Crawford Firing Not The Big Story

EL SEGUNDO, CA — On June 10, when the Los Angeles Kings fired head coach Marc Crawford, they clearly indicated a major course change in the direction of the franchise...

...that is, if you believe what many of the pundits and some fans are saying in the aftermath of the firing of the Kings’ 21st head coach.

But don’t you believe it, not for one minute.

Indeed, it seems far more likely that, if anything, the Kings are staying the course that President/General Manager Dean Lombardi set when he was hired more than two seasons ago.

Crawford Out Due To “Fit”

Crawford was hired on May 22, 2006, and earned a 59-84-21 record with the Kings. He was best available option at the time of his hiring, to be sure, he was the “biggest name” available. But his fiery, in-your-face style does not work well with today’s National Hockey League players, especially the youngsters.

“The young players that are in the draft, and as we see more prevalent coming through the system—this is one of the advantages of going out on the road, meeting kids myself, meeting parents—I think the ability to communicate and build trust with young players is critical because the fear factor with young people is not there anymore as it was in the past,” said Lombardi.

“So the question is...is it change your ways or is it adapt to the people we’re dealing with? I think we’ve all had to do that. Even [assistant general manager] Ron Hextall says it’s very different from when he came up through the ranks when dealing with players, the impact the agents now have—these kids have agents at 14 years old. They learn in junior hockey now that if you don’t like going somewhere, you can manipulate the team you want to play for.”

The team plummeting out of playoff contention by mid-December also did not help matters, even though Lombardi said that was not the most important factor in the decision.

“If you’re only going to evaluate it on the past, the season ends disappointingly, sure,” Lombardi explained. “We weren’t as good as we thought. I think we should’ve been better. But is that enough to make a change? I didn’t really think so, particularly with a coach who had a good track record with other organizations. But then you look again, just like a player, where does he fit into your overall plan?

“We’re talking about a guy with a lot of wins,” Lombardi continued. “But this is different from Colorado or Vancouver. This is not an easy team to coach when you have to go out and get bridge free agents to bide time for your young players and build something through the draft and through your system.”

“You have to be realistic in terms of your expectations because you’re not able to build the camaraderie. I go back to free agency back on July 4. Six or seven guys—not the way to go and that’s a harder team to coach. I don’t think Marc ever confronted that type of building scenario, even though he had a wealth of experience. When you’re in that situation, the bridge towards the build, I don’t think he had to face that yet.”

Indeed, Lombardi must share much of the blame, even though he did not have much choice for his actions, for Crawford’s situation last season. Given the fact that Lombardi handed him a roster made up of young, inexperienced talent at the top end and not much else outside of over-the-hill or drastically underperforming veteran players, it is quite clear that Crawford really did not have much to work with—he was going to be hard-pressed to keep his team in the playoff hunt, although his team should have been able to stay afloat until at least the All-Star break and should have been able to stay out of the basement of the league standings (the Kings ended the season tied in points with last place Tampa Bay).

In any case, for the rebuilding Kings, it is clear that Crawford is not the right man for the job going forward as the Kings dive deeper into their youth movement, which is the real story here.

Staying The Course

To be sure, the firing of head coach Marc Crawford, although a big story in relation to the Kings, was really not the biggest story to surface from the Kings on Tuesday. Rather, it was the revelation that the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), who owns the Kings, is supportive of Lombardi’s efforts and vision for the future of the team and is not interfering in hockey-related decisions as they used to do from the time they took over as owners through Dave Taylor’s run as general manager.

“There’s no doubt we’re committed to the way we’re going after my meeting with ownership this week,” said Lombardi. “It’s more evident than ever that they’re committed to building a young core—for the lack of a better term, the old-fashioned way.”

“Ultimately, it comes down to a meeting with ownership and their commitment to staying with this plan, because in the end, their philosophy is what dictates the plan, and they’re not changing the course in terms of building a young core the old-fashioned way,” added Lombardi. “It’s safe to say that we might be accelerating it, so there’s more of a commitment than ever to doing it this way.”

This news is probably shocking to many long-time Kings fans who are skeptical of AEG and their motives.

“The only thing I wanted to hear from ownership was a commitment to stay with the idea of building with young players,” said Lombardi. “That was it. Seeing where some of these young players might be in terms of using them, there is a school of thought that says that, in a perfect world, you completely back off instead of trying to play a 21-year-old or a 19-year-old and use your minor league time to its fullest. That’s not totally irrational, but it’s also not practical at times.”

“When I put all these plans together, the only thing I want to hear from ownership is are you still committed to building through the draft and with young players? If anything, they’re stronger on that now than they were when I got here. The challenge now is to not only get the young players but to keep them because of the way the money is going.”

Lombardi added that many organizations become skittish after a horrendous season like the one the Kings just had.

“The thing you see from organizations time and time again, when it gets a little hard, it’s easy to switch course,” he explained. “When you’re in these situations, ownership has a right to say, ‘this is not what we expected,’ or, ‘we have to make an adjustment here.’ Or the easy thing is to do a hybrid and then get caught in between trying to put together the muscle to win a Cup and ‘let’s try and do it, but let’s do this that might hurt us down the road.’”

“All I heard was, ‘no, you continue on this route to put together a core that’s going to make us a contender,’” he elaborated. “They said to stay with this and, if anything, go even harder at it.”

For a team that has only talked about rebuilding prior to hiring Lombardi but never actually went through with it, rather, going the “hybrid” route that Lombardi described, this is significant. It is a powerful indication that they are committed to rebuilding and, even more important, allowing their hockey people to make the decisions and run the show, something they never allowed before.

And about that rebuilding movement...many hockey pundits and long-time fans are saying that the Kings are switching gears by heading into a total youth movement.

BZZZT! Wrong! Try again!

Clearly, Lombardi has had the Kings on a rebuilding plan since he arrived on the scene on April 21, 2006, and even though he said that here in Southern California, tearing down a team and totally rebuilding it won’t work, it is quite clear that despite what he said two years ago, a total rebuild is exactly what he has been doing all along.

Indeed, if you look at the young core of the team, which includes forwards Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Patrick O’Sullivan, Alexander Frolov and, if he is not traded soon, Michael Cammalleri, they range in age from 20 to 26 years of age—all still young by NHL standards.

In goal, the Kings were horrible once again last season, although Erik Ersberg gave fans a glimmer of hope near the end of the season. Yet unproven, Ersberg could wind up as the Kings’ top goalie while the Kings wait for blue chip prospect Jonathan Bernier to develop further in his first year with the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League (Kings’ primary minor league affiliate).

Where the Kings need the most help is on the blue line, where they are still relatively old.

“We have the illusion of being young because our better players are young,” Lombardi explained. “But in terms of our overall make-up, particularly on the back end, there’s a transition that has to take place where we, in fact, become a young team.”

Indeed, with elder statesman Rob Blake likely still in the Kings’ plans and with holes to fill while waiting for young defenseman prospects to develop down on the farm, the Kings’ blue line corps will not be getting a lot younger just yet, even with the likely selection of a high-potential defenseman prospect in the 2008 National Hockey League Entry Draft on June 20.

