Kings Gameday: There Goes the Goodwill
Los Angeles Kings (Bad) vs. Detroit Red Wings (Good)
7:30 PST, FSN West
The Kings have played pretty well lately; they've won 4 out of their last 5 and only need to win 2 more games to actually finish above .500 for the month. Unfortunately, the Kings now play two games against the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks. On the one hand, they're the probably the two teams I fear playing the most and the Kings will get them back to back. On the other hand... well, he's scared too. I mean, we could always win one of these games, but I'm not very optimistic.
Michal Handzus will be very important against the Red Wings. He, along with Calder and whoever else they seem fit to place next to them, will need to stop Detroit's top line of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom. The line created 2 goals the last time the Kings played them and Handzus will have to work hard to prevent that from happening again. Can he do it? I don't know, I just write for a blog. Wait for the game to start and don't be so anxious.
Against the Ducks, the important line will be Kopitar's. I mean, they're always the most important line because they're our best, but they're especially important against the Ducks. The last time the Kings played in Anaheim, Carlyle placed Getzlaf's line up against Kopitar's and it worked pretty well. Getzlaf's line cycled the puck in the Kings' zone the entire time, giving Kopitar and Brown no puck possession time. I imagine the Ducks will try that again and it's up to Brown and Patrick O'Sullivan to get Kopitar the puck with room to move.
Of course, all of this is moot if Labarbera plays like he did against the Flames (because we'll lose) or against the Canucks (because we'll win). Forgive my pessimism, but I think it's probably unrealistic if I did something retarded like predict the Kings win the next 2 games. We're not as bad as our record suggests, but we're definitely not good enough yet to beat the two best teams in the Western Conference.
Prediction: Kings win, 4-2. Goals by O'Sullivan and Blake.
Note: Any Detroit fans want to posit any offers for Rob Blake, feel free to do so in the comments.
7 comments:
You can have Daren McCarty for Blake, but Blake alone is not enough. You need to throw in somthing as well on this deal.
You need to throw in something as well on this deal.
a) You're delusional, or you forgot how deadline day deals work.
b) Since you didn't specify, here comes Cloutier!
We'll give you Andreas Lilja. AND Darren McCarty. What a deal, I know. We'll even pay to fly out Lilja to LA just for you.
I could see Blake being dealt for a cocktail of picks and prospects. I think him and Sundin are definitely 2 of the top guys out there. Hey if Nagy and Shane OPbrien last year were worth first round picks, I think Blake is worth at least that much. Especially since a Detroit first round pick is really a 2nd round pick. Last year Detroit did like Burke, not going out for a big name getting Bertuzzi for cheap. I think Blake could very easily end up back in Colorado if they get back in the playoff hunt.
bryan, re your "getting Bertuzzi for cheap", the prospect the Wings dealt (Shawn Matthias) scored 2 goals for Florida in his second game up in the NHL last weekend. Which I think was more than Bert got with the Wings.
Blake, don't want him..
Wings need another Dman with
ATTITUDE..like keith Carney
You don't want Rob Blake, you want a D-man with ATTITUDE... like Keith Carney. You want Keith Carney on your team because he has more ATTITUDE than Rob Blake. That'd be like me saying, "I don't want Nicklas Lidstrom on my team because his shot isn't hard enough, give me Sergei Gonchar."
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