Here's what Kings coach Terry Murray had to say after tonight's game...
Question: Any word on Jack Johnson?
MURRAY: ``The word that I got, just a minute or so ago, is an upper-extremity injury. He's going to go to the doctor and get evaluated tomorrow, and we'll have more information then.''
Question: Anything in terms of how serious it might be?
MURRAY: ``No. I was not told to what degree the injury was. Maybe even I wasn't told exactly what it was. It was just very quickly, when I was in the coaches' office before I came in here.''
Question: Did he try to give it a go there at the start of the second period?
MURRAY: ``He did. He tried to come back and get going. It happened on that play when the puck was flipped into the air and he was trying to knock it down just inside of our own blue line. Hopefully there's nothing serious.''
Question: How frustrating is it when you lose by one and you get two taken off the board?
MURRAY: ``Well, the two taken off the board, that's the way it is. Goals that are scored when you're in the crease are not allowed, and you're not allowed to kick the puck into the net. So that's a ruling that's thoroughly reviewed by the league, so I don't have any problem with that. Those things always have a tendency to work out in the long run. The 1-0 game was... I really liked the way we played, especially in the second half of the game. The third period was tremendous. We started to see something that I haven't seen yet, and that was that compete for each other, playing hard for your teammates. There was a lot of blocking shots and playing real hard and heavy on pucks on the boards and in front of the net area. It was great to see that. That's kind of a bar that's set, and I'm going to try very hard to keep them to that level. It's something to build on.''
Question: Your thoughts on O'Sullivan?
MURRAY: ``O'Sullivan's a very skilled player. I haven't got a good read on him yet, but he's a very skilled player. He handles the puck in traffic with high speed. He sees the ice to make plays. He took it to the net the one time, to the goal line, and threw it off the goaltender's right pad and had a little rebound and he just about got to it. I'm hoping that the next game, he does get to that kind of a play. He's a special kind of player, there's no question. Some of the things he attempts to do, you can see that there's a lot more in there and that it's going to start to happen for him real quick.''
The things the NHL is doing with their website are really good. I'm still exploring all the options to incorporate stuff into the blog, but here's the official highlight video from tonight's game...
Anze Kopitar drew a 10-minute misconduct penalty in the the second period when, while skating to the bench, he smacked his stick against the glass and cracked it.
``I could probably hit it a million more times like that and it's not going to break, but it was stupid for me,'' Kopitar said. ``I was just frustrated it can never happen again.''
Terry Murray quotes to follow, for those who want to stay up...
Here's what Patrick O'Sullivan had to say about his first game back...
``It felt like I hadn't played a game in four or five months, but felt better as the game went on. I'm glad to get that first game out of the way and live past the fact that I missed training camp. There's definitely some positives and I have a lot to improve upon, but it's definitely something I can develop.''
O'Sullivan talks about the disappointment of having two goals disallowed and his impressions of how the Kings can improve on offense...
``You know, they were against the rules, so at the end of the day that doesn't matter. We had some good chances. I think we have to continue to get traffic at the net and stuff like that. They're going to start going in the net. We have too good of players for it not to, but we need guys going to the net and getting traffic and getting more shots on net, getting pucks to the net. I think we were much improved defensively tonight. I'm not going to say that we weren't thinking about offense as much, but we definitely needed to clean up some things from last night. Goals are going to come. We just need a little bit more urgency around the net, but we're not worried about that, I don't think.''
Here's what Matt Moulson said after the game about his second-period goal being overturned by video replay, after it was determined that he kicked the puck into the net...
``I think I got it with my skate. I thought maybe I got a piece of it with my stick after, but I guess not. It clearly went off my foot, but I was just trying to kick it to my stick and jam away at it. I was hoping they would say it maybe went off my stick afterward.''
Moulson talked about the disappointment of having two goals disallowed and losing by one...
``We had a lot of pressure there and we were playing well. It's a real hit there, to have two goals disallowed, but we had a solid team effort tonight. We have to keep bringing that determination and compete level to the next game against Anaheim.''
-- Ran into Jack Johnson briefly in the hallway after the game, before a team employee quickly whisked him into the coaches' room, and he said he was ``fine.'' It's apparently some type of arm injury that will be evaluated again tomorrow.