The Kings clearly have had huge holes on defense and on their third and fourth lines. So what did Lombardi do to fill them? He signed unrestricted free agents such as Scott Thornton, Brian Willsie, Kyle Calder, Ladislav Nagy and Michael Handzus. And knowing that goaltending was a problem, he took a shot in the dark with Dan Cloutier. Lombardi also signed defenseman Rob Blake for a whopping $6 million per year for two seasons.

To be quite sure, trading for Cloutier and then signing him to a contract extension was a blunder of epic proportions, and Blake and Handzus have been major disappointments. The rest were really nothing more than inexpensive placeholders—filling a roster spot, biding time for young prospects to develop and eventually fill those roster spots.

That time is upon us, as a few prospects will undoubtedly move into those roster spots next season.

“We’ve had time, since the playoffs ended in Manchester, to evaluate where those kids are in terms of being in our lineup,” said Lombardi.

And with fifteen selections in the 2008 draft, including the second overall pick, the Kings development system will get a big boost just over a week from now. Indeed, the train that is the Kings’ youth movement is about to hit top speed.

With that second pick, the Kings just might land a youngster who is ready to play at the NHL level already.

Maybe.

“You look at the draft picks that are out there—I spent a lot of time in Toronto and down the stretch trying to gauge whether one or two of these players could be ready [for the NHL],” said Lombardi.

Lombardi Will Take His Time On New Head Coach

Don’t expect the Kings to name a new head coach very soon, as it appears that they are going to be quite deliberate in their search.

“We haven’t had time to look at candidates at this stage,” said Lombardi. “For the most part, we’ll start our search after today and look for what you hope will be the right fit as you project your roster. That’s the hard part that started to become clearer to us in the last month or so—the direction we were going with the timing of the youth, so to speak.”

“We’re not going to rush into anything,” added Lombardi. “This is a critical hire. We’ll get through Development Camp in July and hopefully, make the right gut call in the end. We’re going to take our time, go through the process and hopefully, get the right guy.”

Lombardi indicated that associate coach Mike Johnston was the only one of the current assistant/associate coaches who would be considered.

“There’s two things there,” said Lombardi. “I haven’t had a chance to meet with them yet. I want to talk to Mike Johnston about the possibility of being considered for this role.”

“I think right now we’ve committed to considering Mike Johnston,” added Lombardi. “I think he’s pretty well-respected in the industry and I think that’s where we’re leaning right now, but that doesn’t mean we won’t open it up.”

With big-name head coaches such as Joel Quenneville and John Tortorella out there, presumably looking for new jobs, Lombardi explained the situation that candidates will face.

“Guys that have options—they have to decide which challenge they want,” he explained. “It’s not only a guy who fits with where your team is and where you want to go. But that candidate has a different landscape for every organization.”

“If you go to San Jose or Ottawa, for instance, there’s no question those teams should be Cup contenders.” he elaborated. “Everything’s been built, the infrastructure is in place. Now go ahead, ride everything to the top. Or do you want to get on the ground floor, build with young players, help establish a culture, and maybe go through the hard times but have the satisfaction of starting something from the ground up?”

“The hockey people are starting to look and say ‘hmm...there might be something pretty good there if they can get the back end [established] and keep the youth up front, that could be a good place to go and grow with,’” Lombardi stressed. “That’s important because every [team] brings its own challenge, and that individual has to want that challenge or you don’t want him.”

Lombardi also said that previous experience as an NHL head coach would not necessarily be a requirement.

“I’m not married to [NHL] experience,” he said. “I’m not afraid to hire inexperience if I feel its the right guy and he wants this type of challenge.”

Dustin Brown Puts It All Together

LOS ANGELES — Even though Los Angeles Kings right wing Dustin Brown is only 23 years old, he had already played three seasons in the National Hockey League going into the 2007-08 season. But during that time, his play raised plenty of questions and doubts about his future.

To be sure, Brown quickly established himself as a physical player, one who could deliver devastating body checks. But the offensive ability he showed at lower levels eluded him. Indeed, many doubted the first round (13th overall) selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft would ever meet the lofty expectations that the Kings and hockey pundits alike had of him.

Brown played sparingly in his rookie year, scoring a goal and adding four assists in the 2003-04 season. He played for the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League (Kings’ primary minor league affiliate) during the 2005-06 lockout season, and he gave everyone a glimpse of what could be by scoring 29 goals with 45 assists for 74 points.

It was back to the NHL and the Kings in the 2005-06 season, when Brown scored 14 goals and added 14 assists for 28 points with 175 hits. He improved his offensive numbers in the 2006-07 season with 17 goals and 29 assists for 46 points while ranking second in the league with 258 hits.

Despite his offensive improvement, it was clear that Brown was a fierce hitter, but was not a major offensive threat—a third line winger at best, not the first or second line power forward that he was expected to become. And since teams do not select players for their third and fourth lines in the first round of the draft, Brown was definitely not living up to expectations.

After three seasons in the NHL without making the offensive splash that was expected of him, Brown was at a crossroads in his career, as the whispers around the league were that he was likely to be little more than a third-line checking forward with average or even below average offensive skills. Brown clearly needed to put his entire game together in order to silence his critics.

And although the 2007-08 season was yet another horrific season for the Kings, Brown was a one of the few bright spots, scoring 33 goals while contributing 27 assists for 60 points, and he led the league with 311 hits. Without question, Brown finally put together his offensive game with his physical play.

To be sure, Brown silenced his critics with a breakout season.

Brown’s renaissance began during the off-season when he lost a few pounds and worked on his skating, adding speed and better conditioning to his game.

He also added increased confidence to his arsenal.

“This year, I’ve been focusing on picking up my offensive game and really focusing when I get those chances,” said Brown. “Last year, when I got those chances, maybe I didn’t have the confidence to score. That’s the difference--the experience and the confidence this year.”

“There’s definitely a different feeling for myself,” added Brown. “You come out onto the ice—I remember my first couple of years, questioning or doubting myself, whether I belong, or whether I can score. Now, I just go out there and expect to create offense for this team. I’ve been fortunate enough to get the opportunity and capitalize on my chances.”

“It’s definitely a different mindset for me now. It’s not whether I belong. It’s making a statement.”

Experience also helped him to continue to play a physical brand of hockey while adding the offense at the same time.

“Physicality is still there [in his game],” Brown explained earlier in the season. “But when I have to focus on offense, I’m not taking myself out of the play as much this year, which has helped me get my chances. I’m not worrying about making the huge hit and maybe taking myself out of position by three or four feet. In today’s game, three or four feet is a big difference. Letting the hits come to me, I can still get my hits, but I’m in better position defensively and offensively.”

“A lot of it is confidence and a lot of it is experience, knowing when to turn it up a notch,” added Brown. “Hitting is a weird thing. Sometimes, you can create big hits, but a lot of times, it’s just a matter of letting things come to you.”

This season, everyone stood up and took notice of the “new” player wearing Kings’ jersey number 23, including Kings’ head coach Marc Crawford.

“He’s at the point in his career where he is maybe a little more comfortable with the puck,” said Crawford. “When you’re young and you’re learning the league, when you get the puck on your stick, maybe you force plays or hurry plays a bit more. Dustin has a bit more poise now.”

