Online Kingdom: Game Report


	News Satire Round Table Schedule Links Home

Los Angeles Kings Fan Site

September 9, 2010

Scribe's Report Box Score Game Index December 29, 2001

LA GETS LURED INTO A NEW YORK TRAP RANGERS OUT GUN KINGS, 5-4 LOS ANGELES -- Andreas Johansson scored the game-winning goal at 14:39 of the third period, to go along with an assist, and Mikael Samuelsson scored a goal and an assist, to lead the New York Rangers to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in front of an overflow crowd of 18,420 at Staples Center on Saturday night. Jeff Toms, Petr Nedved, and Manny Malhotra also scored for the Rangers. Defenseman Bryan Berard also added two assists. The Rangers play what most would call a "run-and-gun" style of hockey, one that emphasizes using their skill and speed to score, while taking risks defensively, throwing a good deal of caution to the wind. Despite the fact that this is a risky style that leaves a team vulnerable on defense, the Rangers have the skill and speed to be successful while playing that style. To illustrate, the Rangers have scored 121 goals in 41 games going into Saturday's action, the third-most in the NHL, and are now in first place in the Eastern Conference with 49 points (Boston also has 49 points, but has one less win). "Glen Sather, our general manager, wants us to play a more wide-open style like he played in his Edmonton days," Rangers' winger Theoren Fleury said. "Having Colorado win the Cup last year changed the mind-set of a lot of people because now teams want to have more offense and more of a wide-open game." And the Rangers are most successful when they get their opposition to play that same style, because they generally have more skill and speed than their opposition. And the Kings are certainly no exception. They do not have the talent or speed to stay with the Rangers in a run-and-gun game, but they tried to play that style on Saturday night...and got burned. While they focused on offense, getting the puck up ice, the Kings gave up one outnumbered attack after another throughout the game, and those mistakes, along with getting badly outworked by the Rangers while on the power play, was the difference in the game. "We knew exactly how the Rangers would play," Kings' head coach Andy Murray said. "We had to be very good defensively because we knew we would get our opportunities. But we didn't play with the good defensive structure that we needed to have, and our power play didn't get the job done for us." No kidding. Despite getting seven power play chances, including a four-minute power play and a two-man advantage in the second period, the Kings did next to nothing while on the power play, and this turned out to be a huge reason for the loss. But give credit to the Rangers, who definitely had the Kings' power play completely solved. "We just outworked their power play," Fleury explained. "We got some gritty work from a lot of guys. We used probably ten different guys to kill penalties tonight, and everyone was committed to doing the job." Just like at even-strength, it was the Rangers getting to loose pucks first, or outnumbering the Kings at loose pucks, even though the Kings had the man advantage. As Fleury said, the Rangers outworked and outhustled the Kings, and not just while killing penalties. The Kings did have a few players who showed up and played well--Adam Deadmarsh, Craig Johnson, Bryan Smolinski, and Aaron Miller. But it looked like the rest of the team gave their brains the night off, as they were lured into the Rangers' trap and were easily caught, hook, line and sinker. "It's not enough that a few guys were running on all cylinders," Miller said. "We shouldn't get sucked in by their open style. The coaching staff made us aware of the fact that they score a lot of goals, but they also give up a lot of goals. So we knew it was going to be a run-and-gun game." "I don't know what happened defensively tonight," said Kings' forward Ian Laperriere, a former Rangers' player. "It's disappointing." "Tonight we made a couple of mistakes and they took advantage of them," Laperriere added. "We didn't take advantage of the fact that they played last night. We should have had better jump, but we didn't." "It was exciting out there, but we just didn't get off to as quick a start as we wanted," said Kings' winger Adam Deadmarsh. "They scored some big goals at ideal times," Kings' left wing Craig Johnson said. "Even though the Rangers played [Friday], they showed great speed." Indeed. One of the biggest problems was that the Rangers did a good job of slowing the Kings down in the neutral zone, while the Kings' forward did virtually nothing on the backcheck, allowing the Rangers to build-up a tremendous amount of speed on attack, forcing the Kings' defenseman to back way off the blue line on most shifts. "Some of it was