Kings 5 Canucks 3
by Sean Zandberg on Apr 20, 2010 12:19 AM PDT
in Game Review
Email
Print
Hold on, before you go and blame the refs for the non-goal on whatever Sedin that was....kicking motion or not it really wasn't he point. 7 of the 10 Kings' goals scored in this series have been on the powerplay. 7 OUT OF 10. The worst fear is now realized. It's not Roberto Luongo's performance. It's not the refs' calls or non-calls. It's the Canucks' inability to kill penalties. They say that they need to take less penalties but that is not the point. If your special teams (both power play and penalty kill) are out of wack, you are not going to win the series. Bottom line is that teams take about 4-5 penalties per game. If you can't kill them you're dead.
That is the problem with this Vancouver team. It's not the missed nets. It's the coverage down low when down a man. The Kings are taking Luongo stops and burying the rebounds with ease. It needs to stop ASAP. But from what I've seen so far, the team lacks the confidence to kill penalties and that is their Achille's heel.
Remedy it quick or golf. Simple as that.
27 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Just want to say something real quick (read: this is going to take a while). Sorry for the long post…
I “joined” this blog after the April 1 8-3 win. Loved that game. I came here to make a case for Henrik to win MVP. And I still believe he should over Ovechkin (although maybe Bryzgalov could sway me).
Not all Kings fans feel the same. I believe the difference tonight wasn’t the disallowed goal, but rather the special teams. No matter what, a team can’t go 0-for-3 on the PK, and then get shut out with the man advantage themselves….. well, they can, but they’re not going to win.
Kings go 3-for-3, and are now 7-for-12, on the PP in the entire series. That’s why they lead. Not because of conspiracies or bad calls. The Kings can’t control that.
The difference is whether or not the team can make the most out of the opportunities it has been given. For the Kings tonight, they took advantage of their superior power play and penalty killing.
As far as the goal, I have to say that I think it should’ve stood. I’m not saying he didn’t kick it in, because to me, it was really close. But in a playoff game with so much on the line, you have to be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN if you’re going to overturn the call on the ice.
I don’t think there was “conclusive evidence” that he kicked it in. There wasn’t enough reason to overturn the call.
Nobody knows how the game would’ve turned out if the goal had stood. Personally, I think the Canucks would’ve STILL gotten the goal that DID count had the first one stood, thus tying it at 4-4. A game like tonight, who knows how the momentum shifts.
I was at this game, my first Kings playoff game since April 27, 1998 (I remember it vividly; O’Donnell got a 5-minute major in the 2nd period, up 3-0 on the Blues, down 2-0 in the Quarterfinals; STL scored four goals on the PP and won, 4-3). And I was born in 1990; I was only 7 at the time (born in July). The atmosphere tonight was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
I do believe it’s possible the crowd willed the Kings to the victory. With all that energy, 8 years of frustration building up and released in one blast, it’s really hard to lose that kind of game.
I think the Kings would’ve come out on top, whether Sedin’s “first” goal counted or not. But fans have a right to be pissed about the result because you don’t know what will happen.
Not all us fans are the same. Yes, I’m thankful we got the call in our favor, but I don’t want to win a series that isn’t deserved. If/when the Kings win a playoff series, it’ll be because we are the better team and earned it. Don’t want to win because of “conspiracy theories” or “favoritism”.
We don’t make the calls (the bench minor, the disallowed goal). But it is what it is.
Denis Gauthier sucks at hockey... and life.
Thanks for the quality comment. I would agree, in a 7 game series it’s hard to blame it on just a handful of moments. Good teams say conspiracy, great teams over come it.
So don't get violent and don't get caught with your head down, the night she stole the moon.
by thelastjohnny on Apr 20, 2010 12:58 AM PDT up reply actions
I think the Kings have fully deserved their wins. The calls feel annoying (as a Canucks fan) right now because, like Sean said, they can’t kill the penalties. We feel every penalty b/c it’s going into the net. I don’t think Luongo is at the top of his game.
The Kings are playing very well. They have a lot of big bruising forwards who cycle very well, and they are taking it to the Canucks D. This is a D which is very banged up (no Mitchell! and Rome looks hurt still, Salo is always hurt), and had a lot of ups and downs this years, and the Kings have recognized it. There are a couple of D who routinely are getting out of position, and its not just Alberts. Then they get caught holding, tripping, etc. Even Hank went down with one.
I don’t know how others feel, but I think that the match up against the kings also shows some of the different styles that don’t quite gell. The best offensive players, the Sedins, don’t play a speed game, it’s all pinpoint passing and movement (which is fun to watch when they’re on). Some of the support people, Grabner, Raymond, Demitra, really depend on speed and break out more than the nifty passing. Kesler plays a great forecheck and counterattack. It sometimes feels like a broth made by too many chefs.
