Moves
. 3 Comments

Update (3:19 PM): The official site has more, including quotes from Babcock and Ellis’ former teammates, here.

Also, IwoCPO suggests this is evidence that Ken Holland is up to something. - Matt

Ryan Doherty reports that the LA Kings claimed Matt Ellis off the waivers today.

Rarely do the Wings make personnel moves that deserve overt criticism, but this is one such instance. Yesterday, I attempted to keep a positive outlook on the move, assuming Ellis would clear waivers and would be able to return to Grand Rapids. The risk of his being claimed seemed small. I should have known better.

I have to wonder what the Wings were thinking by not taking another strategy to get Ellis to Grand Rapids. Say a two-week conditioning stint. It worked for Meech and certainly would have been justifiable for Ellis given the fact that he’s cracked the lineup just four times over the past 19 games.

Ellis was a real asset to this organization, much more so than Hartigan, and I’m sorry to see him go.  The guy built a reputation as one of the hardest-working players in the system and the reward he gets is being cast off. If the Wings did this as a favor to help him get to a team that could use him more, that’s nice, I suppose. You still hate to see the guy have to uproot his young family and move 3/4 the way across the country.

Good luck with LA, Matt.

GameDay: vs. Los Angeles (22-30-3, 47 Pts) 7:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 7, 2008
in 2007-2008, GameDay and Kings
. 1 Comment

Update (5:15 PM): The Kings have placed Rob Blake on the IR. - Matt

Update (2:56 PM): Rudy Kelly of The Battle of California has posted his preview of the game. - Matt

Update (1:21 PM): Via NHL Media: Mike Hasenfratz (30) and Steve Kozari (40) will referee the game tonight, and Scott Cherry (50) and Mike Cvic (88) will  man the lines. - Matt

Update (1:16 PM): A couple GDTs:

- Matt
Tonight the LA Kings and the Detroit Red Wings meet for the fourth and final time this season. Detroit leads the series 3-0, with wins October 14th (4-1), December 19th (6-2), and January 22nd (3-0).

The Kings are 3-1-1 since January 22nd, with their only losses coming to Philadelphia (3-2 OT) on the 29th and  New Jersey (6-3) on February 2nd. They rebounded from their loss to the Wings with a 3-1 win over the Ducks on the 24th and beat the Islanders 3-1 two days after losing to the Flyers. On Tuesday, they defeated the Rangers 4-2. They are four games into an eight-game stretch of road game, seven of which are after the All Star Break.

LA is fifth in the Pacific Division and last in the League. They are two points behind Tampa Bay.

Anze Kopitar leads the Kings with 50 points. His 21 goals are second-best to Dustin Brown’s 24. Three other Kings have 10 or more goals: Cammalleri (15), Alexander Frolov (13), and Patrick O’Sullivan (12).

The Free Press lists Rob Blake (ankle) as out and Kevin Dallman (foot) and Ladislav Nagy (neck) as questionable for tonight. Blake suffered a broken ankle on January 15th, but played through it for six games before going down for two weeks at the start of the month. The Kings put Nagy on the IR on Tuesday while activating forward Mike Cammalleri.

Jason LaBarbera should get the start tonight. If he does, he’ll be backed up by the newly-recalled Dan Cloutier.

For the Kings’ perspective, see The Battle of California,  Inside the Kings,  Hockeywood Tonight,  Purple Crushed Velvet, and  A Queen Among Kings.

The Wings are 5-0-0 since January 22nd with wins over Anaheim, Phoenix, Colorado, Boston, and Minnesota. They have won eight in a row.

Detroit leads the League with a 41-10-4 record through 55 games.

The Wings have three 20 or more goal scorers: Henrik Zetterberg (31), Tomas Holmstrom (20) and Dan Cleary (20). Pavel Datsyuk is not far behind with 18. Johan Franzen joined the 10 or more goals club Tuesday with his 10th of the season. Brian Rafalski (10), Jiri Hudler (11), and Valtteri Filppula (15) round out the Wings’ double-digit scorers. As the Freep points out today, Hudler is goalless in nine and pointless in six.

