Shutting Out the Sharks: How to Confirm You have the Best Goalie in the World

Tuesday the Los Angeles Kings shutout the San Jose Sharks 2-0 in Game 1 of the Western Conference  Semi-Final. Both Mike Richards, center, and Slava Voynov, defense, were credited with a goal and an assist. Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 35 shots in order to get his second shutout of the 2013 playoffs.

Well that was a boring intro...moving on.

#PlayoffMartinez Update: 1 shot on goal last night.....

I was at the game last night so it was a lot easier to follow the game there than on my computer screen. Here are some things I noticed, both good and bad:

The Bad:

1. The Kings gave up 35 shots. Luckily Jonathan Quick of Nazareth was there to stop all of them. But really, getting outshot by 15 isn't the most effective way to win hockey games. 

2. 50/50 battles for the puck; from what I could tell, the Kings weren't winning them for the most part. 

3. The Kings second goal was a deflection. Just as easily, the Sharks could have had one of those lucky bounces and the game would have been completely different. 

4. Jeff Carter didn't score AND got an assist. It was horrible. 

5. Raffi Torres sucks and Jarret Stoll has a "day-to-day" "undisclosed" injury. For those who aren't familiar with hockey, that means he has a concussion because Mr. Torres blindsided him (and a few other guys).

Word on the street is that he has been offered an in-person hearing with the NHL on his hit last night. 

The Good:

1. The Kings won! Yeah! That makes 5 in a row. 

2. Defensively: the Kings were doing a good job of keeping a majority of the Sharks shots to the perimeter. The Sharks weren't getting too many chances up close or off of rebounds. If there was a loose puck in front of the net, and Quick wasn't there, a defenseman was and he was able to clear it to the boards. In addition, the Sharks had only 4 shots on their three powerplays. 

3. The Kings 3rd period forecheck stood out to me, when they got the chance to forecheck that is. I mean pretty much all of the third period was played in the Kings' zone. But otherwise, the rest of the game the Kings did a good job of clogging the neutral zone and the Sharks were dumping/chasing more times than not. 

The Kings will definitely have to up their play in Game 2. It's got to be frustrating for the Sharks to put 35 shots on net, and none of them go in. Jonathan Quick is making them look like...

Despite the Kings 2 goals coming from the more "outside" regions of the offensive zone, I felt that they had more quality scoring chances than the Sharks (until the third period). But what does a scoring chance even mean? Isn't every shot a "scoring chance?" What does it imply? 

Game 2 will be interesting. Why? Well the Sharks are probably not going to come up goalless on 35 shots again. Jarret Stoll will most likely be out for the Kings, a key faceoff guy for the team. So who's going to replace him?

Jeff Carter and Mike Richards can both take faceoffs well, but does Daryl Sutter really want to split those two up? I mean, these guys are the dynamic duo, they can't be separated. What's Henrik Sedin without Daniel? What's Batman without Robin? What Bonnie without Clyde? What's an Adam Sandler movie without Rob Schneider? 

*Sweet Ed Hardy shirts Mike and Jeff!*

Trevor Lewis and Colin Fraser can both take faceoffs too, so expect some line juggling to happen for Game 2. I'd try and figure out what Daryl Sutter's going to do, but I don't even think he knows yet. 

Possibilities based on last games scratches:

- Kyle Clifford (most likely not. practiced yesterday in red "no-contact" jersey)

- Brad Richardson (could potentially add an offensive spark, based on history of coming off healthy scratch)

- Any of the several AHL guys that were called up but won't see any playing time. Names to keep in the back of your mind; Brandon Kozun, Anthony Stewart. Both right wings, and I've heard their names before, so if that doesn't mean anything I don't know what does. 

Also, Torres may or may not be suspended for a few games, but aside from causing injury to the other team he's basically a non-factor. 

I'll leave you with a pic I took from last night...in the men's bathroom...between the first and second periods...

If you can't read it clearly, that's a tiny bottle of Taaka vodka. If you've never heard of it, consider yourself blessed. If you have, I feel your pain. Like, literal pain. I've felt it too...

So shout out to the Kings fan that smuggled this in. I'm sure it probably wasn't worth the feeling of Satan's saliva running down your throat to feel that less than $9.25/beer buzz.

Taaka 'bout giving up 35 shots...



If you have anything to say about this post; agree, disagree, were hazed with Taaka vodka and want to share, etc. feel free to comment.

And be sure to follow me on twitter @SuttersLonghorn

Cool, Calm, and Collected

My flight home is delayed, so I'm in the airport blogging about how THE KINGS WON FOUR GAMES IN A ROW TO KNOCK THE ST. LOUIS BLUES OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS last night.

#reversesweep

In my "Lemonhead Stanley Cup Bracket Challenge" on LAKings.com, I had originally put the series down for Kings in 5. Probably could have happened if Jonathan Quick hadn't...you know...Game 1?

But I also had Vancouver sweeping the Sharks (ha!) and therefore we'd have played the Ducks in the conference final (according to my expertise). So my bracket in both conferences is pretty much shot, and not all of it is Jonathan Quick's fault. If the Kings beat the Penguins in Game 6 of the final, I'll have called it. But we can sweep them too, I'm not against that by any means.

