Kings look ahead for October 26 - November 1

October 26, 5:41 PMLos Angeles Kings ExaminerJonathan Moncrief

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Anze Kopitar is the NHL's player of the week for October 19-25
Courtesy: ESPN.com

What a difference a week makes… 168 little hours…

A week ago, the Los Angeles Kings were coming off a loss at Columbus, and dealing with the benching of Alexander Frolov by coach Terry Murray. Heading into the final game of their six game road trip, they had three straight losses, and a players meeting this early in the season, were bad signs.

A week later, the Kings have won four straight games, three of which came against division rivals. They have sole possession of first placed in the Pacific Division, and Sunday’s 6-2 triumph over that same Columbus team means that only Pittsburgh and Colorado have more points in the entire league. Here’s a look ahead to this week:

MONDAY OCTOBER 26
KINGS have the day off. Of course, now is the time you’d like to have NFL-styled ‘flexible scheduling’ because of how well Anze Kopitar is playing. With two goals Sunday night, Kopitar begins the week as the league leader in points with 21 and goals scored with 10.  On Monday, he was named as NHL.com's first star for the previous week.  Short of an awful pair of games this week, Kopitar should be the NHL player of the month for October.

Phoenix @ NY Rangers – The Coyotes have allowed the fewest goals in the league. The Rangers have scored the second most goals in the league, behind only the Kings. Something’s gotta give.

Toronto @ Anaheim – Starting the week, only four teams have fewer points than the Ducks have. Fortunately for them, one of those teams are the winless Maple Leafs. The Ducks welcome back former defenseman Francois Beauchemin, who is a -5 with a goal and two assists so far this season for Toronto.

Other games: NY Islanders @ Montreal, Minnesota @ Chicago

TUESDAY OCTOBER 27
KINGS practice in El Segundo – In all the games I’ve attended as Kings Examiner, I have never been asked to pick the three stars. Rarely does this matter, and I don’t begrudge the game Drew Doughty turned in on Sunday night. But how does Alexander Frolov not get the third star? He had two goals and an assist, and led the team with four hits.

Colorado @ Edmonton – Joe Sacco may have already wrapped up the Jack Adams Award just 11 games in. The Avalanche are 8-1-2, and rookie Ryan O’Reilly is tied for the club lead in points and leads in assists. Meanwhile, Edmonton is finally reaping the rewards for signing Dustin Penner to that offer sheet two years ago. Penner is a +8 with eight goals and seven assists this season.

Other games: Philadelphia @ Washington, Detroit @ Vancouver

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 28
KINGS @ San Jose – The Sharks are playing their first home game following a four game eastern swing. While everyone talks about Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley, and with good reason, people should take note of rookie defenseman Jason Demers. The rookie is a team leading +5 and has eight assists, tied for second on the club. The Kings defeated the Sharks 6-4 back on October 6 at Staples Center.

Montreal @ Pittsburgh – The Canadiens are at the .500 mark, and one reason why has been the emergence of goaltender Jaroslav Halak. He’s won three games with a GAA of 2.35, easing the pressure a bit on Carey Price. Former King Michael Cammalleri leads the Habs in goals (5) and points (11). For the Penguins, they have the most wins in the league starting the week, but are trying to bounce back from a 5-1 loss on Saturday to New Jersey.

NY Rangers @ NY Islanders – Anytime these two rivals square off, regardless of records, it has the potential to be as entertaining a game in the stands as it is on the ice. As someone who started following hockey in the late 1970’s (showing my age), and grew up in Jersey before the Devils, you quickly picked sides in this fierce rivalry.

Other games: Buffalo @ New Jersey, Ottawa @ Florida, St. Louis @ Carolina, Phoenix @ Columbus, Nashville @ Minnesota, Toronto @ Dallas, Colorado @ Calgary

THURSDAY OCTOBER 29
Vancouver @ KINGS – Very quietly, Jarret Stoll’s game is rounding into shape. He missed the first portion of training camp recovering from a bout with arthritis in his wrists, but he’s gaining confidence. In his last four games, he has scored three goals and added an assist, while also winning 56% of his faceoffs. For the Canucks, three straight wins and four out of their last five may signal that their slow start is in the rear view mirror.

New Jersey @ Boston – The Devils has won three straight entering this week, and six of seven overall, including a dominant 4-1 win at Pittsburgh on Saturday night. Zach Parise and Travis Zajac are leading the way in scoring for New Jersey, but David Clarkson ranks third in points with eight and is tied for the club lead in assists with six. The win Saturday was costly though: both Paul Martin and Jay Pandolfo were injured and are expected to miss 4-6 weeks each. The Bruins are looking for Tim Thomas to return to last year’s Vezina Trophy winning form; so far this season, he is 4-3-0 with a 2.97 GAA.