-- With Johnson out, Drew Doughty led the Kings in ice time with 23 minutes, 56 seconds. He appeared to be much more confident on the ice tonight and had significant time both on the power play and penalty kill.
-- The Kings have killed all nine of their opponents' power plays this season.
-- Patrick O'Sullivan totaled 19 minutes, 21 seconds, of ice time and recorded three shots on goal, tied for the team high. He was also charged with four giveaways.
Kings outshoot the Sharks 21-19 but it doesn't matter much. Notes and quotes from the locker room to follow...
Jack Johnson sustained an ``upper-extremity injury'' -- please don't get me started about this terminology -- late in the first period and will not return tonight. He took one shift in the second period and tried to play but couldn't go. I'll try to get an update after the game.
Jack Johnson had only one shift in the second period. I didn't see any injury take place but I'll try to get an update. It's the second intermission now, still 1-0 Sharks.
The Kings just had a second goal disallowed in the period. Matt Moulson put it in, after a scrum in front of the net, but a video review showed that the puck crossed the line due to a famous ``distinct kicking motion.'' So it's still 1-0 Sharks, with about 3:30 left in the second period.
Anze Kopitar just got a 10-minute misconduct penalty because he slammed his stick against the glass next to the Kings' bench, and cracked it, as he skated off the ice.
The Kings just had a power-play goal waved off, 10:41 into the period. Stoll's point shot beat Boucher but Dustin Brown was ruled, correctly and immediately, to have been in the crease.
San Jose takes the lead on what looked like a pretty soft goal. The Sharks had a 3-on-2 break and rookie Lukas Kaspar pulled up and took a long-range shot to the far post. It rang off the bar and went into the net for Kaspar's first NHL goal, 9:56 into the second period. Patrick Marleau got the assist.
Patrick O'Sullivan is now back on the first line with Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar early in the second period.
Handzus is still with Frolov and Simmonds, so I presume Moulson takes O'Sullivan's place with Stoll and Moller.
It's scoreless.
The Sharks outshot the Kings 8-6 and had the better of the chances. In a couple of cases, with Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar, the Kings appeared to have decent scoring chances but waited too long to shoot. The Kings killed two penalties and are now 8-for-8 on the PK this season.
So far, cheers for the Ice Girls, boos for Blake.
So far for the Kings it's:
Moulson-Kopitar-Brown
Frolov-Handzus-Simmonds
O'Sullivan-Stoll-Moller
Armstrong-Boyle-Ivanans
O'Sullivan has joined Kopitar and Brown on the first power-play unit though.
At least at the start, Matt Moulson stays on the first line with Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar. Rob Blake was met with an expected level of loud boos in pregame introductions. And coach Terry Murray was introduced correctly the second time.
It's LaBarbera vs. Boucher in the nets.
During pregame introductions, Staples Center public-address announcer David Courtney just introduced coach Terry Murphy. Yes, Murphy. Courtney is a pro who has been doing the job for years and years, but...wow.
In for the Kings: Patrick O'Sulllivan and Brian Boyle.
Out: Kyle Calder and Brad Richardson. Peter Harrold is scratched again.
I mentioned last night that I couldn't locate the last time the Kings had fewer than 14 shots on goal (they had 13 last night against San Jose). My colleague, Graig Woodburn, pointed out tonight that the franchise record for fewest shots on a goal is 12, ``achieved'' on Oct. 28, 1997, at Florida.
Mike Milbury had some interesting comments on Hockey Night in Canada last night...
I hope everyone is looking forward to tonight's Kings home opener. Remember, faceoff is at 6 p.m., a bit of an odd time. Plan accordingly for traffic, as I'm told there's a little baseball game up the street... Anyway, it's good to get back to regular-season hockey.
Also, Lisa Dillman of the Times, who did a great job covering the Kings the last two years in her most recent stint, captured this exchange on yesterday's CBC broadcast involving former Kings coach Marc Crawford.
-- The Kings totaled 13 shots on goal and, wow, that's a low number. So low, in fact, that I can't determine the last time they recorded that few shots. The game-by-game listings on ESPN.com only go back to 2003-04, and I can't find any Kings total lower than 14. The Kings had five shots (and one goal) in the first period and four shots each in the second and third periods.
-- The Kings allowed 41 shots on goal, an unsightly number that they reached only five times last season.
-- Jason LaBarbera stopped 38 of 41 shots.