Niklas Kronwall (shoulder) is the team’s only injured player. Derek Meech will fill in once again.

There should be no changes to the lineup tonight.

Projected lines (via Red Wings Corner):

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Hudler-Filppula-Cleary
Kopecky-Franzen-Samuelsson
Drake-Draper-Maltby

As usual, expect some mixing as the game goes on.

Projected pairings:

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Lebda-Lilja
Meech-Chelios

I expect Chris Osgood to get the start tonight.

For more of the Wings’ perspective, see Snapshots, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, Red Wings Nation, yzerman is god, Detroit Hockey, LetsGoWings, and Winging It In Motown.

Todd has his game-day numbers posted.

This is a key game for the Wings, who must demonstrate that they can maintain concentration even when playing an opponent as low in the standings as the Kings. LA has been strong lately and a win cannot be taken for granted.  If Detroit takes this game seriously, the Kings don’t stand a chance. If the Wings are complacent, however, LA could make a statement.

GameDay: @ St. Louis (16-12-2, 34 Pts) 8:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 20, 2007
in Blues, Game Reports, GameDay and Kings
. 0 Comments

Update (8:38 PM): According to Ted Kulfan, Chris Chelios isn’t thrilled about having to sit tonight, despite the fact that it’s been the Wings’ plan all along. While I understand Cheli’s frustration and think it’s great that he wants to play every game, it seems to me that Derek Meech deserves a game every once and a while.

It’s an unfortunate situation for the young defenseman, who can’t be sent down to Grand Rapids without having to clear waivers, but can’t crack the Wings’ blueline due to a very deep top-6. I’m sure Meech is proud to be a part of the organization, but this situation has to be frustrating for him, on some level, at least. As much as I’d hate to lose him, you have to wonder if maybe it wouldn’t be better for his career if the Wings’ did waive him and allow another team to take him.

Also, he isn’t necessarily a lock to become a regular next season, despite the fact that Andreas Lilja’s contract is up this year. As much as the fans revile the big Swede, the front office seems to value him and I think they’d likely try to re-sign him. With Chelios and Lidstrom locks to re-sign and Lilja also likely to return, Meech would once again be relegated to the backburner.

That’s without accounting for Kyle Quincey and Jonathan Ericsson. Anyone know how much longer they can shuttle back and forth between the AHL and NHL without having to clear waivers? I haven’t been able to find a quick answer on that.

Be sure to check out Nathan’s excellent post on the Chris Simon suspension over at HockeyTownTodd. - Matt

Update (6:02 PM): According to Bruce MacLeod, Kris Draper will play tonight, despite an earlier report that said he’d only play in one of the two back-to-back games. If you’re looking for actual quotes from Draper, see Ansar Khan’s post on the same topic.

Aaron Downey will sit out another game. I’d completely forgotten that earlier report on Draper, which is why I neglected to mention it below.

MacLeod also says that Chris Chelios will be a healthy scratch tonight in favor of Derek Meech. The Wings are sticking to their plan of not playing Cheli on consecutive nights through the first half of the season. - Matt

Tonight is the third of eight games between these two Central Division teams this season. The series is tied 1-1, with the Blues having won the November 13th meeting 4-3 and  the Wings winning November 21st, 3-0. They’ll face each other twice more this month (the 26th and 31st) before wrapping things up with three games in March.

The Blues rebounded from being blanked by the Wings last month with three wins in a row and an overtime loss to finish out November. Since then, however, they are just 2-4-1.  Their only wins this month have come against the Blackhawks on the 1st (3-1) and the Oilers on the 7th (4-3). Two nights after their win over Edmonton, they dropped a 9-5 decision in Colorado. After that, it was a 5-4 shootout loss to the visiting Oilers. Their remaining losses came to Florida (1-0) and Calgary (5-3). They have not played since Sunday, so once again the Wings are facing a rested team as they play their second game in two nights.

Brad Boyes leads the Blues in goals with 19, but Paul Kariya leads in points with 29 (21A). Boyes is the only Blue to have scored 10 or more goals, though Kariya is not far behind with eight. The newest member of the team, Andy MacDonald, has only five goals, but he scored one in his debut on Sunday and notched an assist.

