News Clips 4-6-17
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News Clips 4-6-17 FROM LA KINGS INSIDER: a moderately encouraging season. He hasn’t quite developed a goal scoring stroke that had been April 5, 2017 theorized after he recorded 34 goals in 106 AHL By: Jon Rosen games through his 21 and 22-year-old seasons, but Waking Up With The Kings: April 5 there’s still some room to grow for a player whose work, detail and preparation has helped to forge a The Los Angeles Kings remained committed to high level of trust with the coaching staff, and at 24, their game plan in a 6-4 win over the visiting he’s still young. In conversations with Darryl Edmonton Oilers, turning a first period in which Sutter, Shore’s absence as he dealt with an upper- they were able to generate quality scoring chances body injury during the recent seven-game home (though not a surplus in shots on goal) into actual stand was referenced as a significant blow to the scoring, putting five past Cam Talbot before sealing checking play the team receives from its depth the game with an empty-netter. It was an forward group. There has always seemed to be a unfortunate start for Los Angeles, which was placed chemistry Shore and Brown have built up both on on penalty killing detail on the game’s second shift. and off the ice, and while it’s a waste of time Though there was a Kopitar-Toffoli two-on-one and theorizing personnel alignment six months in a near Adrian Kempe break that Andrej Sekera dove advance of the 2017-18 season, their partnership is to break up, it was Milan Lucic finishing off a play something that should be considered. in which Connor McDavid sped into the attacking (Counterpoint: In their 104:17 of 5×5 ice zone and turned Derek Forbort around quickly time together this season, the Kings have scored before his centering pass opportunistically ended up 0.58 G/60 and have surrendered 4.03 G/60.) The on the ex-King’s stick. After Jordan Eberle found 22-21-23 line was on the ice for all three even Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Edmonton doubled its strength goals against last night, but they were still lead – credit Nugent-Hopkins for a strong two-goal an effective group pushing the team’s attack. effort, and Eberle for one of his most noticeable games against L.A. – the Kings headed into the So, are the Oilers the team Kings fans are rooting break trailing by two in a period they held a slight for to be the last Pacific Division team standing? scoring chance advantage and had won 16 of 18 We all know what fans thing of the Ducks and faceoffs in. Battling through their familiar inability Sharks, and over the last two weeks, certain players to finish, they broke through for three goals in the on the Flames. For Smythe Division enthusiasts, is second period based largely on the play of their such a thought heresy? A better question: Does youth. Paul LaDue made a nice box-out to win a Edmonton have the defense capable of winning loose puck in the low slot before advancing it tight-checking playoff games? Is Ryan Nugent- through the neutral zone to Dustin Brown, who took Hopkins able to endure the highly physical match- a hit to make a play along the boards in setting up ups against Pacific Division centers? Who do you Nick Shore’s redirection of Jonny Brodzinksi’s favor in an Oilers-Sharks series? Talk amongst chance. After some nice interplay between Shore yourselves, Insiders. and Brown tied the game at two, Brodzinski made one of his most noticeable plays in the NHL when April 5, 2017 his physical play along the boards sent McDavid to By: Bo Hamby the ice, and after winning the puck battle, Kyle The View From Edmonton Clifford’ netfront move and backhanded shot was cleaned up by Nic Dowd to give Los Angeles its Edmonton Journal first lead of the night. Other than Brown, 26-year- olds Dowd and Clifford were the oldest Kings Oilers fall 6-4 to playoff-missing Kings mentioned in these scoring plays. “The 6-4 defeat was just their second loss in the last It’s always easy to say this the morning after a 11 games, but it hurt badly as Edmonton lost player notches four points, but Nick Shore is having valuable ground in its bid for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The fact they blew a 2-0 lead didn’t ease the mood “Forgettable