Kings aren't 'Tragically Hip' enough

October 29, 11:20 PMLos Angeles Kings ExaminerJonathan Moncrief

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Terry Murray said it best in his post-game press conference: “I hate shootouts.”

You can understand his feelings after a second straight night in which the Los Angeles Kings played 65 hard-fought minutes against a team that made the playoffs last season, only to watch their opponents grab the extra point. The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Kings 2-1 in the shootout, to win the contest 2-1.

The Kings have now earned points in six consecutive games. Their longest such streak last season was four games. Still, the players and their coach feel as if they left points on the table.

“It’s the same feeling after two games,” Murray mentioned afterwards. “It’s a useless part of the game, the shootout. I hate it, but the fans love it… it’s good for the game but boy do I hate it.”

Still, despite this lack of love for the shootout, which one veteran writer referred to as, “…just a gimmick,” Murray thought the team shouldn’t just look at the final result.

“I told them they need to put the shootout result part of it behind them,” Murray stated. “We had some quality chances.”

In a first period dominated by the Kings, Scott Parse scored his first goal in the NHL at the 11:27 mark. Parse blasted a one-timer from above the right faceoff circle past goaltender Andrew Raycroft, off a great pass by Teddy Purcell. Jarret Stoll also was awarded an assist.

“It was great to score it,” Parse pointed out. “It was great pass by Teddy and I just shot it hard at the net.”

“Parse played well again tonight,” Murray mused. “They (the line of Purcell, Stoll, and Parse) had a couple of opportunities… I’m glad he (Parse) finally found the back of the net… he’s played smart, he’s made plays, and he’s pretty responsible without the puck.”

Still, that first period, during which the Canucks registered just four shots on goal (none in the first 13 minutes), wasn’t a full 20 minutes of domination by the Kings. Michael Samuelsson scored with under 90 seconds to go in the period, to knot things up at 1-1. The next 45 minutes saw both teams play rough and tumble but neither team could find the back of the net.

“Whenever we play them it’s very physical,” Wayne Simmonds said, “We only grabbed two points out of four (the last two nights) and I thought we played very hard… we played well in both games, and we’ve got to build on that.”

In the shootout, Ryan Kesler followed up Michael Handzus’s missed shot by beating Jonathan Quick to give the Canucks a 1-0 shootout lead. Jack Johnson then evened things up at 1-1 beating Raycroft just inside the left post. After Mason Raymond and Ryan Smyth failed to score, Samuelsson beat Quick on a backhander to win the game for Vancouver.

“Unfortunately we ended up on the short end of the stick,” Quick quipped, “so you just got to keep pushing, keep doing what you’re doing, and get back at it… Raycroft played great so you know you can’t say we’re supposed to win, but it would have been nice to get two points.”

The last time the Kings earned points in six straight games was in March of 2007, and their 18 points and eight victories in October are the second most in franchise history. The Kings will take Friday off before returning to practice on Saturday. Their next game is Monday at Phoenix, and their next home game is next Thursday versus the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.