It looks like the Blues will just be without forward Mike Johnson (hip).

Former Red Wing Manny Legace should be in the net for St. Louis. Manny has posted a 2.25 GAA and .916 save-percentage so far this season. He gave up four goals Sunday, but has beaten the Wings the last three times he’s played them in St. Louis.

For the Blues perspective, see Note Speak, St. Louis Game Time, The Hockey Chick, and The Checking Line.

The Wings are coming off a pretty decisive win over the last-place LA Kings last night. They quickly allayed any fears that they’d play down to the level of an underachieving team by jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the 10:00 mark. For a brief period at the end of the first and the start of the second, they allowed the Kings to get back into the game, as LA tied it up, but they soon took the lead again and never looked back.

Five different players scored for the Wings last night, which is a good sign for those of us who are concerned about their secondary scoring. Henrik Zetterberg started the team out with a nice shot off the feed from Nick Lidstrom and Jiri Hudler followed up a little over six minutes later with his 8th of the year. Tomas Holmstrom put the Wings up 3-2 just over three minutes after the Kings tied it with a bit of a garbage goal. Dan Cleary knocked home is 11th of the year eight minutes later. Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula finished  up the scoring in the third with their fifth and eighth goals, respectively.

Kris Draper played only 14:15 in his return from a knee sprain, but I thought he looked good out there. The only remaining injured Red Wing is Kirk Maltby, who may be back for the New Year’s Eve Blues game.

Dominik Hasek looked a little weak on the Kings’ second goal in particular last night, but ended up with 18 saves. He’ll be “backing up” Chris Osgood tonight, though he won’t see the ice in anything less than an emergency.

For more of the Wings’ perspective, be sure to stop by Snapshots, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, Red Wings Nation, yzerman is god, and Winging It In Motown. HockeyTownTodd already has some pre-game comments posted.

The Wings can’t expect to have the same success on the power play that they had last night, when they went 3-for-5 with the man-advantage. The Blues are the second-best penalty killing team in the League at 87.3% and their 142 times shorthanded is good for 20th in the League (compare to Anahiem’s 207, which puts them at first, and the Wings’ 168, which is second-most). So, they don’t take a ton of penalties and they’re good at killing off those that they do take. The Wings should, of course, take advantage of what power play opportunities they are given, but they’re more likely going to have to score at even strength.

It was good to see the Wings dominate the Kings, as it bodes well for tonight The Blues have had a rough December, but they remain a dangerous team and if the Wings had gone into tonight playing they have recently, they would have been in for an upset. If, however, last night is any indication, they are at least on the road back to their “A” game, maybe somewhere between “B-plus” and “A-minus.”

The problem, of course, is that the Blues are both rested and fast, while the Wings will be tired from their game last night and from travel. Because of that, we can expect at least some trouble. The Blues are looking to this game to help them get out of the slump they’ve been in, so you can bet that they’re taking tonight seriously.

Hopefully, the Wings will be able to weather the storm at the start, a task that will be made easier by the presence of a rested Chris Osgood between the pipes. If they can balance a defensive stand with a couple early goals, that would go a long way in taking the wind out of the Blues’ sails, and all that will be left is to hold their lead. If they can’t do that and the Blues get ahead, it’ll be difficult for the Wings to stage a comeback later in the game as their energy level drops. Not impossible, but difficult.

GameDay: vs. Los Angeles (12-20-2, 26 Pts) 7:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 19, 2007
in 2007-2008, GameDay and Kings
. 3 Comments

Update (7:33 PM): Thanks to Brian for leaving the following comment:

 Just an FYI. The NHL Center Ice Online portal was updated in the past 48 hours so that may be affecting your NHL TV link. When I watched the Penguins game last night, it was significantly different. They added some features like a chat room and some other bells and whistles. Could be they found that back way into the system and closed the loop hole.

We’ll see what happens, but it does look like NHL TV won’t be an option any more. - Matt

Update (7:27 PM):  The NHL TV link does not appear to be working, so if you’re an out-of-market fan, you can try watching it on Yahoo! here.