our fault because we allowed them to control the neutral zone," Johnson said. "They definitely took advantage." "I think we had an opportunity to have the best record ever in December for a Kings' team," Murray said. "We didn't really talk about that until before the third period. I didn't want them to have too much on their minds." The Kings ended December with a 7-4-3-0 record for the month. As for the Rangers, they have now won their last three games, and have a 5-1-1 record in their last six. "This hockey club has done a lot of things that have been unbelievable," Rangers' head coach Ron Low said. "Obviously tonight, we were without Eric [Lindros] and a bunch of guys stepped up. The last couple of games we've been without [Mark Messier] and the guys have been stepping in, filling roles and playing hard." "As far as the halfway point, we wanted to be in a playoff race, especially with the way the schedule has been set up," Low added. "There's been an awful lot of hard work put in by the hockey club to get where it is right now." Lindros was kept out of Saturday's game as a precaution. He threw a hard check during the first period of the Rangers' game at San Jose on Friday, and is suffering from headaches. He may have another concussion. Scratches --------- Los Angeles: Ken Belanger (healthy), Jere Karalahti (healthy), Adam Mair (suspended) New York: Tomas Kloucek (healthy), Eric Lindros (possible concussion), Dale Purinton (healthy) Goalies ------- Los Angeles: Felix Potvin (32:24), Jamie Storr (12:27 of the second period, 25:01) New York: Mike Richter Referees: Kevin Maguire, Ian Walsh Linesmen: Vaughan Rody, Troy Sartison First Period ------------ The Kings immediately fell into the Rangers' trap, getting into the run-and-gun style of play that suits the Rangers well, as a team with a lot of skill and speed...two things the Kings do not have a lot of. And even though the Kings had the puck in the Rangers' zone the majority of the time in each period, their risky play left them open to outnumbered attacks, and the Kings gave up plenty of them. The Kings were also getting badly outworked and outhustled along the boards and in the corners for loose pucks, and this would prove costly early in the period, and throughout the game... 1. NEW YORK. Toms 3 (Mike York, Berard), 3:24 Kings' defenseman Mattias Norstrom got the puck in the right corner, but his clearing pass was knocked down at right point. The puck was pushed back into the right corner, where Norstrom and defensive partner Philippe Boucher were pressured by York and Rangers' forward Theoren Fleury. While being tripped by Fleury (there was no penalty called), Boucher threw the puck around the left corner boards. Berard pinched in from left point, and passed to York at the bottom of the left circle. He dropped the puck to Toms at the left face-off dot, and he ripped a hard wrist shot that beat Potvin low, just inside the left goal post. The Rangers outworked and outskated the Kings on this shift, with the Kings' defenders always chasing after the play. They were a step slow, and just could not keep up. But this was a borderline goal allowed by Potvin. He saw the shot all the way, and it came from the left dot. Tough to call it soft, but it was definitely borderline. Second Period ------------- More of the same from the first period by the Kings, only worse. They continued to try to skate with the Rangers, and wound up allowing one outnumbered attack after another. 2. NEW YORK. Nedved 13 (Matthew Barnaby, Berard), 1:24 Berard got the puck at right point in the Rangers' zone, and moved it ahead quickly to Barnaby, at the Kings' blue line. He turned, and threw a quick pass to Nedved, who was wide open at the top of the right circle, as the Kings' defense had backed off well below the tops of the circles with the Rangers coming in with speed. Nedved ripped a hard wrist shot that beat Potvin high, glove side, just as Kings' defenseman Andreas Lilja slid across, trying to block Nedved's shot. Video replay showed that the puck appeared to deflect off of Lilja, changing the direction of the shot, and fooling Potvin. But the Kings came right back... 3. LOS ANGELES. Deadmarsh 13 (Johnson), 2:05 After some sustained pressure on the forecheck, Miller pinched in, down to the lower left circle, and pushed the puck deep into the left corner. Barnaby got the puck, and tried to pass to a teammate in front of the net. But his pass was deflected by Johnson, and the puck went right to Deadmarsh, who was all alone in the slot. He lifted a wrist shot, beating Richter top shelf, over his glove hand. At this point in the game, this was the Kings' best shift of the night. They kept the puck in the Rangers' zone for more than thirty seconds, cycling the puck down low, creating a lot of pressure on the Rangers. And the Rangers had a quick answer of their own... 