Rudy Kelly, from the Kings blog Battle of California, answered a few questions about the boys from LA. Here goes:
Q: Give us a quick update on the team. Seemed like they started off well, but have slowed down some. Why?
A: The Kings started strong because of they were at home for the first few games of the season and then played the New York Islanders. They had a tough 6-game road trip that saw them play 3 games in 4 nights against the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets. They ended up going .500 on their road trip, their longest of the season, and now have a more regular schedule going forward.
Q: How has the top line performed? Give us a quick scouting report on them (even though the Stars saw plenty of them Monday night in Dallas).
A: The top line has been one of the best lines in hockey the first few weeks of the season. Anze Kopitar is one of the top young centers in the game and was given help in the offseason with the arrivals of Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams. Kopitar is a player that needs the puck on his stick to be effective and both Smyth and Williams are good at finding open spaces in the defense and tipping in shots. You'll usually see Kopitar carry the puck in and then either find Smyth behind the net or Williams trailing the play. As you saw in the last game, they're all very good at holding onto the puck and cycle the puck well. They're definitely a handful.
Q: How has Jonathan Quick looked in goal? (I'm assuming that's who the Stars will see?)
A: Quick has been... OK. When he's played well, the Kings have won; when he has played poorly, the Kings have lost. He's a very agile goaltender and is, uh, quick at getting to loose pucks, but he does tend to overplay the puck sometimes instead of letting it come to him. He's one of those guys that'll stop a 2-on-0 and then let in a shot from the point. But overall he's been pretty good, or at least better than his numbers portray. He's only 23 and he's only going to get better.
Q: Talk about what makes Dustin Brown such a force to deal with on the ice. He seems to hit everything in sight.
A: Dustin Brown is the first of a new breed of American hockey player, a breed that is big, skilled, and capable of playing in all areas of the game. He's not elite at any one thing but he's good at everything. Brown can't be counted on to carry a whole line, that's just not his game, but he's a good complementary player and more than earns his salary. It's always funny to watch him play because he'll drill someone into the boards and then pull a toe drag 1-on-1 against a defender. We here in LA are hoping that he can develop a little bit more of a mean streak a la Brenden Morrow; if he does, the whole league is in trouble. If he wouldn't mind starting that mean streak tonight against Steve Ott that'd be great.
Q: It's once again a matchup of two struggling penalty kills. Why do you think the Kings have struggled in that department (29th in the league)?
A: Honestly? I have no idea. The Kings had a solid penalty kill last year and had no changes besides the addition of Rob Scuderi (a great penalty killer in his own right), so there's no reason they should be where they are. If I had to come up with a reason I'd say it's because they play aggressively but haven't been rotating fast enough to cover when someone attacks the puck carrier, leaving gaps in their system that can be exploited. Really, though, it's probably just bad luck and I assume the Kings will be in the top half of the league in penalty killing by the end of the year.
Q: Can you give us a few players to watch that maybe fans wouldn't know of?
A: You probably already know Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson but I'd focus on them if I were a fan of another team. They're 1-2 in time on ice for the Kings despite being 19 and 21, respectively. Both are great skaters but Doughty plays a more finesse, positioning style of defense while Johnson is more of a smashmouth, gritty player. Really, the whole Kings line-up is infused with youth, from Kopitar to Doughty to Quick, and it's a lot of fun to watch them play right now.
And a quick shout out to Wayne Simmonds, who you probably saw all over the place in Monday's game. He's only 19 but has quickly become one the fan favorites at Staples because of his style of play and his nickname: "Meat Train."
Q: Any injury updates?
A: Not really. Half the roster had the flu last week but they're all better now. The only guys on IR are Alec Martinez and Richard Clune, and they'll probably get sent down once they're healthy.
Q: Anything else fans should know about the Kings?
A: The Kings just shuffled up their lines for tonight, bringing Dustin Brown up alongside Alex Frolov and Michal Handzus on the 2nd line. They're the line carrying the responsibility of shutting down Ribeiro's line, so that should be fun to watch.
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Contributors
Richard Durrett
Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.