Fans in the Detroit area, and probably the rest of Michigan, will be blacked out, but if you have FSN Detroit, that won’t be a problem. (thanks to IwoCPO for the link) - Matt

Update (7:10 PM): If you don’t have the NHL Network or FSN Detroit, try this link out. I can’t guarantee it’ll work, however, as it isn’t working for me like I expect it to at the moment. I’m getting an error pop-up rather than a “The game is starting, please wait”-type message. - Matt

Update (6:52 PM): Looks like the NHL Network has taken the game at the expense of Center Ice subscribers, so if you’re an out-of-market fan and don’t have the Network, you may be out of luck. If, however, NHL TV is showing the game as I expect it will, you can look for a link here as soon as I get it. - Matt

Update (6:47 PM): Helene St. James confirms that Aaron Downey will sit tonight in favor of Kris Draper. - Matt

Tonight is the second of four games between these two teams this season. The Wings lead the series 1-0 after their 4-1 win on October 14th. The remaining games will be played January 22nd in LA and February 7th in Detroit.

The last-place Kings are 2-7-1 thus far in December. Their two wins came against Buffalo on the 6th and Vancouver on the 10th. Since beating the Canucks, they’ve dropped four straight, beginning with a 6-3 loss to Chicago. The next night, they lost to Dallas; two nights later it was Minnesota; and two nights after that, it was Colorado. Tonight’s game is the first of a three-stop road trip that will take the Kings to Columbus and Nashville next. They are 4-9-1 on the road.

LA is lead offensively by Anze Kopitar, who has 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points. Not far behind are Dustin Brown (15-13-28) and Mike Cammaleri (14-14-28). Lubomir Visnovsky has just one goal, but has notched 18 assists. Alexander Frolov’s 16 assists put him at third, but six players have scored more than his four goals.

14-point man Ladislav Nagy (hip flexor) is out tonight.

Jason LaBarbera returned from a rib injury Monday night and stopped 36 shots en route to a 4-2 loss to the Avs. Despite his 6-10-1 record, he’s managed to put up a respectable 2.59 GAA and .917 save-percentage. It looks as though we’ll see him tonight rather than J.S. Aubin.

For the Kings’ perspective, see The Battle of California,  Inside the Kings,  Hockeywood Tonight,  Purple Crushed Velvet, and  A Queen Among Kings.

The Wings are 7-0-1 in December, with their only loss coming in a 4-3 shootout decision with the Oilers on the 13th.  They haven’t been playing their best hockey for the last week and a half or so, but nonetheless have continued to pull out wins.

The slide in their play was first noticeable in their 5-2 win over Carolina on the 9th, a game in which the score was not indicative of how close the game actually was. They just were not as dominant as they had been against Minnesota and Montreal. The next night, a tired-looking Red Wings team survived a third period push by the Nashville Predators and won 2-1. On the 13th, they were lucky to earn a point against a young and rough Oilers team in one of their most underwhelming performances of the season. Against Florida on the 15th, they played down to the Panther’s level somewhat and were unable to control the game. Finally, in their most recent game, they were largely out-played by a Capitals team that clearly wanted to make a statement. They are playing “B” grade hockey, not the “A” grade stuff they have shown so often this season.

Tonight is the last of a four-game homestand. They will hit the road after the game tonight and will face St. Louis tomorrow to kick off a five-game trip.

Tomas Holmstrom scored two goals in his return from a knee injury, bringing is total to 16.  Only Henrik Zetterberg has more goals, with 24. Two of the Wings’ defensemen have 20 or more assists but have yet to score five goals: Nick Lidstrom (3G, 26A) and Brian Rafalski (4G, 23A).

Kris Draper will return to the lineup tonight after missing nine games with a knee sprain. My guess is Aaron Downey will be a healthy scratch to make room for him. Kirk Maltby (back) is still out.

Dominik Hasek will start tonight. Chris Osgood will be the starter tomorrow night.

For more of the Wings’ perspective, see Snapshots, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Gloveside, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, Red Wings Nation, yzerman is god, and Winging It In Motown.