4. NEW YORK. Samuelsson 4 (Johansson, Vladimir Malakhov), 2:55 Malakhov carried the puck out of the Rangers' zone through center ice. He moved to the left wing at the red line. On a three-on-two break, Malakhov crossed the Kings' blue line, and then passed to Johansson on right wing. He moved to the bottom of the right circle, where he got off a low backhand. Potvin made the save, but the rebound went right to Samuelsson, who was coming in from the left side. Potvin went down in a two-pad slide, but Samuelsson's wrist shot beat him high. Although one could place some blame on Potvin for not being able to control the rebound, backhand shots are tricky for goalies, because one never knows where that shot is going. Instead, Kings' forward Randy Robitaille, who was just a step or two behind the play, was focused in on Malakhov, and followed him all the way into the slot. Robitaille should have recognized that Kings' defensemen Jaroslav Modry and Lubomir Visnovsky had their men covered (Visnovsky had Malakhov). Robitaille should have moved to the left side and taken Samuelsson out of the play. A defensive mistake by Robitaille was the big problem here...he totally blew his backchecking assignment. 5. LOS ANGELES. Miller 3 (Smolinski, Deadmarsh), 7:40 Another great shift by the Smolinski line created this scoring chance. Johnson, Deadmarsh and Smolinski were cycling the puck deep in the Rangers' zone. Eventually, Smolinski got the puck along the left wing boards. He pushed it to Deadmarsh in the left corner. While being checked, he threw it to Johnson, who was deeper in the left corner. He was checked, but pushed the puck behind the Kings' net. Smolinski got away from his man, and came in from left wing. He picked up the loose puck behind the Kings' net, and moved into the right corner. He then threw a backhanded centering pass to Miller, who had snuck into the slot. Miller got off a low backhand that beat Richter through the five-hole (between his pads). Strong forechecking by the Smolinski line was the difference on this shift. They totally outworked the Rangers. But they were the only effective line the Kings had in this game. And now, we come to what was probably the turning point in the game...with Rangers' left wing (and former Kings' winger) Steve McKenna off on a double-minor for high-sticking at 10:29, the Kings had a four-minute power play... 6. NEW YORK. Malhotra 2 (Dave Karpa, Mark Messier), 12:27 SHORTHANDED Just as McKenna's first penalty was about to expire, Messier beat Visnovsky to a loose puck, just below right point in the Rangers' zone. He passed ahead to Karpa at the right penalty dot. On a two-on-one break, Karpa passed to Malhotra at the red line. He carried the puck down left wing, and into the Kings' zone. From below the left face-off dot, he fired a low wrist shot that beat Potvin through the five-hole. "It was just a quick shot," said Malhotra, who now has three goals in three games against the Kings. "I tried to get it on net. I knew Dave was coming down the middle if there was a rebound. But I was just basically trying to get a shot and not leave a drop pass at the top of the circle." Visnovsky made a bad decision to try to pinch in when he did, and that left Modry back as the only Kings' defenseman. But Malhotra's shot came from a bad angle, and Potvin was in position, and he should have been able to make the save. A soft goal, no doubt. And Murray apparently thought so, too, as he took out Potvin in favor of Storr immediately after this goal. "I thought we needed a change," Murray said about pulling Potvin. "All month, we've had everybody contribute, and tonight we lost because we didn't have everybody contribute. And that would go for every position [including goal]." With McKenna still in the box on the second of his penalties, Rangers' defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre took a roughing minor at 13:48. That gave the Kings a two-man advantage for 41 seconds. But just like every power play the Kings had prior to this one, they did virtually nothing with it. They kept the puck on the perimeter, they were outnumbered around loose pucks along the boards and in the corners, or they lost the foot races to the loose pucks. In short, the Kings were badly outworked and outhustled by the Rangers' penalty-killers, and did not even come close to scoring. Third Period ------------ The Kings continued to play on the perimeter, and get outworked along the boards. They had the puck in the Rangers' zone for much of the period, but they were rarely dangerous, at least not until it was too late. 7. NEW YORK. Johansson 11 (Samuelsson), 14:39 Boucher moved deep in the Rangers' zone, and took a pass in the right corner. He spun, and threw a centering pass, but it was intercepted in the slot by Samuelsson. He quickly moved up the middle of the ice, and across the Kings' blue line with speed, backing off the Kings' defense. At the top of the slot, he dropped the puck back to Johansson, who fired a quick wrist shot, right between Robitaille's legs, and beating Storr on the glove side. Tough break for Storr...he was screened by Robitaille, and did not see the puck until it was past him. The Kings pulled Storr for the extra attacker at the 17:11 mark, and almost made it interesting... 