“As a power forward, it’s about controlling the puck and making a quick decision, and I see a lot more control in his play,” added Crawford. “He’s always physical. He was physical as a young player in this league. He caught people by surprise, but he doesn’t catch anyone by surprise now.”

After a huge breakout season, the expectations for Brown are even higher, both on the ice and off, and that includes being looked at as one of the leaders on the team.

“Let’s face it. It’s going to be Brown in a situation of leadership, [and Anze] Kopitar,” said Crawford. “We’ve already introduced [Lubomir] Visnovsky and [Michael] Cammalleri into it this year. Those guys are going to have to continue to take steps ahead.”

“It’s taking initiative to be the accountable guys,” added Crawford.

And Brown was already talking like a team leader at the end of his team’s season as he lamented one of the reasons the Kings took it on the chin again this season.

“It’s players taking accountability and coming ready to play every night, which I don’t think was the case for every player in every game this year,” he said.

“I believe it’s just taking accountability—each individual,” he stressed. “There have been games this year where little things cost us games, not big mistakes. It’s not chipping the puck in, a turnover. It’s little things like that—short shifts and stuff like that—we got away from as a team in the early part of the year and it cost us games.”

Many have attributed to the Kings’ inconsistent effort throughout the season to the fact that their key players are all quite young. But Brown refused to accept that as an excuse.

“You could look at it two ways,” said Brown. “We’re a young team, but at the same time, if you’re young, you should be excited to play every night. I think there have been instances where there’s players who weren’t excited to play and kind of went through the motions.”

“You can’t do that,” added Brown. “You can’t have any passengers when we’re on the lower end of the talent level. We have to have everyone excited. We can’t rely only on our talent. We have to be hard-working. Hard work and doing the little things would really help this team.”

Indeed.

“Everyone has off nights,” Brown explained. “The effort level wasn’t there sometimes from a variety of players. I don’t think that’s really acceptable if we want to make the playoffs. There’s guys who are going to have off nights. Skill guys—[Alexander] Frolov might have an off night and not be the normal Frolov we all know he can be. One thing we can all do is bring our effort every night. Sometimes, that wasn’t the case."

“It’s a team game, we’re all pulling on the same rope,” Brown elaborated. “You try to support your teammates. I’ve had off nights, or nights where I could’ve worked harder. You look back after the fact and you kick yourself.”

After such a banner year for himself, Brown was especially disappointed in his team’s atrocious season.

“It’s not a good feeling for myself,” he said. “It’s a big disappointment for me. Next year, it’s going to be up to the core guys to take accountability for this team and not let it slip away.”

Brown said that despite their poor season, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“I think experience is a huge part of becoming a winning team,” said Brown. “When you look at our core group, we all got a year’s experience and I think that’s going to pay dividends.”

“It’s my first time in this organization where I’ve come back and there’s the same key players for two years in a row and now we’re coming back for a third year,” added Brown. “I think that’s a huge part of getting a winning mentality around here. The key guys—Kopitar, [Patrick O’Sullivan Frolov, Cammalleri], Jack [Johnson]—they’re all going to be here.”

“Normally, it’s a total [overhaul] after the season, at least since I’ve been here. It’s nice to know that we have that core group that’s been together for three years and we can really build on that.”

Brown will represent the United States, along with O’Sullivan, in the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship tournament, May 2-18, 2008 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Quebec City, Quebec.

After that, it’s back to same grindstone that he put his nose to last summer.

“A lot of the same, I’m not going to try to switch much of it up,” Brown said about his off-season training. “This is where you can make gains physically—in the summertime.”

“It’s tough during the year. If you work hard during the summer—I noticed the difference physically, feeling better on the ice, maybe not right away because you go from being in great shape off the ice to getting into hockey shape. But once you get into hockey shape, it can really help you.”

To be sure, the 2008-09 Kings are going to need all the help Dustin Brown can give them, and if he can improve on his offensive numbers, he can make a big statement towards gaining recognition as one of the league’s top power forwards. That kind of effort could be the difference between the Kings making the playoffs or being one of the league’s also-rans yet again.

Audio: Interview with Dustin Brown (8:19)

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Brown, O’Sullivan Headed For World Championships

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO AND LOS ANGELES — Although the Online Kingdom has known about it since the the 2007-08 season ended for the Los Angeles Kings a few days ago, USA Hockey made it official today when they announced that Kings wingers Dustin Brown and Patrick O’Sullivan will represent the United States in the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Quebec City, Quebec, May 2-18, 2008.

For more on the players named to the 2008 United States Men’s National Team...17 Players Named To 2008 U.S. Men’s National Team.

Kings Announce Team Award Recipients

During the first period of their season finale against the Anaheim Ducks at Staples Center on April 5, the Los Angeles Kings announced their 2007-08 team award recipients:

Leading Scorer: Anze Kopitar

Voted By The Media
Bill Libby Memorial Award (Most Valuable Player): Anze Kopitar
Mark Bavis Memorial Award (Best Newcomer): Jack Johnson
Outstanding Defenseman: Jack Johnson
Best Defensive Player: Patrick O’Sullivan

Voted By The Kings Players
Ace Bailey Memorial Award (Most Inspirational Player): Dustin Brown
Unsung Hero: Jeff Giuliano

Selected By The Kings Care Foundation
Community Service: Derek Armstrong

Selected By The Kings Booster Club
Most Popular Player Dustin Brown

Kings Stop Streaking Sharks

LOS ANGELES — Going into Thursday night’s action, the San Jose Sharks had not lost in regulation play in twenty games, having gone 18-0-2 over that stretch.

Indeed, the Sharks are smoking hot and have been virtually unbeatable since they acquired defenseman Brian Campbell at the trade deadline. Add to that the Vezina Trophy candidate play that Evgeni Nabokov is giving the Sharks in goal in just about every game and it is easy to see why the Sharks have locked up first place in the Pacific Division.

But all streaks come to an end. But what was almost unbelievable was who ended it...none other than the lowly Los Angeles Kings the worst team in the National Hockey League going into Thursday’s action.

Anze Kopitar scored two goals, Brian Willsie and Raitis Ivanans added a goal each and Erik Ersberg made 32 saves to lead the Kings to a 4-2 win over the Sharks in front of 17,759 fans at Staples Center on Thursday night.

Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks. Nabokov was the surprise starter in goal after the Sharks announced the day before that Brian Boucher would get the nod against the Kings.

Nabokov was two wins away from tying the league record for wins in a season by a goaltender, a record held by Martin Brodeur.

Thornton opened the scoring just 36 seconds into the game after Ersberg misplayed Thornton’s centering pass.

“The first goal was kind of my fault,” said Ersberg. “I felt a little bad. But I guess it’s better to have that in the first minute than the last minute. You look at it that you have 59 minutes to make up for that.”

“They got the fortunate bounce,” said Kings head coach Marc Crawford. “Joe Thornton caught our rookie goaltender trying to cheat a little bit and they got the one-goal lead. But Erik really beared down and was great from that point on.”

Indeed. Ersberg and the Kings made up for their bad first shift by turning things around fairly quickly in the first period.

“We got down pretty quick on the first shift, but we didn’t panic,” said Kopitar. “We knew we had nothing to lose and that we could play better. We stepped up our game, we outshot them in the first period which really got the crowd into the game.”

The Kings stepped up their play even more in the second period and dominated the game.