You know what is Jonathan Quick's fault? The fact that we won this series. This guy stood on his head every night, save after save, as per usual. So thanks, man. That was nice of you to keep us in it, again. But I'm still leaning towards Justin Williams for Conn Smythe as of now.

Update on #PlayoffMartinez: of course after I say something he does nothing spectacular (but mind you nothing terrible) to help me prove a point. Based on who scored the winning goal, I'm fully on board the #PlayoffPenner train.

*Video courtesy of Kings Vision*

Arguably, it's a lucky shot, gets deflected, Brian Elliot probably wasn't expecting it. However, Penner's hustle earlier on in the play gave him that opportunity. I said this last year to my little brother when Penner scored the winning goal in a game of the Vancouver series, "If you had told me Dustin Penner would score a winning goal against the [Blues] in the first round of the playoffs, I would have cried from laughter."

Now, relating to the title of this blog. I noticed, and have continued to notice, how the Kings are very focused and level headed when being interviewed after games, regardless of the outcome. You can see what I mean by watching the videos on the Kings Vision YouTube channel.

They are all so focused, it's insane. Preparing for the next game is all that's on their collective minds, whether they are down two games in the series, ahead in the series, or into the next round. I mean the only person who said that the Kings were confident was Mike Richards, and I read somewhere...

Between the OHL, AHL and NHL, that's the 21st series of playoff hockey won by Mike Richards.
— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) May 11, 2013

...that he has won 21 playoff series in his OHL, AHL, and NHL careers combined. So I suppose he has a right to be confident.

This brings me to my next topic, Daryl Sutter. Despite my name being derived from his existence,*
I am really interested to see how this guy runs his locker room. I mean he has got to be doing something, at least something more than the Terry Murray tactic of "They are Professionals, They'll figure it out." I'm starting to think that, maybe, perhaps, that Sutter is The Zen Master. He's the Phil Jackson of hockey. (Side-note: what if Jackson started coaching in the NHL? Makes you wonder...)

*I asked my dad what he thought of the name of my blog, and how I thought it was fun and creative because my school mascot is a longhorn (bull) and Daryl Sutter is a farmer. My dad's reaction was, "Oh, so that makes more sense now." So I guess it's not as good as I thought and a missed the ball a little bit on that one, but it's a little late to change now isn't it? But thanks for the support, dad.*

*Geographical Update: I’m in Los Angeles now. Hopefully going to be able to attend a few of the playoff games in person. I’ll have you know, the Kings are 2-0 when I attend games in person this year. I’ll have you also know those games were against the Stars and Blue Jackets.*

As far as the next round goes, I’m a bit torn as to who I’d prefer. It’s all up to the Ducks to decide our next round matchup, so to whichever side I’m leaning they’ll probably cause the opposite to happen because that’s just how they are. The Kings were 2-1-1 against both teams in the regular season this year, so it'd really be a toss-up. Those OT losses to both teams were in a shootout. 

We could end up playing the Sharks, who are arguably “hot” after sweeping the Canucks, but let’s be real here folks: the Canucks are 1-9 in their last ten playoff games, so sweeping them isn’t that great of an achievement. Motion to rename the team to the Vancouver Cachokes. We also get home-ice advantage if we play the Sharks, and since the Kings are doing so well at home lately, that could be very beneficial. 

On the other hand we could face the Ducks. They had a “pretty good” season I guess you could say. Last time they did anything noteworthy though, in my opinion, was when the won the Cup. Second playoff appearance in last three years, but they were eliminated in the first round two years ago. But I will say I am a bit surprised by how they haven’t closed out this series with Satan’s hockey team, more commonly known as the Detroit Red Wings, in less than seven games.

Should the Kings and Ducks play in the second round, I expect a few things. 

1. Increased security at games
2. Violence. Lots of it. On and off the ice. 
3. Hopefully, lots of Kings fans at the Ponda Center ruining the lives of Ducks fans. 

A playoff Freeway Face-off would be historic, to say the least, but I would have preferred it to have taken place in the Conference Final. The home-ice advantage wouldn’t be as crucial in this series I don’t think, since the the two arenas are so close, and hopefully enough Kings fans will show up in the OC to make some noise.

Now we’ll just wait and see what happens Sunday, and take these few days to pretend we care about basketball...wait...BOTH Los Angeles basketball teams aren’t in the playoffs? Kings, you’re our only hope, because let’s be honest, the only person genuinely excited when the Galaxy win championships is Phil Anschutz. 

P.S. For you English nerds:

You may have noticed that I utilized the Oxford Comma, or Serial Comma in this blog’s title. I understand that this isn’t proper AP Style. I’m really not much of a print guy anyway, I’m hoping to go into broadcast. But I do have a defense for my use of the Oxford Comma. 

This comma is VERY important. A friend of mine at school (a petroleum engineering major) explained it to me in this way: 

At a bachelor party, the Oxford Comma is the difference between inviting over;

1. The strippers, Jeff and Steven. (the strippers names are Jeff and Steven)
2. The strippers, Jeff, and Steven. (You’re inviting over strippers in addition to your friends Jeff and Steven)

There you have it folks. Follow me on Twitter @SuttersLonghorn