8. LOS ANGELES. Steve Heinze 13 (Smolinski, Deadmarsh), 18:51 Deadmarsh got the puck in the left corner, and threw it behind the Rangers' net. Modry had pinched in, and picked up the loose puck at the right outer hashmark. He threw the puck in front, and Deadmarsh picked it up below the right circle. He passed to Smolinski at the bottom of the right circle. He turned, and immediately passed to Heinze, who was all alone at left crease. Heinze kicked the puck to his stick, and beat Richter just inside the left goal post. 9. LOS ANGELES. Smolinski 10 (Deadmarsh, Visnovsky), 19:59 Smolinski won a face-off in the left circle back to Visnovsky at the top of the slot. He wound up and fired a slap shot that was blocked, just a couple of feet in front of him. Deadmarsh was there, and pushed the puck to Smolinski at the top of the left circle. He fired a one-time slap shot that beat a surprised Richter high on the glove side, just inside the right goal post. It was obvious that Smolinski had scored just prior to time expiring, but the goal was reviewed by the video goal judge, just to make sure. The ruling was that the puck did indeed cross the goal line before time had expired. Shots on Goal ------------- Los Angeles: 6 15 14 -- 35 New York: 9 9 4 -- 22 Power Play Conversions ---------------------- Los Angeles: 0/7; New York: 0/2 Zone Time --------- Los Angeles: 6:34 6:57 6:18 -- 19:49 New York: 9:59 10:11 9:10 -- 29:20 Neutral: 3:27 2:52 4:32 -- 10:51 Three Stars (official) ---------------------- #3 - Deadmarsh; #2 - Malakhov; #1 - Johansson Gann's Three Stars ------------------ #3 - Deadmarsh; #2 - Samuelsson; #1 - Johansson One look at the zone time and shots on goal statistics might give one the idea that the Kings dominated a close game in every way, except on the scoreboard. But do not let those numbers fool you. The Kings were awful in this game. They had only one effective line, the Smolinski line. Add Miller to Deadmarsh, Smolinski and Johnson, and you get the four players who came to play for the Kings. The rest? They simply did not come to the arena ready to put in a 100% effort, or play a smart game. The Kings got sucked into the Rangers' run-and-gun style, even though they know very well that they cannot be successful playing that style. The Kings need to play a defensive style, with solid backchecking from the forwards--they do not have the skill or speed to out score the vast majority of NHL teams, and there could be no better proof than this game. The virtual non-existence of backchecking by the Kings' forwards left the neutral zone wide open for the Rangers, who flew up ice on almost every shift, forcing the Kings' defensemen to back off the blue line. The Rangers were able to enter the zone with a lot of speed throughout the game, and this was a huge factor--four of the five Rangers' goals were scored off the rush. But Kings' defensemen fell into the Rangers' trap as well, taking risks that proved costly, resulting in outnumbered attacks. Two of the Rangers' goals were scored on odd-man rushes, and they had many more than that in this game. And although I was not counting, one thought I had during the game was that the Kings probably gave up more outnumbered attacks in this game than they have all season...combined. A more telling statistic: The Rangers blocked twenty-one shots in the game, compared to just five by the Kings. The Rangers were getting in front of a lot of shots, frustrating the Kings by preventing them from getting the puck to the front of the net. Of course the most telling statistic of all is that the Kings did not score on seven power play opportunities. And if there was a game where Potvin was going to falter, this was it. Going into Saturday's game, he was 1-6-0 lifetime against the Rangers, with a 3.62 goals-against average. About the three stars: Johansson was a no-brainer as the number one star. But Samuelsson (goal, assist on Johansson's game-winning goal) deserved the number two star far more than Malakhov. And Deadmarsh was a stud in this game, scoring a goal, and adding three assists. He deserved the third star. Next Game: The Kings are off until after the New Year, and will close-out the current home stand on Wednesday, January 2, 2002, when Pavel Bure leads the Florida Panthers into Staples Center. Game time: 7:30 PM PST. Televised in the Los Angeles area on Fox Sports Net West beginning at 7:00 PM with the "Break the Ice" pre-game show.