Willsie was in the right place at the right time when a loose puck bounced to him in the slot. He got off a weak wrist shot through traffic that trickled past Nabokov at the 2:14 mark for his third goal of the season, assisted by Michael Cammalleri, tying the game.

A little over eight minutes later, none other than scoring god Raitis Ivanans scored his sixth goal of the season, taking a feed in front of the net from Alexander Frolov and beating Nabokov inside the left goal post at 10:29.

The Sharks came out strong to start the third period and tied the game on a one-time blast from the slot by Pavelski with the Sharks on the power play at the 3:03 mark.

But the Kings asserted themselves the rest of the way, and they took the lead for good when Kopitar got the puck in the low slot and wristed the puck past Nabokov at the 14:22 mark, assisted by Dustin Brown and Scott Thornton.

Kopitar added an empty-net goal at the 19:56 mark to give the Kings their final margin of victory,

“We were terrific tonight and very deserving of the two points,” said Crawford. “I’m very proud of the way that our guys played. The older guys led, the younger guys played with a lot of spirit, and there wasn’t a man on our team who didn’t step up tonight.”

“They made it interesting by tying it on the power play goal,” added Crawford. “It was probably the lone big mistake that we made all night. As I said, Erik really beared down in the net. I thought that our defensive corps as a whole all played really well. That was the best game people like [Lubomir] Visnovsky and Cammalleri have played in awhile.”

“I thought our older guys really led the way tonight. Whether it was [Rob] Blake or [Jon] Klemm, [Michal] Handzus or Thornton, a lot of guys were putting their bodies in front of shots. To see Anze Kopitar block two shots at the end of the games speaks volumes for the character of our team and the development of our team.”

Kopitar pointed to his team’s strong third period as being the difference in the game.

“They didn’t lose in regulation in twenty games, so they were playing with a lot of confidence,” Kopitar explained. “You can really see that they’re comfortable on the ice. At some point, maybe we were a little shaken, but that’s how the game goes. Momentum pretty much changes all the time. In the third, we took over again. I think we deserved this win. We had a lot of chances, too. We didn’t put it in the back of the net at first, but the bounces came our way. I’m really [glad] we got the win.”

“Maybe they let down a bit [in the second period],” Kopitar added. “We had a couple of really strong shifts in their end and we scored those two goals which gave us the boost and the energy to play in the third.

“We talked about that in between periods,” Crawford explained. “We knew they’re going to come at us and let’s not let them think they can come in here, play a period and beat us. I thought it was a great response by our club. All four lines, all six defensemen, the goaltender—everybody was good tonight.”

“I thought the trainers even did a good job passing out the sticks,” Crawford added with a wide grin.

Crawford emphasized that his entire team played very well in this game.

“We rate our forwards and our defensemen after every game,” said Crawford. “I didn’t have anybody who wasn’t really good tonight. When you get that type of performance where all your players play well, it’s very gratifying that they get the victory.”

“We were on tonight,” added Crawford. “We forechecked really well, we recovered real well, we didn’t give them a lot of open space. We stood up real well. They generate a lot of speed through the neutral zone, but we took a lot of it away because we were skating so well and we were confident in how we were playing. Our defense was very stingy tonight. I thought, as a team, we really checked them into the ground and didn’t give them a lot of chances.”

After giving up that first goal, Ersberg was also “on.”

“It felt good to get a win, especially against this team,” he said. “They’ve gone twenty games without a loss so it’s good that we could break that streak. It was a fun game.”

As for the Sharks, they were not at their best and they knew it.

“We didn’t skate well and we didn’t move the puck quick enough,” said Campbell. “Guys weren’t getting open for each other. Obviously, it’s tough when you’re not playing for a whole lot right now. But we have to try to stay as sharp as possible to get ready here.”

“You want to be confident going into the playoffs, but you don’t want to be overconfident and think you’re invincible,” said Sharks winger Mike Grier. “Tonight kind of showed that if you let your guard down, even for a little bit, the game’s not going to go your way. We kind of slept through the first two periods and didn’t play with enough intensity to match them.”

“Hopefully, we all realize that it’s now back to work and start doing the little things that we’ve been doing over the last couple of month that have made us successful.”

Of course, the game was mostly meaningless for the Sharks, except for the end of their impressive streak.

“I suppose it’s not a bad thing, the streak was unbelievable,” said Sharks head coach Ron Wilson. “When you go into games like these you’re looking and seeing if people are capable of getting the job done. We have a lot of guys and a lot of decisions to make, if everyone’s healthy and rested, it makes it easy.”

“You know it’s going to come to an end at some point, but it shouldn’t have been now,” said Grier. “They had a lot of pride and I don’t think we played with enough intensity to match them in the first two periods.”

“It’s hard to tell what’s going through different guys’ heads,” added Grier. “We’re professionals. Whether you’re looking ahead or not or thinking about other things, when it’s time to play you’ve got to be ready to play. And we weren’t tonight.”

And for Nabokov, he missed his chance to tie Brodeur’s record.

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t help Nabby get the job done,” said Wilson. “A couple of guys were awful and it really hurt us in our own end. They let Nabby down and it cost him an opportunity to play Sunday to tie a pretty incredible record.”

Speaking of meaningless games, it meant even less for the Kings.

“These games are virtually meaningless for us, yet guys are willing to sacrifice their bodies and they’re willing to do the right thing. That’s a good sign.” said Crawford.

The Kings have just one game left in their season and have nothing left to shoot for.

Or do they?

“Now we’ve got one more,” said Crawford. “Hopefully, we can finish strong for our fans and then the most important thing is to win the lottery on Monday.”

That would be Monday’s NHL draft lottery on Monday when the Kings will find out if they get the first or second pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Don’t let the suspense kill you.

NOTES: Anze Kopitar’s two goals gave him 32 goals on the season, tying him with Brown for the team lead; Ivanans has a two-game goal scoring streak; The Kings and Sharks split the season series, 4-4-0.

Post-Game Audio: Interviews with...
Anze Kopitar (1:17)

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Marc Crawford (4:06)

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Brian Campbell (2:40)

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Ersberg Stellar In 4-0 Shutout Victory

LOS ANGELES — After losing six straight games to the Phoenix Coyotes this season, the Los Angeles Kings salvaged the final two gamess, the latest, a 4-0 blowout victory on Thursday night in front of 17,331 fans at Staples Center.

Leading the way was Kings center Anze Kopitar with a goal and two assists, while rookie goaltender Erik Ersberg stopped 38 shots, earning his second shutout of the season.

It was also his second shutout of what might just be a promising National Hockey League career.

After a scoreless first period in which the Coyotes held a distinct advantage in terms of quality scoring opportunities, the Kings found their game and turned up the heat on the Coyotes, who quickly wilted.

The Coyotes’ self-destruction began when Kopitar carried the puck into the Phoenix zone on right wing, drawing three Coyotes players to him. That left the entire left side of the ice wide open for Kings defenseman Kevin Dallman, who had just come off the bench. Kopitar flipped a saucer pass right onto Dallman’s stick in the left circle and he beat Phoenix netminder Mikael Tellqvist low, just past his left leg pad at the 6:52 mark.

