Matt Murray has been a Kings fan since the late '80s, when Wayne Gretzky grabbed headlines by defecting to the West Coast. Since then, he has been a card-carrying bandwagon member as the club soared in popularity with their sole Stanley Cup appearance to their position near the bottom of the Pacific. But things are looking brighter, as he is anxious to witness the rise of the new Kings.
O'Sullivan finally scores!
After six games, the rookie winger that the Kings traded Pavol Demitra for finally tallied a score. For some fans, it took far too long. Then again, when you're only on the ice for 10 minutes, what can you do? Only three other L.A. skaters (Kostopoulos, Ivanans and Thorton) had less playing time Wednesday. O'Sullivan has been averaging a little over 11 minutes a game, languishing on the third-fourth lines, with the occasional appearance on the power play.
Flat out, O'Sullivan needs more time. This kid scored 47 goals down in the minors last year. But, a poor preseason showing seems to have landed Sully in the doghouse with Crawford. If Patrick is going to be effective, he needs more time to gel on the top lines. They've unleashed Kopitar, and they need to do the same with O'Sullivan. He's got the talent, he just needs time to adjust and spread his wings.
As for the guy they traded to acquire O'Sullivan? Demitra set up the game-winning goal in overtime. The Kings played hard, and outshot the Wild. But in the end, it was Pavol who sent the Kings to the locker room, with a four-game losing streak in tow.