-- The clear positive for the Kings? They killed all six San Jose power plays.
-- Numbers-wise, at least, a rough debut for Jarret Stoll. He took two penalties and lost six of the seven faceoffs he took.
-- Jack Johnson led all Kings in ice time, with 23 minutes, 5 seconds.
-- How did the rookies fare? Oscar Moller played 13:38 and seemed to get stronger as the game progressed, as did Wayne Simmonds, who played 12:02. Drew Doughty played an uneven 17:40, to be expected from an 18-year-old kid making his debut.
What else stood out to you?
The Kings drop their season opener and the Sharks improve to 2-0 at home. The glaring number, of course, is the shot total...41-13 in favor of the Sharks.
Some notes on the game to follow...
Your thoughts?
Welcome to the NHL, Drew Doughty. He got caught up ice and lost the puck, which led to a 2-on-1 the other way. Joe Pavelski kept the puck and took the shot, and it might have deflected off Jack Johnson before it beat LaBarbera. The goal came 63 seconds into the third period.
San Jose 2, Kings 1
It could be much, much worse for the Kings at this point. They're being outshot 31-9 and they've killed four Sharks power plays. Of course, they just allowed a shorthanded goal too, so this game is really all over the place. The Sharks look like a team that has already played a regular-season game, which it is -- the Sharks beat the Ducks on Thursday -- and the Kings look very much like a team playing its first game, which it is.
Go figure. After keeping the game tied in a ridiculous second period in which they have generated almost no offense, the Kings fell behind on a shorthanded goal. A long outlet pass found the stick of Tomas Plihal, who made a quick move on Jack Johnson and beat Jason LaBarbera with a wrister. The Kings are being outshot 17-2 in this period.
The Sharks tied it up 1:12 into the second period. They parked two guys in front of the net, against one Kings defender, and Devin Setoguchi whacked in a rebound to tie the game. Vlasic, who took the point shot, and Thornton get the assists.
Kings 1, Sharks 0
A fine period for Jason LaBarbera, who stopped 14 shots and helped kill two penalties. The Kings put five shots on Nabokov but beat him once, on the power play.
Michal Handzus with the cross-ice pass, Alexander Frolov with the one-timer and the Kings take the lead on a power-play goal 6:34 into the game. Preissing gets an assist as well.
No surprises for the Kings, as Patrick O'Sullivan, Peter Harrold and Brian Boyle are the scratches. Certainly that's a disappointment for Boyle, but not entirely surprising given that it seemed to be heading in that direction in practice.
By the way, don't forget, the season starts in about an hour...
Today's signing of Anze Kopitar to a seven-year contract extension is arguably the Kings' biggest and most notable transaction since a certain Great One came to town. Kopitar and the Kings have committed to each other well into the next decade, even in these uncertain times, with uncertainty surrounding the Kings' building plan and uncertainty all around financially. It's a bold move and one that should infuse the organization. What will it mean on the ice? Maybe nothing. We'll see.
The reason this big deal is not a surprise is that the Kings love Kopitar. They consider him a great player, a great teammate and a hard worker, a respectful kid who represents himself and the organization well. If you're a GM looking at the possibility of shelling out almost $50 million, you definitely want to feel good about those areas just mentioned.
My thanks to Jill for chatting with Kopitar, on a day when you already had another assignment. I'll be blogging during the game, for anyone who needs updates or just wants to humor me...
I just talked to Anze Kopitar for a few minutes on the seven-year contract he just signed. Here's the interview:
Q: What's your reaction to the contract you signed?
A: I'm really happy with the Kings. The Kings were willing to show the commitment to me. Hopefully, I can (meet) their challenge to have a great team. I'm really looking forward to start this season. I'm really happy to sign the deal.
Q: Was a long-term contract what you were looking for?
A: I was thinking 5-6-7 years. It turned out to be seven years. It's good. When my deal is up, I'll still be 29. It's good that I got it done before the season so I can focus on hockey now and play the way I can and lead the team to a couple of victories for sure.
Q: What was the negotiation process like? Seems like it went smoothly.
A: The Kings were really professional and so was my agent. I think we got together pretty quick. I'm really happy about it.
Q: What do you think about the Kings locking up young guys like you and Brown to long-term contracts?