night for Cam Talbot as he allowed any, either.” five goals on 26 shots with a .808 save%. A lot of the goals weren’t his fault, but there were still a few Cult of Hockey Podcast that he probably would like to have back. Shake it off, Dadbot. We’ll see you Thursday.” “The Cult’s David Staples and Bruce McCurdy talk about what went wrong, whether Eric Gryba should get a game, RNH’s hipster facial hair, how under- rated Adam Larsson is by outsiders, and that other FROM REIGN INSIDER: stinker today, the NHL and IOC standoff which will keep the world’s best hockey players out of the April 5, 2017 Olympics.” By: Lindsay Czarnecki April 5: Bus Texts With Stothers Sportsnet Kings’ offence erupts in win to end Oilers’ streak This edition of Bus Texts with Stothers comes as the Reign are staying over in San Jose following a “Nick Shore, Dustin Brown, Nic Dowd and Drew lopsided loss in a crucial late-season game. Doughty also scored for Los Angeles in its first game since being eliminated from the playoff race. San Jose 5, Reign 1 The Kings beat a playoff-bound opponent for only For Ontario, the game fell apart in the third period the second time in their last seven contests.” but the start wasn’t great either. Ontario got within one goal early in the third on a T.J. Hensick power Oilers’ L.A. woes continue as playoff matchups play mark but then surrendered three unanswered take shape goals in a span of 4:15 to allow the Western Conference leaders earn what looked like an easy “Yes, there was a day when 6-4 was considered a win by the scoreline. The Reign were first plagued goalie duel when L.A. and Edmonton met, with by one of their now-becoming-more-common bad [Grant] Fuhr and Mario Lessard battling from starts and that was reason alone in the early stages behind fibreglass masks. But not today, with the to believe the game would end with a loss. At one Oilers learning the art of locking down the opponent point they were being outshot 14-1 and took the en route to winning nine of their past 10 heading game’s first three minors in the first 10 minutes. But into this game.” goalie Jeff Zatkoff fended off a lot of pressure and a lot of pucks to keep the game locked at zero after SB Nation – Copper & Blue one. San Jose finally broke through in the second on a pair of goals by Timo Meier, the first being an Los Angeles Kings 6, Edmonton Oilers 4 odd-angle rising shot from the left circle and the second being off a in-tight pass from Daniel “Lose to the Kings, bad enough. The Ducks took O’Regan for an easy bury. Despite being doubled- advantage of Edmonton’s loss in LA by taking up in shots at 28-16 entering the third, the Reign got down Calgary by a 3-1 margin. Anaheim widens a little life from Hensick, who put away a bounce their Pacific standings lead by four. It doesn’t off the back boards of a Zac Leslie shot that had remove the chance for the Oilers to win the Pacific, been blocked on the way in. It went rapidly but it surely doesn’t help.” downhill from there. First, Tim Heed blasted a shot from the point by Zatkoff at 12:31 and then Buddy Oilers Nation Robinson got away from the Reign defense and deked around Zatkoff’s pokecheck attempt for a GDB 79.0 Wrap Up: Royal Flush backhanded finish at 15:57. San Jose’s fifth mark came from Adam Helewka as he finished a 2-on-1 skip pass over Cameron Schilling from Rourke Chartier at 16:45. Now with just five games They were just moving pucks. We knew they were a remaining on their schedule and their magic number good team and they were going to come out hard. to clinch a postseason berth still at five, the Reign They were just moving pucks, chipping pucks deep, are in a spot where they need wins fast and face San playing hard. They came out hard and I thought we Diego, second in the West, four more times. Help adjusted well later in the first as the game started to could be on the way if Justin Auger, Kurtis go along. MacDermid and Zach Trotman get healthy and Adrian Kempe, Jonny Brodzinski and Paul LaDue LoVerde, on what needs to be better going into return from the Kings, but there’s work to do with San Diego: the group that’s currently available. We just need to keep playing. This one’s done, it’s over with. Move on, get ready for San Diego here. BUS TEXTS WITH STOTHERS Like you said, it was a tough one.