“When you get the first goal it gives you wings and you are more comfortable making plays you normally wouldn’t,” Kopitar explained. “The key was that the defensemen were giving us the puck right away and they were joining the play. We have really quick defensemen and when they join the attack it really helps us.”

Kopitar scored his thirtieth goal of the season at the 9:14 mark—another easy one for the Kings—when he backhanded a fat rebound coughed up by Tellqvist into the wide open left side of the net.

“It’s satisfying,” Kopitar said about scoring his thirtieth goal. “I was waiting for this one for a couple of games already. I knew if I just played and worked hard without thinking about it, it was going to come sooner or later. I’m glad it came today.”

Kopitar had been in a bit of a goal-scoring slump. His goal against the Coyotes was his first in the last eight games.

Kings right wing Dustin Brown scored his 32nd goal of the season at 13:03 with Coyotes defenseman Nick Boynton in the box for hooking at 12:07. Brown was parked at left crease when he took a nice feed across the low slot from Kings winger Michael Cammalleri and had the entire left side of the net to shoot at.

But the carnage was not over yet.

Kings defenseman Rob Blake scored on a wide open shot in front of the Coyotes net at 11:54 of the third period during a four-on-four skating situation. Blake beat his man off the right wing boards and made a bee line to the front of the net where he took a pass from Kings winger Alexander Frolov. With a step or two on his man, Blake re-directed the puck into the open right side of the net for his ninth goal of the season, closing out the scoring.

The Coyotes, who still have very slim playoff hopes, disappeared after the first period in a game they desperately needed to keep those playoff aspirations alive.

“It was just not a very good effort on our part, Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky lamented. “I know it’s late in the season and obviously the situation is tough for us. But you’ve still got to show up and play. One of the things we’re proud of with our hockey club is that we work hard every day, in every practice. I’m disappointed because tonight wasn’t a very good effort.”

“We came out and played a pretty good first period, and then laid an egg in the second and third periods,” said Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski. “We hung our goalie out to dry, and that’s unacceptable.”

Gretzky, who was obviously disappointed after the game, said that only a handful of his players bothered to show up in this contest.

“We didn’t have eighteen forwards and defensemen show up tonight,” he said. “There were five or six guys who showed up tonight and played their hearts out and you’re not going to be successful when that happens. You win as a team and you lose as a team and we just didn’t have everybody going tonight.”

To be sure, the Coyotes were not firing on all cylinders and the Kings took full advantage.

“Maybe they underestimated us a little bit,” Kopitar explained. “They were controlling the game in the first period. We didn’t put it together. But after that, we started to make plays. We controlled the puck pretty much all of the second period.”

“If you have the puck, you can make plays and that leads to scoring chances,” Kopitar continued. “We buried three in the second and that was really important for us.”

Kings head coach Marc Crawford said that his team won the game by using their awareness to neutralize the Coyotes’ speed.

“We realize what a good skating club Phoenix is,” he explained. “They outskated us in the games they’ve won. Quite simply, that’s such a big factor in games, when a team skates you into the ice and gets to loose pucks quicker than you do, then you’re not going to be successful.”

“We’re very aware of their speed,” he elaborated. “They don’t have a slow player in their lineup. Our awareness was what was really good tonight. We had to compensate for the fact that they’ve got a fast team. The way you do that is make sure your positioning is correct and that your awareness is sharp. I thought that really was the difference in the game tonight. We looked like the much more aware club tonight. We ended up winning a lot of loose puck battles with positioning and with the great awareness we showed throughout the game.”

Crawford was especially pleased with the play of his defensemen, most notably Rob Blake and Jon Klemm, the elder statesmen of his team.

“I thought Jon Klemm was terrific tonight,” said Crawford. “When you see a pair of 38-year-olds blocking shots and putting their bodies in front of shots and banging people, they’re playing with a lot of youthful exuberance. I think it’s rubbing off on everyone else on our team. They’re really leading by tremendous example. Jon Klemm was a real, real good competitor for us tonight.”

But after all that, the big story of the game was the rookie in goal for the Kings, who was once again stellar in his crease and has allowed just one goal in his last two games spanning 123:10 of ice time.

For the season, Ersberg has played in eleven games, earning a 5-3-3 record with a 1.97 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage—both eye-opening numbers, especially for a rookie who came into the Kings’ dressing room with no expectations of him whatsoever.

Oh...and there are those two shutouts as well.

Ersberg’s parents have been in town this week, having traveled all the way from Sweden. They were in attendance on Wednesday night in Anaheim and on Thursday night at Staples Center.

Apparently, having family around has inspired the 26-year-old netminder, but they are scheduled to leave Southern California on Sunday.

“It’s been going pretty good lately,” said Ersberg. “[My parents] saw the last game too, so maybe I’ll keep them around a little longer.”

Indeed, Ersberg has been virtually unbeatable in his last two games, stopping a combined 77 shots and allowing just the one goal to Anaheim Ducks rookie forward Bobby Ryan on Wednesday night in the Ducks’ 2-1 shootout win.

Even more impressive...over his last four games, Ersberg is 3-0-1 and has stopped 129 out of 137 shots over that stretch.

“He’s been playing great the last couple of games,” said Kopitar. “He deserved the shutout today. He was sharp all the way. He made some big saves, too. I’m really glad for him because coming into the league, not knowing how he’s going to play, the way he’s playing, it seems that he’s really comfortable. That’s really good for us.”

“I can’t complain,” Ersberg said about his performance against the Coyotes. “It was a good night for me. They had to give everything they’ve got to make the playoffs. They threw a lot of shots at me, but we played a great game defensively. I saw almost every shot and they were there for me on the rebounds, too. They helped me out a lot.”

Speaking of being unbeatable, Ersberg is now 2-0 against the Coyotes this season, having beaten them on March 20, a 6-5 shootout victory in Phoenix.

“You have to give him credit, he played well last game, he played well tonight,” said Coyotes forward and team captain Shane Doan. “He’s a good goalie. You have to get a little bit more traffic in front of the net, but you have to give him credit.”

Ersberg, who became the first Kings rookie to earn multiple shutouts in one season since Cristobal Huet did so in the 2003-04 season, has started to turn heads and make people stand up and take notice. To be sure, Ersberg has exceeded all expectations.

By a long shot.

“I don’t think any of us were expecting that he would play the way he is right now,” said Kopitar. “That’s really comforting to us, knowing that he’s going to make some key saves in the game. That’s really positive for our club.”

Crawford explained that Ersberg’s play has worked wonders for solidifying his team’s defensive play.

“[Ersberg] has really played well,” said Crawford. “What he’s done is allow our defense to become much more comfortable with the way they play in the defensive zone. We haven’t changed much of how we play in the defensive zone. Now, with the saves coming and not as many rebounds as we saw earlier in the season, it’s allowed our defense to play, knowing where the pucks are going to go, knowing what they have to do and not worrying so much about pucks spraying off the goaltender and going all over the place. That’s a difficult way to play in the defensive zone.”

“I think that’s been the biggest change and Erik has been largely responsible for that,” added Crawford. “He has found pucks that get shot from the point. I’ll bet there were seven or eight tonight that he found through the scrums and they didn’t result in rebounds. He just stopped them and held them in his body.”