(C) Copyright 2001-02 by Gann Matsuda. All rights reserved. This report may not be duplicated, copied, printed or distributed in any way without permission.

Scribe's Report Box Score Game Index	December 29, 2001

LA GETS LURED INTO A NEW YORK TRAP RANGERS OUT GUN KINGS, 5-4 LOS ANGELES -- Andreas Johansson scored the game-winning goal at 14:39 of the third period, to go along with an assist, and Mikael Samuelsson scored a goal and an assist, to lead the New York Rangers to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in front of an overflow crowd of 18,420 at Staples Center on Saturday night. Jeff Toms, Petr Nedved, and Manny Malhotra also scored for the Rangers. Defenseman Bryan Berard also added two assists. The Rangers play what most would call a "run-and-gun" style of hockey, one that emphasizes using their skill and speed to score, while taking risks defensively, throwing a good deal of caution to the wind. Despite the fact that this is a risky style that leaves a team vulnerable on defense, the Rangers have the skill and speed to be successful while playing that style. To illustrate, the Rangers have scored 121 goals in 41 games going into Saturday's action, the third-most in the NHL, and are now in first place in the Eastern Conference with 49 points (Boston also has 49 points, but has one less win). "Glen Sather, our general manager, wants us to play a more wide-open style like he played in his Edmonton days," Rangers' winger Theoren Fleury said. "Having Colorado win the Cup last year changed the mind-set of a lot of people because now teams want to have more offense and more of a wide-open game." And the Rangers are most successful when they get their opposition to play that same style, because they generally have more skill and speed than their opposition. And the Kings are certainly no exception. They do not have the talent or speed to stay with the Rangers in a run-and-gun game, but they tried to play that style on Saturday night...and got burned. While they focused on offense, getting the puck up ice, the Kings gave up one outnumbered attack after another throughout the game, and those mistakes, along with getting badly outworked by the Rangers while on the power play, was the difference in the game. "We knew exactly how the Rangers would play," Kings' head coach Andy Murray said. "We had to be very good defensively because we knew we would get our opportunities. But we didn't play with the good defensive structure that we needed to have, and our power play didn't get the job done for us." No kidding. Despite getting seven power play chances, including a four-minute power play and a two-man advantage in the second period, the Kings did next to nothing while on the power play, and this turned out to be a huge reason for the loss. But give credit to the Rangers, who definitely had the Kings' power play completely solved. "We just outworked their power play," Fleury explained. "We got some gritty work from a lot of guys. We used probably ten different guys to kill penalties tonight, and everyone was committed to doing the job." Just like at even-strength, it was the Rangers getting to loose pucks first, or outnumbering the Kings at loose pucks, even though the Kings had the man advantage. As Fleury said, the Rangers outworked and outhustled the Kings, and not just while killing penalties. The Kings did have a few players who showed up and played well--Adam Deadmarsh, Craig Johnson, Bryan Smolinski, and Aaron Miller. But it looked like the rest of the team gave their brains the night off, as they were lured into the Rangers' trap and were easily caught, hook, line and sinker. "It's not enough that a few guys were running on all cylinders," Miller said. "We shouldn't get sucked in by their open style. The coaching staff made us aware of the fact that they score a lot of goals, but they also give up a lot of goals. So we knew it was going to be a run-and-gun game." "I don't know what happened defensively tonight," said Kings' forward Ian Laperriere, a former Rangers' player. "It's disappointing." "Tonight we made a couple of mistakes and they took advantage of them," Laperriere added. "We didn't take advantage of the fact that they played last night. We should have had better jump, but we didn't." "It was exciting out there, but we just didn't get off to as quick a start as we wanted," said Kings' winger Adam Deadmarsh. "They scored some big goals at ideal times," Kings' left wing Craig Johnson said. "Even though the Rangers played [Friday], they showed great speed." Indeed. One of the biggest problems was that the Rangers did a good job of slowing the Kings down in the neutral zone, while the Kings' forward did virtually nothing on the backcheck, allowing the Rangers to build-up a tremendous amount of speed on attack, forcing the Kings' defenseman to back way off the blue line on most shifts. "Some of it was our fault