Ottawa @ Tampa Bay – 17 years ago, both of these franchises took to the ice as expansion teams. Both have seen good times: the Sens reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007 and won the President’s Trophy in 2003; the Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2004. This season, both are playing better than expected. The Sens are 5-2-2, and while Jonathan Cheechoo has struggled with just two assists so far this season, Milan Michalek has made the Dany Healtey trade worthwhile with a team high six goals, two of which have been shorties. The Lightning are at the .500 mark, and so far Steve Stamkos is not experiencing a sophomore slump with seven goals, three of which have been with the man advantage.

Other games: Washington @ Atlanta, Phoenix @ St. Louis, Chicago @ Nashville, Detroit @ Edmonton

FRIDAY OCTOBER 30
KINGS practice in El Segundo, scheduled for 11AM – Sure, the top line of Kopitar, Ryan Smyth, and Justin Williams or Wayne Simmonds, has been producing at an electric pace. One major reason has been their puck possession and forechecking in the opposing zone. But in a lot of cases, that pressure on the defense has come from the prior shift of the fourth line, led by center Brad Richardson. Even though he doesn’t have a point yet this season, Richardson has been contributing in other ways, such as winning all six faceoffs the other night against Columbus. Along with Raitis Ivanans and Peter Harrold, this trio isn’t necessarily showing up on the stat sheet, but their effort and discipline has often allowed the top line to come on the ice and cash-in their hard work with goals.

NY Islanders @ Washington – The new kid on the block takes on the big kid on the block. John Tavares knows that it “Only Takes A Minute” to fall in love, but it takes longer to figure out the grind of the NHL. He’s scored seven points in his first nine games, with two of his three goals coming on the power play. As for Alex Ovechkin, he’s looking up at someone in scoring race for the first time this season, and if you think he’ll get healthy in the stats against the Isles, think again. On Saturday, he registered just one assist against the Lighthouse Gang.

Pittsburgh @ Columbus – These two teams play in different conferences, but anytime a team from Pennsylvania plays a team from Ohio, it’s a big deal. It’s also a big deal when two of the best players in the game, Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash, meet up. I think it was great that Nash signed that long-term deal to stay in Columbus for several years, but imagine if he didn’t and somehow wound up on a line with Crosby and Jordan Staal. By the time they got to Woodstock…

Other games: Toronto @ Buffalo, NY Rangers @ Minnesota, Montreal @ Chicago, Florida @ Dallas, Vancouver @ Anaheim, Colorado @ San Jose

SATURDAY OCTOBER 31
KINGS practice in El Segundo scheduled for 10AM – I could make a bunch of cheap jokes referencing the holiday, but I just don’t think there is any appropriateness to do that in stories like this (written with sarcasm dripping from my fingers).

Toronto @ Montreal – Ah yes, when you talk hockey rivalries, there may be none better over the course of hockey history than this one. The Toronto trio of Vesa Toskala, Joey MacDonald, and rookie Jonas Gustavsson is making Leaf fans lament the retirement of Curtis Joseph: entering the week, they have combined for a league high 4.33 GAA and a league worst .847 save percentage. Two-thirds of New Jersey’s old “EGG line” have reconnected in Montreal, as Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta have combined for six goals and seven assists this season.

Anaheim @ Phoenix – Scott Niedermayer predictably leads the Ducks in ice time, averaging over 26 minutes per game. Yet he has just five points on the season, and is a -8 for the young season. To put that in perspective, his brother Rob (playing in New Jersey, averaging less than 18 minutes per game) has two goals and six points on the year. The Coyotes are where they are in the standings in large part due to the play of goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. He leads the league in shutouts and GAA (1.60 in eight games), and trails only Ryan Miller of Buffalo in save percentage.

Other games: Edmonton @ Boston, Carolina @ Philadelphia, Atlanta @ Ottawa, New Jersey @ Tampa Bay, Buffalo @ NY Islanders, Minnesota @ Pittsburgh, Florida @ St. Louis, Dallas @ Nashville, Detroit @ Calgary

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 1
KINGS practice in El Segundo – Davis Drewiske, who signed a three-year contract extension last week, hails from Wisconsin. To put the big story of Sunday in sports into Kings’ perspective, Drewiske was in the third grade when Brett Favre, who wears a visitor’s uniform at Lambeau Field for the first time ever today, made his first start for the Packers in Green Bay in 1992.