Indeed, Ersberg has been a puck magnet since he was called up from the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League (Kings’ primary minor league affiliate) on February 21.

“He’s like a sponge right now, he really is,” Crawford explained. “He’s sucking all those shots into him and they’re not spraying off of him. That allows your defensive coverage to be so much more well-executed.”

“Part of it, when he’s reading the play and he’s finding the puck, he’s catching them,” Crawford stressed. “The pucks on his body, he’s drawing them into him as opposed to blocking and spitting it out.”

“He is a very good movement goaltender and very good on his angles.”

The rookie from Sweden is certainly trying to make an impression and trying to push his way to the top (or near the top) of the Kings’ goaltending depth chart.

“I’m just happy to get a chance to play here and show everybody what I can do,” said Ersberg. “Hopefully, it’ll be good for me for next year.”

“The loss yesterday was kind of tough, but I can’t complain. It’s been great so far.”

Indeed.

Post-Game Audio: Interviews with Erik Ersberg, Anze Kopitar, and Marc Crawford

Phoenix Coyotes vs. Los Angeles Kings: In-Game Updates

LOS ANGELES — Greetings from the Bob Miller Press Box at Staples Center where the Los Angeles Kings, who now have four goaltenders on their roster, host the Phoenix Coyotes.

Yes, you read that correctly...the Kings have a whopping four goaltenders on their roster. If you have been keeping track of the news out of the Kings’ practice facility today, you already know that Dan Cloutier is out with a groin strain and the Kings recalled 21-year-old goalie prospect Daniel Taylor (under emergency conditions) from the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, their primary minor league affiliate.

You can read about his stats down in Manchester, and earlier in the season at Reading of the ECHL (also a Kings’ affiliate) in the previous blog entry reporting the recall.

I got to the arena a bit later than usual, so I do not know who the starters in goal will be. An educated guess would be Mikhail Tellqvist for the Coyotes and Erik Ersberg who was lights out for the Kings at Anaheim last night, despite losing in a shootout, 2-1. I will report the starters as soon as I get them.

The referees tonight are Dennis LaRue and Justin St. Pierre. The linesmen will be Shane Heyer and Brad Lazarowich...

Tonight’s scratches...for Phoenix: Marcel Hossa, Matt Jones and Mike York. For the Kings: Kyle Calder (broken finger), Dan Cloutier (groin strain), Jack Johnson (non-displaced fracture right foot), Jason LaBarbera (sports hernia surgery), John Zeiler (healthy).

I guessed the starting goalies correctly...Tellqvist and Ersberg...

At the 11:24 mark of the first period, both teams have gotten their share of scoring chances. Kings winger Alexander Frolov missed on a breakaway chance just like he did last night at Anaheim...

Still scoreless after one period. The Coyotes got a power play at the 15:36 mark when Kings defenseman Peter Harrold was whistled off for interference when he knocked a Coyotes forward into Ersberg...

Second period is underway, and the Coyotes are on the power play again as Kings defenseman Tom Preissing got nailed for hooking at 1:16...

At the 6:52 mark, the Coyotes got sloppy in their own zone. Kings center Anze Kopitar got to a loose puck along the right wing boards and quickly threw a cross-ice pass to defenseman Kevin Dallman, who was all alone—he had the entire left side of the ice and slot all to himself. His wrist shot beat Tellqvist for his second goal of the season, giving the Kings a 1-0 lead...

After that goal, the Kings have taken control and have dominated play. They have been all over the Coyotes in the Phoenix zone. That led to a goal by Kopitar, taking a feed across the slot from winger Brian Willsie. Kopitar’s backhand into the wide open left side of the net was his 30th goal of the season, giving the Kings a 2-0 lead at the 9:14 mark. Assists to Willsie and Patrick O’Sullivan...

Coyotes defenseman Nick Boynton went off for hooking at 12:07, giving the Kings a power play and they wasted little time. Brown had a loose puck go right to him at left crease and he had the entire left side of the net for a slam-dunk goal for his 32nd goal of the season. Assists to winger Michael Cammalleri and Kopitar at 13:03. 3-0 Kings...

Second period ends...still 3-0 Kings. After their first goal, the Kings totally dominated at both ends of the ice...

7:40 mark of the third period...tighter checking for both teams with few quality scoring chances so far...

On the best shift of the period by either team, the Kings got their forecheck going in the Phoenix zone, Frolov got the puck and fed Blake in front for an easy tap-in. It was Blake’s ninth goal of the season from Frolov and O’Sullivan at 11:54...

4-0 Kings. Final. Look for my game story late tonight.

Kings Finally Solve Coyotes

Patrick O’Sullivan scored the lone goal in the shootout and Erik Ersberg made 35 saves to lead the Los Angeles Kings to sloppy 6-5 shootout victory over the Phoenix Coyotes in front of an announced crowd of 14,852 fans at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona on Thursday night.

Tom Preissing led the way for the Kings, scoring two goals. Dustin Brown, Raitis Ivanans and Peter Harrold also scored for the Kings. O’Sullivan, Alexander Frolov and Kevin Dallman contributed two assists each.

Shane Doan led the way for the Coyotes with a goal and two assists, while Enver Lisen, Keith Ballard and Keith Yandle scored a goal and added an assist. Rookie center Peter Mueller contributed three assists.

After Preissing opened the scoring at 8:24 of the first period, the two team traded goals until Brown scored his 31st goal of the season while the Kings were shorthanded at 8:32 of the second period, giving the Kings a 3-2 lead.

But then things got really sloppy, as both teams were very poor defensively.

Ivanans scored his fourth goal of the season at the 9:51 mark to give the Kings a 4-2 lead, only to see Coyotes center Steven Reinprecht cut the Kings’ lead in half with his 15th goal of the season at the 11:25 mark.

Less than one minute later, Harrold scored his second goal of the season, restoring his team’s two-goal lead.

Doan cut that lead in half again with his team on the power play with his 26th goal of the season at the 17:26 mark.

The Coyotes totally dominated the third period, outshooting the hapless Kings, 20-5 in the period. But the beleaguered Ersberg was very strong in goal, even though he wound up allowing the tying goal by Ballard at the 19:35 mark, after the Coyotes pulled goaltender Mikael Tellqvist for the extra attacker.

After a scoreless overtime period that was dominated by the Kings, O’Sullivan was the only player to score after both goalies stopped the first three shooters. After O’Sullivan beat Tellqvist to start the fourth round, Ersberg stopped Doan to secure the win for the Kings.

The Kings’ penalty-killing had a bad night, allowing four power play goals on six chances for the Coyotes.

The Coyotes wound up outshooting the Kings in the game, 40-36.

With the win, the Kings broke a six-game losing streak (0-6-0) to the Coyotes this season. The Kings are now just 2-8-2 in their last twelve games in Phoenix.

The Hard Is What Makes It Great: Sharks: 2, Kings: 1

LOS ANGELES — In the 1992 movie, A League Of Their Own, about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League that played during World War II when Major League Baseball was shut down temporarily, there is a scene where Geena Davis, who played Rockford Peaches star catcher Dottie Hinson, leaves the team to return home to Oregon with her husband, who had just returned from duty in Europe.

