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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Welcome to the Neno's Place!

Neno's Place Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality


Neno

I can be reached by phone or text 8am-7pm cst 972-768-9772 or, once joining the board I can be reached by a (PM) Private Message.

Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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    Los Angeles Kings

    jedi17
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    • Post n°1

    Los Angeles Kings Empty Los Angeles Kings

    Post by jedi17 Mon 20 Feb 2017, 10:00 pm

    Dowd's Importance; Kempe & Carter; Budaj's Last Stand?
    February 19, 2017, 5:18 PM ET [18 Comments]
    Sheng Peng
    Los Angeles Kings La Los Angeles Kings Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT


    Pointless in his last five, Nic Dowd hasn't exactly been tearing it up. So perhaps it shouldn't have been any surprise when he was scratched last night against Florida.

    That is, until we saw LA's first power play, which featured a natural centerman-less second unit of forwards Marian Gaborik-Dustin Brown-Tyler Toffoli. Among the pitfalls of such a group:

    • No natural faceoff man
    • "Center" unaccustomed to neutral and offensive zone positioning on power play
    • Between Gaborik, Brown, and Toffoli, no forward used to distributing puck when power play is set up. Brown and Gaborik play net front, while Gaborik and Toffoli are shooters.

    It's not to say that such a power play couldn't work -- Gaborik, Brown, and Toffoli are skilled enough -- but what seemed like a hastily-constructed unit sure looked discombobulated last night. They were broken up after a couple failed attempts in the opening frame.

    The Kings received just one more power play try later -- Nick Shore and a double-shifted Anze Kopitar took over as secondary power play pivot. In related news, Florida had more shots on one power play -- five in a third period bid -- than Los Angeles had the entire game (four shots in three attempts).

    So barring the splitting up of a first unit that features two centermen (Kopitar and Jeff Carter), testing young Adrian Kempe, or giving less than ideal options like Shore, Andy Andreoff, or Trevor Lewis a look as second-unit power play playmaker, this brings us back to Dowd.

    Whatever his other flaws, Dowd has been an asset to LA's power play all season. He's almost been a power play specialist, which is not the norm for a center. His poise with the puck and daring passes have been a treat to watch:




    He's matched these jaw-dropping plays with production, as his 4.79 5v4 Points/60 is second only to Jeff Carter among Los Angeles forwards.

    It's safe to say, in a one-goal loss, that a more fluid, effective man advantage could've helped the Kings. And Dowd would've more likely helped more than hurt in that area last night. Also, consider that his replacement, Andy Andreoff, played just 5:29 last night. 

    Not to pile on the gritty Andreoff, but giving Dowd fourth-line minutes and second-unit power play shifts would've probably been a more valuable use of the line-up spot.




    ***

    When Kempe was moved from the Kopitar line to skating with Andreoff and Kyle Clifford in the middle of the game, many called it a demotion. I disagreed with the most negative implication of that word -- I don't think the 20-year-old played poorly last night -- I felt Darryl Sutter was simply going top-heavy (Brown-Kopitar-Gaborik, Tanner Pearson-Carter-Toffoli) for some shifts. 

    While Kempe didn't enjoy the same impact as he did in his NHL debut against Arizona, remembering that this is just his second NHL game, I think Florida was a poor match-up for him. For most of the night, the Panthers employed a "four back" neutral zone trap. That's basically a mine field for somebody as inexperienced as the Swede, speed withstanding -- his skating pushed the Coyotes back in part because he was taking advantage of the opposition's aggressiveness. Last night, the passive Cats were waiting to swallow him up.

    That said, besides coughing the puck in the neutral zone in the first, Kempe forced the turnover which led to Kopitar drawing a penalty on Alex Petrovic. His dogged forechecking (and probable high sticking) on Jonathan Marchessault also resulted in LA's best, last chance of the dying minutes, a Gaborik backhand.

    Indeed, for all the talk of "demotion," Kempe was "promoted" back with Kopitar and Gaborik later in the game.

    Anyway, the continued spotlight on the team's most-scrutinized prospect reminds me of what Dean Lombardi said recently about Jeff Carter on Hockey Central at Noon -- patience!
    I had the benefit of knowing Jeff as a person 'cause I was in Philly when he broke in. And I knew deep down what this kid had.

    If I looked at your resume at 20 years old, I'm sure it's not stellar. It has a few, stupid antics on it.

    [Jeff] got to LA. And he started being the first one to show up at the rink, which Jeff Carter never did. He followed, kind of, Jarret Stoll's lead. And then he started liking it.

    If you look at him, just his body as an athlete, he's an absolute stallion. He was gifted anyway. But then he put the work in.
    [size]


    ***

    Has midnight struck for Peter Budaj?

    The Kings have lost four of five -- but frankly, no team can win with a .843 Save %, which is what the second-only-to-Carter Team MVP has offered recently.

    I've lost count of all the times that critics, such as myself, have counted out Budaj this year. No matter what happens, his mental and physical resiliency have been a wonder.

    But going into another back-to-back tonight at Anaheim, two points out of a playoff berth, at least a couple weeks away from Jonathan Quick's potential return, the questions are mounting once again for Budaj. 

    Does he have another chapter for his storybook season?[/size]
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