A: That's the reason I signed too, because I see a great future in L.A. We got Brownie, Jack and all those young guys locked up. Hopefully, they'll lock up Jack. We've got O'Sullivan for three years. That's why I signed. I see a bright future in L.A., and I want to be part of it.
Q: Do you think the foundation is in place for a bright future?
A: For sure. I think that's what it is. I want to be a part of that. It's really nice to be here in L.A. and I want to stay here.
He gets $47.6 million over seven years. It's different amounts each year but I don't have the breakdown yet. I believe Jill will be getting quotes from Kopitar a bit later.
Anze Kopitar got a seven-year contract extension today, for those who haven't already seen (apparently the Kings don't believe in press releases anymore). Hopefully I can get the dollar amount soon.
EDIT: I guess the Kings' policy now is to put media releases on their website for a half hour before they...release them...to the media...
I'm heading out for a while, but I'll do my best to pass along details about Kopitar as I receive them. For now, please check out the two Kings stories I wrote for the Daily News today. One is the feature on Dustin Brown, written from the long interviews posted yesterday, and focuses on the great strides he has made as a team leader. The other is a season preview that centers around the new attitude brought in by coach Terry Murray. Thanks for reading!
If the excitement of tonight's season opener isn't enough for you, this should get you going...late last night -- very late -- Anze Kopitar agreed to a contract extension with the Kings. I don't know the length and value of the contract yet, and I'll be away from a computer for most of the morning/afternoon, but I'll do my best to keep everyone updated. Just wanted to pass along the good news...
Want to know why this Kings team is different? There's a ping-pong table in the dressing room. The hand-eye coordination of ping-pong might help on the ice, but more important is the fact that the table is there in the first place. I have a hard time imagining that Marc Crawford ever would have allowed a ping-pong table in the room.
The mood in the dressing room seems decidedly more relaxed. Now, people can go around and around and debate the positives and negatives of having a ``looser'' dressing room, but the players seem much happier and at ease. Several have mentioned it without much prompting, as you've read in some of the interviews here (and will below). Watching practice, I've yet to see him yell at a player, never mind some of the cover-the-kids'-ears moments that used to take place with Crawford.
From a writer's standpoint, Terry Murray has been great to deal with. He's very pleasant to deal with, he has a bit of a sense of humor and he gives thoughtful answers. Of course, at this point he hasn't yet lost a game, so he doesn't have any reason to be defensive, but he seems to be a good fit, personality-wise, for this team. We'll see if he can use that personality to get his guys to play the way he wants.
Along these lines, here's what goalie Jason LaBarbera had to say today about the change in atmosphere around the Kings...
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Question: I've heard, from several guys, about how different Terry's style seems to be. What have you seen from him, and what's been the biggest difference?
LABARBERA: ``I would say it's a little more relaxed, in a good way. It's not as high strung. Terry is definitely an intense guy, there's no doubt about it. He has a quiet intensity about him. Crow kind of wore his emotions on his sleeve and it kind of wore off on everyone. Their approaches are a little different, as far as that aspect of it goes. Guys seem more relaxed, and so far it's been refreshing.''
Question: It would seem to me that, as a goalie, you would want the guys playing in front of you to be more relaxed and not playing in fear all the time...
LABARBERA: ``It makes it easier for me too, because I kind of feed off that. There were times last year where you could just feel that tension. I felt it. We were down one or two goals and you could just see it and feel it on the bench and in the room. That's not condusive to winning. It's really tough to play like that. It's just more of a quiet confidence now, I think.''
Three players -- Drew Doughty, Oscar Moller and Wayne Simmonds -- are expected to make their NHL debut tomorrow when the Kings open their season in San Jose. Terry Murray talked about what they should expect and shared some memories from his NHL debut...
Question: You have three guys playing their first NHL game tomorrow. Any particular message to those guys?
MURRAY: ``Well, we'll talk about that in our team meeting, what we, as a team, need to be ready for. We were fortunate to be able to play San Jose in a game near the end of training camp, so we saw most of what their lineup would be. They were missing a couple players. But we all know that once you get into the real deal, that the intensity and the competitiveness go to another level. So being ready for that is most important for the young players who are going to be in a game for the first time. There's going to be a lot of pressure. (The Sharks) are very aggressive on the forecheck team and they come at you with a lot of speed and a lot of pressure. So they have to be ready emotionally and mentally, physically be prepared for a hard battle.''
Question: Do you remember your first game?