because we allowed them to control the neutral zone," Johnson said. "They definitely took advantage." "I think we had an opportunity to have the best record ever in December for a Kings' team," Murray said. "We didn't really talk about that until before the third period. I didn't want them to have too much on their minds." The Kings ended December with a 7-4-3-0 record for the month. As for the Rangers, they have now won their last three games, and have a 5-1-1 record in their last six. "This hockey club has done a lot of things that have been unbelievable," Rangers' head coach Ron Low said. "Obviously tonight, we were without Eric [Lindros] and a bunch of guys stepped up. The last couple of games we've been without [Mark Messier] and the guys have been stepping in, filling roles and playing hard." "As far as the halfway point, we wanted to be in a playoff race, especially with the way the schedule has been set up," Low added. "There's been an awful lot of hard work put in by the hockey club to get where it is right now." Lindros was kept out of Saturday's game as a precaution. He threw a hard check during the first period of the Rangers' game at San Jose on Friday, and is suffering from headaches. He may have another concussion. Scratches --------- Los Angeles: Ken Belanger (healthy), Jere Karalahti (healthy), Adam Mair (suspended) New York: Tomas Kloucek (healthy), Eric Lindros (possible concussion), Dale Purinton (healthy) Goalies ------- Los Angeles: Felix Potvin (32:24), Jamie Storr (12:27 of the second period, 25:01) New York: Mike Richter Referees: Kevin Maguire, Ian Walsh Linesmen: Vaughan Rody, Troy Sartison First Period ------------ The Kings immediately fell into the Rangers' trap, getting into the run-and-gun style of play that suits the Rangers well, as a team with a lot of skill and speed...two things the Kings do not have a lot of. And even though the Kings had the puck in the Rangers' zone the majority of the time in each period, their risky play left them open to outnumbered attacks, and the Kings gave up plenty of them. The Kings were also getting badly outworked and outhustled along the boards and in the corners for loose pucks, and this would prove costly early in the period, and throughout the game... 1. NEW YORK. Toms 3 (Mike York, Berard), 3:24 Kings' defenseman Mattias Norstrom got the puck in the right corner, but his clearing pass was knocked down at right point. The puck was pushed back into the right corner, where Norstrom and defensive partner Philippe Boucher were pressured by York and Rangers' forward Theoren Fleury. While being tripped by Fleury (there was no penalty called), Boucher threw the puck around the left corner boards. Berard pinched in from left point, and passed to York at the bottom of the left circle. He dropped the puck to Toms at the left face-off dot, and he ripped a hard wrist shot that beat Potvin low, just inside the left goal post. The Rangers outworked and outskated the Kings on this shift, with the Kings' defenders always chasing after the play. They were a step slow, and just could not keep up. But this was a borderline goal allowed by Potvin. He saw the shot all the way, and it came from the left dot. Tough to call it soft, but it was definitely borderline. Second Period ------------- More of the same from the first period by the Kings, only worse. They continued to try to skate with the Rangers, and wound up allowing one outnumbered attack after another. 2. NEW YORK. Nedved 13 (Matthew Barnaby, Berard), 1:24 Berard got the puck at right point in the Rangers' zone, and moved it ahead quickly to Barnaby, at the Kings' blue line. He turned, and threw a quick pass to Nedved, who was wide open at the top of the right circle, as the Kings' defense had backed off well below the tops of the circles with the Rangers coming in with speed. Nedved ripped a hard wrist shot that beat Potvin high, glove side, just as Kings' defenseman Andreas Lilja slid across, trying to block Nedved's shot. Video replay showed that the puck appeared to deflect off of Lilja, changing the direction of the shot, and fooling Potvin. But the Kings came right back... 3. LOS ANGELES. Deadmarsh 13 (Johnson), 2:05 After some sustained pressure on the forecheck, Miller pinched in, down to the lower left circle, and pushed the puck deep into the left corner. Barnaby got the puck, and tried to pass to a teammate in front of the net. But his pass was deflected by Johnson, and the puck went right to Deadmarsh, who was all alone in the slot. He lifted a wrist shot, beating Richter top shelf, over his glove hand. At this point in the game, this was the Kings' best shift of the night. They kept the puck in the Rangers' zone for more than thirty seconds, cycling the puck down low, creating a lot of pressure on the Rangers. And the Rangers had a quick answer of their own... 4. NEW YORK. Samuelsson 4 (Johansson, Vladimir Malakhov), 2:55 