San Jose @ Carolina – If ever there was a game to focus on the power play units, it’s this game in Raleigh. The Sharks have scored 13 power play goals on the road this season, by far the best in the league, at a 36.1% rate away from home. The Hurricanes, however, are just 1 for 19 at home with the man advantage starting the week. That, combined with a sluggish start by Cam Ward in net, is why the Canes are under .500 so far.

Other games: Boston @ NY Rangers, Columbus @ Washington, Colorado @ Vancouver

*******************
Parse making instant impact

It’s only two games into his NHL career, but you can’t help but feel that if Scott Parse continues to play the way he has in his first two games this past weekend, that he’ll be around for a while.

Parse was recalled from Manchester on Friday night, and he has assists in each of his two games, both weekend victories over Phoenix and Columbus.

“It’s obviously a lot faster here than in the American Hockey league, without question,” Parse said.  "I'm just doing what the coaches are asking of me; (Jarret) Stoll is helping me a lot to get comfortable."

Head coach Terry Murray put Parse on a line with Stoll and Teddy Purcell, and he immediately had an impact. I asked Murray to try to evaluate Parse as best he could in just two games, and Parse’s work along the boards and on the forecheck didn’t escape Murray’s notice.

“Parse has been really good,” Murray admitted after Sunday’s 6-2 triumph over Columbus. “He’s surprising the heck out of me… I didn’t even play him in an exhibition game; how smart am I?” But after joking on the fact that Parse never got into pre-season game action, Murray gave his rookie forward a positive review.

“He’s smart, he plays… reads… scans the ice… make good decisions,” Murray commented. “When you go back to the minors, after not getting the opportunity, maybe he’s thinking, ‘Hey, I’ve got to start to prove some things.’ He’s playing really hard and heavy; he’s taking hits, making hits, and playing intelligently. I like what I’m seeing.”

“I knew that I had to step up and play really well there,” Parse admitted, “I had good start to the year there, playing with (Andrei) Loktionov and Oscar (Moller) for a bit, and it’s a dream come true to be here and be playing and contributing where the team needs me to, that’s very satisfying.”

*******************
Firefighters and Kings’ Alumni play firewagon charity game

After Sunday’s game against the Blue Jackets, members of the Los Angeles Kings Alumni Association played a charity hockey game against members of the Los Angeles Fire Department and surrounding counties.

Though the score was somewhat lopsided in favor of the alumni team, to the point where they made an ‘in-game trade’ of several players to make things more balanced, a crowd of nearly 1,000 stayed after the Kings victory over Columbus to watch the contest. Monies raised were donated to the LAFD’s Relief Association – Widows, Orphans, and Disabled Firefighters Fund.

The alumni line-up included: Kings assistant coaches Mark Hardy and Jamie Kompon; Hockey Hall of Fame inductee-to-be Luc Robitaille; Kings TV analyst Jim Fox; Kings alumni Ian Turnbull, Marty McSorley, and Nelson Emerson; and others including Kings Alumni Associate Lauren Wiedmeier, who scored a pair of goals herself.

For more info: The Kings next home game is this Thursday when they face Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks at 7:30pm at Staples Center.  Following the game, which is being held on 'Canadian Night', fans can attend a post-game concert at Club Nokia where the band Tragically Hip will be performing.  Tickets to the game and concert start at a combined $39 each; click here for tickets... For tickets to all Kings games in the 2009-10 regular season, including many specially priced partial and full season ticket plans, click here to visit the team's ticket site or call (888) KINGS-LA... We'll post the 'Kings Look Ahead' articles every Sunday/Monday until the Olympic break, and then we'll return to the 'Rooting Interest' format from last season. You should also look for at least one weekly feature-style article on a current player, past player, or a member of the Kings coaching/executive staff... The Kings Care Foundation announced that their annual food drive, which will benefit both the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank and the Salvation Army, will take place during four home games in November: Thursday the 5th against Pittsburgh, Saturday the 7th against Nashville, Wednesday the 18th against Philadelphia, and Saturday the 21st against Calgary.  For more information about the great works being done in the community by the Kings Care Foundation, contact Jennifer Weinstein at 310-535-4466... Be sure to also check out my contributions to 'Hockeywood, L.A.', as well as my fellow featured contributors, by clicking here... to get my latest takes on all things Kings, hockey, sports, and life in general, follow me all the time on Twitter by clicking here.