MURRAY: ``I sure do. Minnesota North Stars vs. Oakland Seals. I took it end to end a couple times but it just wouldn't go in for some reason. (laughs) It was fun. It's pretty exciting. The adrenaline is going, the energy is high and you're really looking forward to getting your pro career underway. So I'm sure it's a very exciting day for these young guys, just waiting for tomorrow to come and the drop of the puck.''
The Kings will get real familiar, real quick, with San Jose. The Kings and Sharks play Saturday (there) and Sunday (here) and the Sharks opened the season Thursday with an impressive 4-1 home victory over the Ducks.
Question: Did you get a chance to watch San Jose last night?
MURRAY: ``I watched it this morning. Very good team, one of the premier teams in the league. They took the level of play to another level in the middle part of the first period. They got on the power play in the second and, wow, they moved the puck around and they were tremendous on the power play. They've got Blake back there last night and he's loading up with seven shots on net, and they end up with 40 as a team. They have a real strong mentality right now, that they have something to prove, and they have started off in the right direction.''
Terry Murray talked today about his short-term plan for the Kings' goalies. Sounds as though Erik Ersberg should plan on getting comfortable at the end of the bench...
Question: With three games in four nights, do you have a specific plan for the goalies?
MURRAY: ``My plan is to play Jason. He's my No. 1 goalie. We're coming out of the training camp and he's ready to go. I don't see any reason, right now, why I should look any other way, other than playing him at the beginning.''
Question: Do you have a number, in your mind, of how many games you like your No. 1 goalie to play?
MURRAY: ``That's a tough one. I want him to play a lot. I don't know what that really means, but if you have a No. 1 goaltender, he's the guy that you've got to go with. I want to go with him in a lot of the games. Certainly you want to look at plus-60 games. He loves the work. I know, from talking to the other coaches and getting feedback from them, that he's a hardworking guy who does a lot of extra (work) in the morning skates. He really thrives with that kind of workload, so I'll go with it. As long as things are going well for him, we'll stick with him.''
Here's what Terry Murray had to say today about setting his lineup, plus the impending return of Patrick O'Sullivan...
Question: Any last-minute lineup changes, or are you set?
MURRAY: ``It's set, as long as everyone comes to the game tomorrow feeling good and nothing happens over the evening here with flu, the lineup is set and ready to go for the game tomorrow.''
Question: Is O'Sullivan not ready yet?
MURRAY: ``No, he's not ready. He feels good and he had a good workout yesterday and again today. A little bit sore today, because of the hard skate at the end of yesterday's practice. We'll get him through a good workout tomorrow. I think there's a nice opportunity here for him to review what we're doing -- the style and system -- and to be able to watch a game from up top and get a good look at it and get himself ready to go. He feels that Sunday would be a good chance for him to get going. I wouldn't say he's apprehensive about two (games) in two nights, but maybe I am. I think it would be a little too much to demand of him, after missing most of the training camp, so we'll get him into the game Sunday if everything goes well and according to the plan we have in place now.''
Here's what Patrick O'Sullivan had to say today about his return to the lineup, which, barring a last-minute change of mind, will take place in Sunday night's home opener against San Jose...
-- The team had an abbreviated skate before its flight to San Jose for tomorrow's season opener. Nothing too intense and it ended with a fun shootout drill.
-- Patrick O'Sullivan will not play tomorrow, but it seems almost certain that he will play Sunday. O'Sullivan agreed with Terry Murray that it would be wise to not push the issue and risk getting hurt while playing in back-to-back situations.
-- No changes in the lines today in practice, as O'Sullivan and Boyle were wearing the green jerseys indicating a ``spare'' forward. It seems likely, then, that a fourth line of Armstrong-Richardson-Ivanans is in store, at least tomorrow.
-- The Kings play three games in four days to start the season, but Terry Murray gave no indication that Jason LaBarbera will sit. Murray said he likes to play his No. 1 goalie a lot and that he feels LaBarbera thrives under a heavy work load. So we'll see how it goes.
More notes and quotes to come throughout the afternoon, but this is the short of it...
I'll have a report from practice a bit later this afternoon, but for now I figured I'd get your thoughts on this subject... As we all know, Rob Blake is coming back to town Sunday with San Jose. I'm curious to see what people's thoughts are on Blake, four months after the whole situation went down...