Kings fans remain optimistic about the possibilities for the 2011-12 season, but after 22 games, just how good is this team ?
The trade for Mike Richards appears to have been a success. Richards is second on the team in scoring, with 10 goals, 9 assists, and a plus/minus rating of + 4.
The free agent acquisition of Simon Gagne goes well. Gagne has played in 17 games, and has 7 goals, 7 assists, and has great chemistry on the top line with Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams.
Dustin Brown continues to play solid "Dustin Brown hockey" night in and night out, while being paired on the second line with Mike Richards, and whomever the flavor of the week is on left wing. Herein lies the problem . . . .
If the goal is a berth in the Cup final, the road most likely will go through either San Jose, Vancouver, or Detroit. The Kings have played each team once so far this season, and have yet to win, going a collective 0-3.
The Kings have handled Minnesota and Dallas quite well, but nobody knows yet if either of those teams are truly for real.
The $million question of who will provide the secondary scoring remains largely unanswered.
Dustin Penner had zero goals and only 2 assists in 14 games, prior to going on injured reserve with a "hand injury" on November 11th. Penner is currently listed as "Day to day". In the meantime, Andrei Loktionov is getting a good long look at left wing on the Richards line. I will not even address the question of whether or not Dustin Penner can play himself back into the lineup once he is healthy.
Until the second line left wing question is answered, the Kings are going to continue to struggle against the established teams in the west.
The Kings have a big test Saturday night against the exciting, streaky, high flying Chicago Blackhawks at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. It should be an exciting game. Chicago is currently tied with the Minnesota Wild, for most points in the Conference, they have scored the most goals, but also allowed the most. The Hawks are 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Chicago squad will be playing their second game in as many nights, coming off a wild 6-5 win over the Anaheim Ducks, a game in which they were down 2-0 two minutes into the game. Patrick Sharp had a hat trick to lead the comeback victory.
Win or lose, there will be a third installment of the new NHL postgame show "From the Arena". The show is an INSIDE SPORTS production, and is hosted by Yours truly, along with Andrew Knoll from Hockey's future. We will break down the game, live from Staples Center and have postgame interviews with players, as well as hearing from Kings head coach Terry Murray.
The show begins approximately 20 minutes after the Kings/Blackhawks game ends, and can be viewed live online on Ustream.tv. Live chat should be available as well, we welcome your input.
If you miss the live show, it will be archived on The Inside Sports' channel on YouTube.
The most recent installment was after the Kings lost 4-1 to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, Nov 19th. We featured postgame interviews with Niklas Lidstrom, Jimmy Howard, Terry Murray. Murray did address the question of the need for secondary scoring - Click here to view.
The Kings have another showdown at home on Monday night, when the San Jose Sharks come to town. The Kings then take on Florida on Thursday, and Montreal next Saturday to wrap up this four game homestand.
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