In that scene, Tom Hanks, who played former Major League star and Peaches manager Jimmy Dugan, tells Davis that she will miss playing for the team. When Davis denies it and tells Hanks that her situation became too hard to deal with, Hanks replied in part, “...the hard is what makes it great.”

Fast forward to 2008 and that phrase is being applied to the Los Angeles Kings, who dropped a 2-1 decision to the white-hot San Jose Sharks in front of an announced crowd of 16,784 fans at Staples Center on Tuesday night.

Although the Kings did not play a bad game, they certainly did not dig deep and pick up their effort until it was too late.

Indeed, the Kings did not play poorly. But throughout most of the game, they made it too easy for the Sharks to control the front of their own net and take away the middle of the ice from the Kings. That made it a fairly easy night for the San Jose defense and for backup goalie Brian Boucher, who made 29 saves.

The two teams were scoreless until Kings winger Matt Ellis went off for hooking at 16:28 of the first period. Sharks center Joe Thornton was in the right place at the time when he was positioned at right crease. After a scrum in front of the Kings’ net, the puck trickled to him. All alone, he had the entire right side of the net to slip the puck into.

“Empty net...usually you hit those,” said Thornton, who now has twenty goals on the season. “Our power play has been struggling a little bit lately, so it was nice to get one in the first period.”

In the second period, third-line center Patrick Rissmiller got around Kings defenseman Tom Preissing and then got two backhand chances off the rush from below the right circle, the second chance coming off a bad rebound, beating Kings netminder Dan Cloutier for his eighth goal of the season which gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead.

“It’s just kind of the nature of our team,” said Rissmiller. “You can’t rely on the top two lines all the time, so it’s nice when you get a couple of other guys chipping in. That’s what makes team’s successful, and I think that’s helped us in our run here.”

The third period began the way the first and second periods went, with the Kings working hard, but still not getting to the front of the net much.

It was not until there were about five minutes left in the game that the Kings seemed to realize that they were not out of this one and could pull out a win if they raised the level of their play and once they did, they turned on the jets and put the Sharks back on their heels.

Kings defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky capped what was, to that point in the game, the Kings’ best shift of the game, with his seventh goal of the season off a slap shot from the top of the left circle at the 16:13 mark.

The Kings would continue their flurry in the San Jose zone and got a great chance when Kings winger Michael Cammalleri got the puck all alone in the low slot, but missed the top corner of the net with wrist shot, dashing the Kings’ hopes for a comeback.

In the end, as it has too many times before, the Kings’ stepped-up effort late in the game was too little, too late.

“They play a tight game,” said Kings right wing Dustin Brown. “It’s hard to get chances against them. They have some skilled offensive players and they did their job tonight. They got one power play goal and one even strength goal and they shut us down.”

“They played a good defensive game,” added Brown. “We had chances, just not great chances. When we did get a puck in front of the net, they were good a tying sticks up. Our only chances—scrambles in front of the net—were at the very end of the game. We had some good power play chances, jamming away. We didn’t get a lot of traffic to the net tonight.”

“I think we played hard tonight. I don’t think you can question our effort. We just couldn’t manage to get enough goals tonight and they played well defensively and just got the two goals. That’s all they needed.”

Kings head coach Marc Crawford said that his team worked hard, but pointed out that it was not enough.

“Our effort was a decent effort,” he explained. “I wish you didn’t have to push guys to get the effort out of them. You wish it was a much more natural, free-flowing effort and that’s where we’re going to need to be to be at the level of San Jose.”

“I thought we got a fairly decent level of work in the third period when we pushed and pushed,” he elaborated. “But that’s got to be there all the time. If we can consistently get more players here who give that type of blood and guts effort and don’t have to be pushed to do it, that’s when we’ll start having success in these types of games.”

Crawford pointed to his top forwards, especially the younger players, as the ones who still need to learn this lesson.

“Our skilled guys have to find a way to do that on all nights,” said Crawford. “That’s when you become a very good player, that’s when you become a very good team. I’m not disappointed with our effort, but we have to get to a different level.”

“The individual guys have to get themselves to that different level, and it’s the skilled players who have to do that,” added Crawford. “You saw [Alexander] Frolov get there in the third period. You saw [Patrick] O’Sullivan get there in the third period. Brown’s usually there all the time. He’s the benchmark for our team. [Anze] Kopitar, as good as he is, [Michael] Cammalleri, as good as he is, and [Derek] Armstrong, as talented as he is, those guys all have to push themselves to be right at the absolute highest level because that’s when you win games at this time of the year.”

Indeed, it is all about the Stanley Cup Playoffs, something the Kings will not be a part of for the fifth straight season.

“We have to ask ourselves, ‘If this is a playoff game, are we satisfied with our effort?’ From a coaching standpoint, we’re not, because we had to push to get to that level,” Crawford lamented. “We didn’t do enough to win the game. That’s what we have to learn right now. We’re not going to have the playoffs to learn these lessons, so we’ve got to push ourselves as hard as we possibly can in these games that are very playoff-like.”

“I was pleased when we got there, I just wish we were there more often,” Crawford added.

In the visitor’s dressing room, the Sharks were in a light, upbeat mood after winning their twelfth game in their last thirteen contests, and they did it with their backup goaltender minding the store.

“These back-to-back games, with the travel that we’ve had, it’s huge to have the confidence that we have in Boucher,” said Sharks head coach Ron Wilson. “He did a great job, especially at the end.”

“Boucher made the big saves when he needed to and we scored when we needed to,” said Thornton. “Another good game.”

Boucher has played well in two games for the Sharks after being signed as a free agent on February 26.

“You just take it day-by-day, work hard in practice and try your best to stay sharp so that when you get the call, you know you put the work in and left nothing to chance,” said Boucher. “If you don’t put your work in between starts, then you have something to worry about. Fortunately for me, the first two have gone just as good as you could expect.”

Back to the Kings...Crawford had more praise for his grinders than the rest of his team.

“I thought that throughout the game tonight, the guys who were given the assignment of checking one of the top lines—the Thornton line—they battled real hard for us,” he said. “Whether that was Ellis or [Raitis] Ivanans, [Michal] Handzus, [Jeff] Giuliano—they did a great job.” They kept that line off the scoresheet. They battled them, they frustrated them and just worked their tails off.”

Still, more is obviously needed.

“You love players you don’t have to put the golf spikes into their backs to get them going,” Crawford stressed. “You want them to be very, very self-motivated. For the most part, the guys are very self-motivated. But it’s a different level in the playoffs and we keep preaching that to them that it’s a different level they have to get to and we’re learning that level is high and it takes a lot of hard work.”

And then there was the movie quote...

“It’s like that line they say in a lot of movies, ‘The hard is what makes it great,’” said Crawford. “To prove to yourself that you can get there, that’s what’s going to be great for our guys right now. That’s all we have to play for. It is a lot to play for and they can learn some hugely valuable lessons in doing it.”

NOTES: Late in the first period, Kings rookie defenseman Jack Johnson took a shot off his right foot/ankle. He tried to skate on it early in the second period, but left the game after that and did not return.

“He took a shot in the foot,” said Crawford. “He tried to go in the second period and couldn’t go. We’ll re-evaluate him tomorrow. I think they X-rayed him and everything was clear so far, but I think they’ll look at it tomorrow.”