Malakhov carried the puck out of the Rangers' zone through center ice. He moved to the left wing at the red line. On a three-on-two break, Malakhov crossed the Kings' blue line, and then passed to Johansson on right wing. He moved to the bottom of the right circle, where he got off a low backhand. Potvin made the save, but the rebound went right to Samuelsson, who was coming in from the left side. Potvin went down in a two-pad slide, but Samuelsson's wrist shot beat him high. Although one could place some blame on Potvin for not being able to control the rebound, backhand shots are tricky for goalies, because one never knows where that shot is going. Instead, Kings' forward Randy Robitaille, who was just a step or two behind the play, was focused in on Malakhov, and followed him all the way into the slot. Robitaille should have recognized that Kings' defensemen Jaroslav Modry and Lubomir Visnovsky had their men covered (Visnovsky had Malakhov). Robitaille should have moved to the left side and taken Samuelsson out of the play. A defensive mistake by Robitaille was the big problem here...he totally blew his backchecking assignment. 5. LOS ANGELES. Miller 3 (Smolinski, Deadmarsh), 7:40 Another great shift by the Smolinski line created this scoring chance. Johnson, Deadmarsh and Smolinski were cycling the puck deep in the Rangers' zone. Eventually, Smolinski got the puck along the left wing boards. He pushed it to Deadmarsh in the left corner. While being checked, he threw it to Johnson, who was deeper in the left corner. He was checked, but pushed the puck behind the Kings' net. Smolinski got away from his man, and came in from left wing. He picked up the loose puck behind the Kings' net, and moved into the right corner. He then threw a backhanded centering pass to Miller, who had snuck into the slot. Miller got off a low backhand that beat Richter through the five-hole (between his pads). Strong forechecking by the Smolinski line was the difference on this shift. They totally outworked the Rangers. But they were the only effective line the Kings had in this game. And now, we come to what was probably the turning point in the game...with Rangers' left wing (and former Kings' winger) Steve McKenna off on a double-minor for high-sticking at 10:29, the Kings had a four-minute power play... 6. NEW YORK. Malhotra 2 (Dave Karpa, Mark Messier), 12:27 SHORTHANDED Just as McKenna's first penalty was about to expire, Messier beat Visnovsky to a loose puck, just below right point in the Rangers' zone. He passed ahead to Karpa at the right penalty dot. On a two-on-one break, Karpa passed to Malhotra at the red line. He carried the puck down left wing, and into the Kings' zone. From below the left face-off dot, he fired a low wrist shot that beat Potvin through the five-hole. "It was just a quick shot," said Malhotra, who now has three goals in three games against the Kings. "I tried to get it on net. I knew Dave was coming down the middle if there was a rebound. But I was just basically trying to get a shot and not leave a drop pass at the top of the circle." Visnovsky made a bad decision to try to pinch in when he did, and that left Modry back as the only Kings' defenseman. But Malhotra's shot came from a bad angle, and Potvin was in position, and he should have been able to make the save. A soft goal, no doubt. And Murray apparently thought so, too, as he took out Potvin in favor of Storr immediately after this goal. "I thought we needed a change," Murray said about pulling Potvin. "All month, we've had everybody contribute, and tonight we lost because we didn't have everybody contribute. And that would go for every position [including goal]." With McKenna still in the box on the second of his penalties, Rangers' defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre took a roughing minor at 13:48. That gave the Kings a two-man advantage for 41 seconds. But just like every power play the Kings had prior to this one, they did virtually nothing with it. They kept the puck on the perimeter, they were outnumbered around loose pucks along the boards and in the corners, or they lost the foot races to the loose pucks. In short, the Kings were badly outworked and outhustled by the Rangers' penalty-killers, and did not even come close to scoring. Third Period ------------ The Kings continued to play on the perimeter, and get outworked along the boards. They had the puck in the Rangers' zone for much of the period, but they were rarely dangerous, at least not until it was too late. 7. NEW YORK. Johansson 11 (Samuelsson), 14:39 Boucher moved deep in the Rangers' zone, and took a pass in the right corner. He spun, and threw a centering pass, but it was intercepted in the slot by Samuelsson. He quickly moved up the middle of the ice, and across the Kings' blue line with speed, backing off the Kings' defense. At the top of the slot, he dropped the puck back to Johansson, who fired a quick wrist shot, right between Robitaille's legs, and beating Storr on the glove side. Tough break for Storr...he was screened by Robitaille, and did not see the puck until it was past him. The Kings pulled Storr for the extra attacker at the 17:11 mark, and almost made it interesting... 