The Kings on the other hand, all four lines play a similar game (from the two games I’ve seen). It’s not the most exciting game, from a non-fan perspective, even if it’s effective. After Doughty, their D aren’t amazing. I’ve enjoyed watching Doughty play. He’s a real gem. Simmonds has been a handful. Kopitar is pretty much as advertised. The Kings are full value for their wins.
Really, I’ve not seen the Kings play like this in a while. Not with this kind of intensity. They’ve certainly kicked it up a notch in the playoffs because of the meaning of the games.
The Kings are usually aggressive and take the body, but I’ve never seen Kopitar, Doughty, and Frolov (three players who don’t “do the dirty work”) get into all these scrums like they did last night. They’re adjusting their play to match the level of their opponent, and that’s clearly making a difference.
This series could go either way; the Kings could’ve very well been up 3-0, or down 3-0. You can’t feel comfortable with any lead. The team that scores first in this series is 0-3.
Denis Gauthier sucks at hockey... and life.
Most of your comment also underlines a problem with AV. After game one Murray changed guys and changed how his team was approaching the game. They own the neutral zone when we rush, forcing us to outside and they seem much more comfortable skating it through rather than dumping it like they were in game one. Full credit to the Kings and Murray.
The Canucks have no answer, or rather you could suggest AV doesn’t. What precisely has changed from game two to game three? Nothing. The Sedins, along with the PP units, are trying the fancy cross ice passes that were being gobbled up. They can’t find a shooting lane to save their lives. And they outshot LA again but the quality of those chances are suspect (I counted at least three from Kesler and Raymond where they simply winged the puck at Quick from atrocious angles, hoping I guess for a Luongo-esque rebound or to fool him).
I can let game three go (goals four and five were flukes) and we we should be able to put the breaks on the PP dominance in games four and going forward, but if AV and team can’t come up with a different ES and PP strategy, they deserve to lose. And AV deserves another summer of scrutiny for failing to bring a “cup contender” past the first round because he can’t coach in the latter part of games/adjust on the fly/pick your poison.
'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.
by Yankee Canuck on Apr 20, 2010 7:13 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
The Kings play an umbrella on the power play so the Canucks forwards have to be aggressive and prevent Doughty and Kopitar from setting up; the problem is that leaves the Canucks defenders alone to deal with Handzus, Smyth and Modin. The only guy who is both big enough and mean enough to keep the Kings away from Luongo seems to be Salo. I’m not sure if it’s so much Vigneault as it is a personnel problem for Vancouver. They could really use Willie Mitchell.
The West Coast is the Best Coast.
Personnel sure (though I’d say Alberts is the probably the better guy to clear the crease around Luongo but that’s a whole other problem) and that’s where it sucks to be a NHL coach, but Vigneault hasn’t adapted the Canucks game at all. I’m not saying the elites noodle with their game at every wrong turn, but it’s two straight games where a number of key factors – ES dominance, the PP and the PK – have no answers to what TM is throwing out there.
'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.
by Yankee Canuck on Apr 20, 2010 11:38 AM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, the guys who could physically push the Kings around are Alberts and Shane O’Brien, but they are… hmm, how do I phrase this politely… “retarded as fuck.” Edler and Ehrhoff are both fairly big but they’re not familiar with the nuances of body positioning and tying up sticks.
Your best bet to shut down the Kings is to pressure Kopitar when he has the puck. He’s big and lanky so if you can get inside his space you can usually cause a turnover. Either that or shift a defenseman up top and force one of the Kings in front of the net to come out and receive a pass.
The West Coast is the Best Coast.
“Retarded as fuck” … yup, that is actually right. Edler is usually better, but Ehrhoff often loses body position.
The umbrella? — as a non-hockey player, it seems like Doughty and Johnson (?) play way up near the blue line, and even switch spots a lot looking for the shooting lane. Sometimes one of the forwards seems to join them. The Canuck forwards seem reluctant to go out that far. It is happening enough that you get the sense that AV has decided this is the way to go. Hopefully he’ll go back to the drawing board.
What’s your take on Kopitar? I actually haven’t been blown away, though he’s a very competent first line player.
Hey Rudy!!! Nice to see you over here, I guess…
The Kings PP has been on fire since they took Stoll off and reunited Doughty with Johnson. Since all three PPG last night were scored with the first unit, I don’t know what the second unit pair was. It used to be Johnson and Jones, but Jones has been scratched the last two games for Harrold.
Basically, the Canucks have been battling tough injuries, with Mitchell and Rome’s absences playing a HUGE role in the team’s failure on the PK. Kings are taking advantage of that.
When healthy, I think the Canucks may have the best overall D in the NHL (although Chicago’s duo of Seabrook and Keith are quite excellent). But when they aren’t, like many teams, they have holes. The playoffs are the one time in the year where you have to be able to close them. But you have to do it in such a short time, because the series might be over by the time they figure out a fix for it.
Only a matter of time to see if they CAN fix it. They need Mitchell back, I think, or the Kings PP will continue to pound away.