Hopefully the Wings will use this game to fine-tune their game heading into a tough road trip. The Kings are having a rough season, but they have the talent to make life difficult for teams and if the Wings float into this game as they have over the past week and a half, they’ll be in for a fight. I’d like to see the Wings play their trademark puck possession style and shut down the Kings completely. Will it happen? I can’t tell you.

GameDay: @ Anaheim (2-4-1, 5 Pts) 10:00 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on October 15, 2007
in 2007-2008, Ducks, Game Reports, GameDay and Kings
. 2 Comments

Because I did not take notes on the game last night, I’m going to skip the full recap and jump right into the preview for tonight’s game, with some thoughts on the win over LA included. Be sure to check out Dave’s recap over at Gorilla Crouch.

Tonight is the second of four games between Detroit and Anaheim this season. The Wings won the first game, 3-2 in a shootout on October 3rd. The loser of this game will have to wait until January 23rd to get revenge.

Since losing to the Wings, the Ducks have posted a 1-3-0 record. They lost on October 5th to the Blue Jackets and fell to the Penguins the next night before rebounding with a win over Boston on October 10th. They were shut out by the Minnesota Wild last night, losing 2-0. Needless to say, it has not been an auspicious start for the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

The Ducks had one player return to the lineup last night, but lost another to injury. JS Giguere made his debut and posted 23 saves, but Todd Bertuzzi took a hit from Derek Boogaard and did not return. The LA Times is reporting that Bertuzzi suffered a concussion, but it’s also possible that his back was re-injured on the play.

Giguere should get his second straight start tonight.

The Wings have gone 3-1-1 since beating the Ducks in their opener. Both loses came to Chicago, 4-3 in a shootout on the 6th and 3-2 in regulation on the 12th. They beat Edmonton (4-2) and Calgary (4-2) between their loses. Last night, they beat a weak LA team, 4-1. The Kings, while dangerous offensively, struggle in their own end and they were saved from a blowout by a combination of dumb luck, the at times average play of the Red Wings, and the play of their 19-year-old goalie, Jonathan Bernier. The Kings’ ineptitude with can be seen in the fact that they were credited with 27 giveaways last night, compared to the Wings’ 10. It was really quite pathetic how easy it was for the Wings to strip the puck. In the other hand, the Wings had a little too much trouble with a team they should have steamrolled. The Kings offense forced Osgood to make a number of big stops and the Wings at times narrowly escaped losing their lead.

The big line of Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Tomas Holmstrom stood out in a big way again last night, posting 8 of the teams 9 points. They continue to make it difficult to justify separating the line into two. Bill at Abel to Yzerman says we need to think of a name for the line. Any ideas?

Mikael Samuelsson was out with a groin injury and his replacement, Aaron Downey, helped spark the Wings’ fourth line to an impressive showing. Matt Ellis, Dallas Drake, and Downey gave the Kings fits, especially in the first period, and showed great chemistry. There’s a possibility that Samuelsson could return to the ice tonight, but if he doesn’t, the Wings will have a great energy line to create headaches for the Ducks.

Dominik Hasek will start tonight. It’s a bit of an odd choice, given that he won’t be able to go through is full pre-game regimen because the team won’t have their normal pre-game practice, having played last night.

This is the Wings’ first big test of the season. The Ducks are struggling at the moment, but they’ll be on their home turf and didn’t have to fly across the country to get there. The Wings generally don’t do well on back-to-back games in general, and seem to have special trouble when out West. They’ll be in trouble if they start taking a lot of penalties because of fatigue. Hopefully, the early start last night will have helped them settle in out there. Should be an interesting game.

GameDay: @ Los Angeles (1-4-0, 2 Pts) 8:00 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on October 14, 2007
in 2007-2008, GameDay and Kings
. 3 Comments

Update (7:35 PM): via Red Wings pre-game on FSN:  Mikael Samuelsson is out with a groin injury. He could return sometime during the trip. In the meantime, Aaron Downey (#20) will get some playing time. - Matt

Tonight is the first of four games between these two teams this season. The Wings won last year’s series, 3-1. The remaining three games will be played in December, January, and February.