Post-Game Audio: Interviews with Dustin Brown, Dan Cloutier, Marc Crawford

Frolov, Ersberg Lead Kings Past Predators, 4-1

Alexander Frolov scored two goals and Dustin Brown scored his 30th goal of the season to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators in front of 15,853 fans at Sommet Center in Nashville on Thursday night.

Matt Ellis added an empty-net goal for the Kings, his first goal with the team, while J.P. Dumont scored the lone goal for the Predators.

Erik Ersberg got the start in goal for the Kings and put in a strong effort, stopping 37 shots and earning the second star of the game.

This game was not televised in the Los Angeles area.

Cloutier Shines In 2-1 Overtime Loss To Canucks

LOS ANGELES — Prior to Monday night’s game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings, news out of the Kings’ practice facility was that goaltender Dan Cloutier would get the start in goal.

Once that news came out, if you listened carefully enough, you could probably hear a collective groan from Kings fans across the region.

Seriously speaking, Cloutier has been anything but good for the Kings since his arrival in Los Angeles last season. In fact, the term “sieve,” would probably be considered too positive a description by some.

But you wouldn’t know it on Monday night, when Cloutier made 38 saves and almost single-handedly kept his team in the game. But in the end, the Canucks escaped Staples Center with a 2-1 overtime victory in front of an announced crowd of 14,653 fans.

Ryan Kesler scored with less than three minutes left in regulation to tie the game, and then deflected the game-winner past Cloutier just 46 seconds into the overtime period.

Patrick O’Sullivan scored the lone goal for the Kings earlier in the third period.

The Canucks had the ice tilted in their favor for most of the game, generating considerably more sustained pressure in the Kings’ zone than the Kings could manage in the Canucks’ zone.

But Cloutier had his teammates’ backs, stoning the Canucks time after time.

“I thought Cloutier played a remarkably strong game,” said Kings head coach Marc Crawford. “I was happy for him. I would’ve been happier, obviously, if he’d have gotten the victory.”

“He made some real good saves,” added Crawford. “In the first period, they had a few more chances than us. In the second period, the chances were equal and I thought the more dangerous chances were the ones on our side.”

In the third period, the game continued as before, with the Canucks able to sustain pressure in the offensive zone while the Kings had considerably more difficulty generating offensive pressure.

But near the midway point of the period, the Kings got a chance off the rush. Kings right wing Dustin Brown carried the puck down right wing and wristed the puck across to O’Sullivan on the left side of the slot. He waited out Canucks superstar goalie Roberto Luongo before wristing the puck top shelf, knocking the water bottle off the top of the net from the bottom of the left circle at the 8:27 mark.

The Kings also caught a break on the play as Canucks defenseman Willie Mitchell broke his stick on this shift. Brown was able to exploit this and threw the puck past him to O’Sullivan.

“I thought we pretty much dominated the game the whole way,” said Luongo. “Unfortunately they got the lead on a bad break when Willie’s stick broke, but we stuck with it.”

Buoyed by their one-goal lead, the Kings stepped up their game and were playing the Canucks on even terms. But then, their Achilles Heel, the blatant defensive breakdown, came back to haunt them once again.

At the 17:19 mark, Kesler was standing in front of the Kings’ net with defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky covering him when Canucks left wing Alexandre Burrows threw the puck in front. Visnovsky appeared to be focused on the puck—he appeared to get caught between taking away the pass or tying up Kesler’s stick, and ended up doing neither. That gave Kesler an easy re-direction into the wide open right side of the net.

“[There was] a little miscommunication between me and Visnovsky,” Cloutier explained. “It’s disappointing not to get the win there.

Kesler scored from almost the identical spot in the overtime period, deflecting a point shot by Mitchell past Cloutier to win the game.

Crawford said that the Kings made two late mistakes that cost his team the win.

“We made a young mistake at the end of the game,” he explained. “We had full possession of the puck twice in our zone. We threw the puck away—it didn’t get past the neutral zone. And on the reverse, we had total possession of the puck, too, and we rushed a play.”

“That’s what happens when you have youth in your lineup,” he elaborated. “You’re going to make youthful mistakes. It’s a concern for us when experienced players make mistakes, but you’re going to make youthful mistakes at times. That’s part of the growing pains we go through. It was a game tonight that was there for us. We made a mistake late in the third period when we had full possession of the puck. Those are things we’re going to have to learn and grow through.”

But overall, Crawford was not displeased with his team.

“I thought we played a heck of a game,” said Crawford. “[The Canucks are] a team that’s absolutely desperate for points. We’ve had to manufacture our desperation and our guys did a terrific job of it tonight. We did a great job killing penalties, we kept their top scorers, the Sedins, off the scoresheet. We played a game where we knew they would tighten up at the end.”

“I liked our effort tonight,” added Crawford. “I’d like to eliminate the mistake we made. But we didn’t make too many in the third period. We calculated that they only had two chances to that point in the third period. We did a good job of playing a game that we wanted to play, where we figured we’d have to stifle them and get some good saves.”

“Give them credit. They battled hard and got the puck to the net to tie the game up. The overtime goal—there was nothing wrong with it. Everybody was in position and they got a shot through and a deflection. That’s usually what happens when a goal gets scored on the bad ice in overtime. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way.”

As for the Kings’ veteran goaltender, the Canucks certainly stood up and took notice.

“Cloutier was playing really well, but we just kept saying, ‘get traffic and pucks to the net and something’s going to go in,’” said Kesler. “And that’s what happened. They played us hard, but we knew we were playing a solid game and we found a way to win.”

“Cloutier is a good goaltender,” said Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault. “He played a real solid game. Give him credit. He kept his team in. All we could do was keep playing well, they way we were. Keep getting pucks to the net and traffic. That’s what we did and we found a way to get it done.”

“The difference in the game was Cloutier,” added Vigneault. “He was the difference.”

The Kings said they thought they were deserving of a better outcome.

“We played very well and deserved a better fate tonight,” Crawford lamented. “But our job as a team is to find ways to win those types of games. The game was there for us. [Cloutier] did his job. As a team, we’ve got to make strong plays right though the 57th, 58th, and 59th minute. It looked like we had done most things right. But we had a couple of giveaways late, late in the game, and those are things we’ve got to eliminate.”

“I thought we had some real good opportunities," Crawford elaborated. "We didn’t get as many power plays tonight. We took a few too many penalties, which is something that usually doesn’t happen to our club, and we’ll have to rectify that.”

“We were so close to it,” said Cloutier. “That’s what’s so disappointing. That’s a very good team that’s fighting for their lives over there. We gave them a big scare, but it would have definitely been nice to steal those two points from them.”

“I felt pretty good coming into the game,” added Cloutier. “We played well for 58 minutes, I guess again tonight. We’re getting closer to playing well for sixty. But little mistakes cost us again. We keep repeating it, but it’s been almost two years with the same bunch of guys. We just have to clean it up a bit.”

NOTES: The Kings ended the season 3-0-1 against the Canucks this season; O’Sullivan has scored five goals with six assists for eleven points in the last nine games, and has a four-game point streak (two goals and two assists); Anze Kopitar also has a four-game point streak (goal, four assists for five points). He also has four goals and ten assists for fourteen points in his last nine games. He also has assists in each of his last four games.