Denis Gauthier sucks at hockey... and life.
I think it's a bigger point than people realize.
Getting overturned good goals, missing obvious calls and making phantom ones KILLS momentum. When you’re often on the PK for no reason and you get hit in the face with no call afterward you lose focus. Of course they need to be better, but some fairness helps. I mean how does it feel to go on the ice knowing you’re going to get fucked over? Everyone must feel a little like Alex Burrows not long ago.
As tough as it was to sit and watch the farce that was (without abusing my family [no, not really]), I’m trying to be positive. One win and we’ve got two home games to end it. If the team can rebound, and fuck that must be hard, then I’ve got to be behind them. But they’re going to need to fix that PK fast.
by ShiftySC on Apr 20, 2010 12:58 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Why’s everyone panicking? Probably 80% of us NM people picked Vancouver in 6 or 7…well the kings needed to win at least two to do that. Everyone chill out, trust in the team to fix their shit.
If they don’t do it, they wouldn’t get past the next round regardless, so let’s assume they can do it. Our D looks awful and out of position every PP, and the aggression we had all season is completely gone. That’s why our PP is sucking eggs…the D men are floating and Burr and Kes aren’t going for that shorty.
I agree about the original point…that horrible kicking call was not why we lost the game, our special teams are why we lost the game. But it was still a call that is an embarrassment to the NHL and hockey fans everywhere. I have a theory why it took so long to determine…someone in the war room had to get bettman out of bed and get his ok on it before he made such an obvious bad call…just sayin…
"Hope you like pancakes, Norway..." Morgan Freeman
"you'll be playing in england the rest of your career" Sir Alex Burrows
It really looks like the Canucks are letting the crappy PK get to them. On those last two kill attempts last night they were really stiff and tentative, looking like they didn’t want to make an aggressive defensive play in the fear it would lead to a goal. Well, not doing it led to goals too, so there goes that. It almost looked like they had resigned themselves to letting in goals on the PK, which isn’t good.
"Playin hurt, baby that don't faze me. I don't got time for pain. The only pain I've got time for is the pain I put on fools who don't know what time it is!"
They need to repost their “how to determine if a goal is a kicking motion” video again. It’s quite informative.
Determining the legality of a goal in these situations has little to do with an actual distinct kicking motion and more to do with physics.
Not even the Toronto Maple Leafs could kill my optimism
Tyler Ennis: Freed from Portland!
From Wikipedia
Michael John Murphy (born September 12, 1950 in Toronto, Ontario) is a former hockey player in the NHL, and former head coach in the NHL and IHL. During his early days he failed mathematics which was mostly due to his involved of trying to figure out the basic principles of a pendulum.
Made me laugh on a tough morning to do so.
Knights, Canucks, Dolphins, Jays and Raptors all the way.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i’m pretty damn sure that’s a wiki edit.
seriously, this one time, someone made the Vancouver Island news for editing the Campbell River (my hometown) page to say it was a zombie town!!!!!!
btw, speaking of math, you guys remember that multi-variable calculus exam i was whining about last week? i got my mark back today: A!!!!!!!!!
Nucks Misconduct's Ambassador, Squid Provider, and Chief Puck Bunny. Now making the NM publishing crew 10000000% less of a sausage party. Also on Twitter.
Awesome!
"But yeah…like CC…I harbour no ill will." - VancityDan
by Chuckles Canuckles on Apr 20, 2010 11:05 AM PDT up reply actions
The one good thing is that the Canucks have been outperforming LA by a significant difference 5-on-5 so that if they can get their act together on the PK, they should win this series still.
Unfortunately, they only have 2 games to get the PK% to revert to the mean.
That is the one saving grace. Even if the Nucks can get the PK up to a “respectable” 70% or something, we’d eliminate about 1.5 goals per game
"Playin hurt, baby that don't faze me. I don't got time for pain. The only pain I've got time for is the pain I put on fools who don't know what time it is!"
As of this morning
PP – Kings #1, VAN #9
PK – Kings #8, VAN #16
Total PIMs – Kings #3 (8.7 mins), VAN #12 (13 mins)
Vancouver is pissing away their value at ES with the special teams. If you’re going to try and play close games, be the worst in the post season on the PK while taking almost four more minutes a game in calls, you deserve to be golfing.
'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.
by Yankee Canuck on Apr 20, 2010 7:58 AM PDT up reply actions
I strongly suggest Demo elevate his play.
He is starting to get on my nerves.
"But yeah…like CC…I harbour no ill will." - VancityDan
by Chuckles Canuckles on Apr 20, 2010 11:18 AM PDT reply actions
Yes, and take out the Orca in the centre of the ice and put in an Inukshuk (c)
"But yeah…like CC…I harbour no ill will." - VancityDan
by Chuckles Canuckles on Apr 20, 2010 8:09 PM PDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Nucks Misconduct
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
Nucks Misconduct Store
Your clothing sucks. Go fix it.