The Kings have dropped four in a row since winning their opener September 29 in London, 4-1 over the Ducks. They lost the second of the London miniseries, 4-1 and returned home to lose to the Blues on October 6, 5-3. The Stars wiped them out, 5-1, four days later in Dallas and then they dropped another home game, 8-6 to Boston. Tonight’s game is the second in a three-game homestand that began against the Bruins.

Former Michigan star Mike Cammalleri and Anze Kopitar lead the Kings with 7 points each. Kyle Calder has just one goal thus far this season and is a minus-2, averaging 13:29 in ice time.

The Kings have used two goalies this season, with rookie Jonathan Bernier starting three times and Jason LaBarbera twice. Bernier has a GAA of 4.04, but given that he’s 19 years old, that isn’t really that bad. LaBarbera’s 4.50 GAA, on the other hand, is bad. It looks like he’ll be the one in net tonight, as Bernier started against the Bruins.

The Wings lost for the first time in regulation Friday night, dropping a game to the Chicago Blackhawks for the second time this season. They had a two-game win streak going after beating the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames earlier in the week. Tonight is the first stop in a four-game road trip. The team will be in Anaheim tomorrow night before heading up to San Jose Thursday. After that, they’ll head to Phoenix Saturday before flying home.

The only injury at the moment is Johan Franzen. The only lineup change that could be considered likely is a defensive one, as Mike Babcock could possibly decide that Andreas Lilja has made enough mistakes for the time being. In that case, Derek Meech would get the nod. That’s more wishful thinking than anything else, though.

Chris Osgood will be in net tonight and Dominik Hasek will start tomorrow against the Ducks.

The Kings are a struggling team at the moment and that puts the Wings in prime position to start their trip off right. They shouldn’t take LA for granted, though, as they do have talent and could use it. The Wings just need to play their game and come out with a win or tomorrow night will be that much harder.

Wings 3, Kings 2 (OT)

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 10, 2007
in 2006-2007, Andreas Lilja, Brett Lebda, Danny Markov, Game Reports, Henrik Zetterberg, Injuries, Johan Franzen, Kings, Matt Ellis and Mikael Samuelsson
. 0 Comments

I didn’t take notes on the game, so I can only offer a few thoughts, not a comprehensive summary.

… Big story of the night: Johan Franzen left the game in the second period, not long after Pavel Datsyuk scored to make it 1-1, and did not return. According to Helene St. James, he didn’t practice yesterday due to the same injury (contradicting Babcock’s “Mule’s fine” comment) but apparently he felt good to go before the game.

Hopefully Franzen’s not going to be out for long because he was a big loss against the Kings. His tendency to shoot first, ask questions later, would have come in handy at some points later in the game.

Also, you may have noticed Danny Markov was missing from the lineup. According to St. James, he’s not hurt, he was just being given the night off, in favor of Andreas Lilja, who was in need of some playing time.

… The Wings came out flat and paid for it as the Kings took a one-goal lead in the first period. A bad turnover by Niklas Kronwall led directly to the goal, and it was too early in his return to expect Dominik Hasek to be 100% sharp on the play, especially after Kronwall failed to clear the net. Not Nik’s best game by a long shot.

The team as a whole looked out of sync for much of the first half of the game, whereas the Kings were battling hard and earning their lead.

… One positive thing was that there were few penalties called, so the flow of the game wasn’t disrupted so much. Only two penalties in the first two periods combined, followed by three in the third. Of course, the final call was an unfortunate one as it put the Wings on a 4-on-3 penalty kill to start overtime.

… Sean Burke was steady the whole game, though to be honest, he didn’t have to shine all that often. The Wings put 54 shots on net but the majority of them were low percentage perimeter shots or C-grade offensive chances. Not to take anything away from Burke, he had a great game. But the Wings did not put on their best performance offensively. The Kings, to their credit, put up a pretty good stand on the defensive side, though, which contributed to the Wings’ offensive hiccups.