8. LOS ANGELES. Steve Heinze 13 (Smolinski, Deadmarsh), 18:51 Deadmarsh got the puck in the left corner, and threw it behind the Rangers' net. Modry had pinched in, and picked up the loose puck at the right outer hashmark. He threw the puck in front, and Deadmarsh picked it up below the right circle. He passed to Smolinski at the bottom of the right circle. He turned, and immediately passed to Heinze, who was all alone at left crease. Heinze kicked the puck to his stick, and beat Richter just inside the left goal post. 9. LOS ANGELES. Smolinski 10 (Deadmarsh, Visnovsky), 19:59 Smolinski won a face-off in the left circle back to Visnovsky at the top of the slot. He wound up and fired a slap shot that was blocked, just a couple of feet in front of him. Deadmarsh was there, and pushed the puck to Smolinski at the top of the left circle. He fired a one-time slap shot that beat a surprised Richter high on the glove side, just inside the right goal post. It was obvious that Smolinski had scored just prior to time expiring, but the goal was reviewed by the video goal judge, just to make sure. The ruling was that the puck did indeed cross the goal line before time had expired. Shots on Goal ------------- Los Angeles: 6 15 14 -- 35 New York: 9 9 4 -- 22 Power Play Conversions ---------------------- Los Angeles: 0/7; New York: 0/2 Zone Time --------- Los Angeles: 6:34 6:57 6:18 -- 19:49 New York: 9:59 10:11 9:10 -- 29:20 Neutral: 3:27 2:52 4:32 -- 10:51 Three Stars (official) ---------------------- #3 - Deadmarsh; #2 - Malakhov; #1 - Johansson Gann's Three Stars ------------------ #3 - Deadmarsh; #2 - Samuelsson; #1 - Johansson One look at the zone time and shots on goal statistics might give one the idea that the Kings dominated a close game in every way, except on the scoreboard. But do not let those numbers fool you. The Kings were awful in this game. They had only one effective line, the Smolinski line. Add Miller to Deadmarsh, Smolinski and Johnson, and you get the four players who came to play for the Kings. The rest? They simply did not come to the arena ready to put in a 100% effort, or play a smart game. The Kings got sucked into the Rangers' run-and-gun style, even though they know very well that they cannot be successful playing that style. The Kings need to play a defensive style, with solid backchecking from the forwards--they do not have the skill or speed to out score the vast majority of NHL teams, and there could be no better proof than this game. The virtual non-existence of backchecking by the Kings' forwards left the neutral zone wide open for the Rangers, who flew up ice on almost every shift, forcing the Kings' defensemen to back off the blue line. The Rangers were able to enter the zone with a lot of speed throughout the game, and this was a huge factor--four of the five Rangers' goals were scored off the rush. But Kings' defensemen fell into the Rangers' trap as well, taking risks that proved costly, resulting in outnumbered attacks. Two of the Rangers' goals were scored on odd-man rushes, and they had many more than that in this game. And although I was not counting, one thought I had during the game was that the Kings probably gave up more outnumbered attacks in this game than they have all season...combined. A more telling statistic: The Rangers blocked twenty-one shots in the game, compared to just five by the Kings. The Rangers were getting in front of a lot of shots, frustrating the Kings by preventing them from getting the puck to the front of the net. Of course the most telling statistic of all is that the Kings did not score on seven power play opportunities. And if there was a game where Potvin was going to falter, this was it. Going into Saturday's game, he was 1-6-0 lifetime against the Rangers, with a 3.62 goals-against average. About the three stars: Johansson was a no-brainer as the number one star. But Samuelsson (goal, assist on Johansson's game-winning goal) deserved the number two star far more than Malakhov. And Deadmarsh was a stud in this game, scoring a goal, and adding three assists. He deserved the third star. Next Game: The Kings are off until after the New Year, and will close-out the current home stand on Wednesday, January 2, 2002, when Pavel Bure leads the Florida Panthers into Staples Center. Game time: 7:30 PM PST. Televised in the Los Angeles area on Fox Sports Net West beginning at 7:00 PM with the "Break the Ice" pre-game show.
(C) Copyright 2001-02 by Gann Matsuda. All rights reserved. This report may not be duplicated, copied, printed or distributed in any way without permission.