… I noticed Matt Ellis a lot tonight. The man was obviously pumped from becoming a father, as he was everywhere when on the ice. He finished with only 8:22 in ice-time, but came close to scoring his first NHL goal a number of times.

… Good to see Brett Lebda channel Bobby Orr and/or Paul Coffey on his (literally) coast-to-coast goal in the third. Brett’s got the best wheels on the team, I think, and showed he’s got some great hands to go with them with that impressive finish. One of the top highlight reel goals of the season for both the Wings and the League, I’d say.

… Late in the third, the Wings had a power play but got far too cute in their attempts at scoring. They had Burke beat down low multiple times but made two or three too many passes and blew their chances.

… Nice penalty by Robert Lang at the end of regulation. I was a bit surprised when Mike Babcock put Andreas “Relative Pylon” Lilja out there with Chris Chelios and Kris Draper for the 4-on-3 penalty kill in OT. Fortunately, Lilja played it well and my fears were unnecessary.

… Nice give and go by Mikael Samuelsson and Pavel Datsyuk for the game winner. Poor Aaron Miller had no chance to defend the play, having committed to Datsyuk just as Pavel dished it right back to Samuelsson for the slam dunk.

Of course, I look foolish for saying in my preview Samuelsson probably wouldn’t figure much into the game. I admit it. I was surprised. He looked good in his return, though he looks real good for having scored a goal handed to him on a silver platter by Datsyuk. Hopefully it was just the first in a series of goals for Sammy.

… The win put the Wings one point behind Nashville in the Central Division title race. They have one more game in hand, Sunday’s matchup with Boston, before the big mid-March home-and-home showdown.

… Also, Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond said not to expect Henrik Zetterberg or Todd Bertuzzi back until after the team’s trip to Vancouver and Calgary later this month, saying that the Wings would probably rather not have the two make the six hour flight out there with their backs having just healed. If they’re right, that would mean a March 22nd return, at the earliest.

GameDay: vs. Los Angeles (22-34-11, 55 Pts) 7:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 9, 2007
in 2006-2007, GameDay and Kings
. 5 Comments

Update (4:45 PM): Thanks to Justin in the comments for pointing out an error below on Mike Cammalleri’s assist totals. The former UM star has 40 helpers so far this season, not 50. I was so intent on calling his and Datsyuk’s numbers comparable that I misread the columns in the NHL.com preview in the process of switching back and forth between tabs. It’s their point totals that are similar, obviously, not so much the assists.  Sorry about that. - Matt

Update (1:05 PM): Helene St. James reports that Valtteri Filppula, Johan Franzen, Josh Langfeld and Matt Ellis did not practice yesterday. She quotes Mike Babcock,

“Fil’s fine, Mule’s fine and Langfeld had to go get his stuff [from Grand Rapids]. So they’re all playing.”

That bit about Langfeld is just more confirmation that he’s with the team for the long haul, as he cannot return to the Griffins.

As for Ellis, he had the day off because his wife gave birth to their first child, a son they’ve named Matthew Hayden Ellis, Wednesday night. Congratulations to the Ellis’s! - Matt

Tonight is the fourth and final game between these two teams this season. The Wings lead the series 2-1, with wins October 16th (3-1) and December 31st (6-2). The Kings won the most recent meeting 4-2, on January 6th.

After posting a miserable 3-8-1 record in January, the Kings have gone a slightly more respectable 5-4-5 in February and March. Still, they have lost their last three and have earned a point in only one of those games, their most recent, a 3-2 overtime decision on Wednesday. Their last win streak came from February 24th to March 1st, a stretch in which they beat two teams, Colorado and Anaheim, both of which were visiting. The Kings have one of the worst road records in the league at 9-20-3, but will be looking to improve that on the third stop of a four-game roadtrip.

The Kings are currently last in the Conference, but only 29th in the League. They are just two points behind Phoenix for 28th.

Mike Cammalleri is the team’s leading scorer with 50 40 assists and 67 points, numbers comparable to Pavel Datsyuk’s 50 assists and 70 points. Alexander Frolov leads the team in goals with 33, which equals Henrik Zetterberg’s total to this point.

The Kings will be without top defenseman Rob Blake, who is out with a groin injury.

Sean Burke should be in net tonight for the Kings. Mathieu Garon was the starter Wednesday night for the second game of a back-to-back.

Unlike LA, the Wings have had winning records in January (8-5-1), February (8-2-2), and March (2-0-1). They have won two of their last three, with the first coming over Chicago on the 2nd, and the second coming over Nashville on Tuesday. They lost in overtime to Colorado on Sunday. Tonight’s game is the fourth in a five-game homestand for the Wings, who will play Boston on Sunday before traveling to Nashville to play the Predators on Tuesday.

The Wings are currently fourth in the Conference, three points behind Nashville, who beat Calgary 6-3 last night, with two games in hand.

Dominik Hasek is slated to return tonight after missing a week with a sore thigh. Chris Osgood will back him up, if Dom does actually start. Ted Kulfan reports that Babcock will make a decision on Dom’s status after practice.

Mikael Samuelsson is also expected to play tonight. He’s been out since January 20th with a broken foot. Expect him to see time on the second line with Robert Lang and Kyle Calder, perhaps switching out with Johan Franzen. Don’t expect Sammy to have a big impact since he still has to work up to full game shape. His status also depends on how he looks in practice today.

The rest of the Wings’ injured players remain out: Tomas Holmstrom (upper body), Henrik Zetterberg (back), Todd Bertuzzi (back).

Tonight’s an important game for the Wings, who need to maintain their focus and not become complacent even though they’re playing the team with the worst record in the Conference. The Kings have little to lose and will certainly play with heart. The Wings need to do the same in order to keep a high level of competition down the stretch. They can’t just show up for games with Nashville.

Be aware, however, that they have a chance at beating a season high standard for consecutive games with a point earned. Win, or lose in extra time, tonight and they’ll have a point in 10 straight games. If you’re like me, you keep your hopes low on these types of nights because the Wings oftentimes have ways of falling short of their own records.

Norstrom, Smyth moved

Published
by
Megan Hirdes
on February 27, 2007
in Islanders, Kings, Mathias Norstrom, Oilers, Ryan Smyth and Stars
. 1 Comment

The Los Angeles Kings have dealt their captain, Matthias Norstrom, to the Dallas Stars, according to TSN. Not sure yet what they got in return. Norstrom has 2 goals and 9 points in 62 games this season.

The bigger news is that the Edmonton Oilers were unable to resign their star. Spector’s cites Newsday as saying that Ryan Smyth has been traded to the New York Islanders for two prospects (Ryan O’Marra and Robert Nilsson) and a first round pick.

LA Kings finally rid of Avery

Published
by
Megan Hirdes
on February 5, 2007
in Kings, Rangers and Sean Avery
. 4 Comments

Spector’s, Kuklas Korner and TSN are all reporting that Sean Avery is headed to the Rangers. The deal is Sean Avery and a prospect to New York in exchange for Jason Ward and two prospects. Sean Avery has 10 goals and 18 assists this season for 28 points in 55 games. The prospect the Kings gave up is John Seymour. Seymour plays for the Brampton Battalion of the OHL. He is described as a one-dimensional player. He was drafted in the 7th round of the 2005 draft. Jason Ward has 4 goals, 6 assists and 10 points in 46 games. The Rangers gave up prospects Marc-Andre Cliche and Jan Marek. Cliche plays for the Lewiston MAINEiacs of the QMJHL. He won a gold medal with at the World Junior Championship with Canada. Marek plays for Magnitogorsk Metallurg of the Russian Superleague. As of Jan. 18, he had 39 points in 36 games.

Avery has 116 penalty minutes thus far this season. This averages to about 2.1 minutes per game. Last season, he averaged 3.42 per game. So he is showing a slight improvement in his self control. I’ve been waiting for the Kings to trade Sean away all season. He certainly over-stayed his welcome in LA after last season. I didn’t think they’d be able to move him very easily, though, given his reputation. However, if he could control himself (something he’s had trouble doing since leaving the Wings) he could be a good third or fourth line player.