Nov 27, 1999
Kings Of The Hill!
The Kings are on top of the NHL thanks to a great night by Glen Murray
and a little help from Jamie Storr who was returning from a groin injury.
"Jamie was very solid for us in the second period when San Jose had us
under pressure," Kings coach Andy Murray said. "We watched him at practice
the last couple of days. He had been getting therapy and he said he had
felt pretty good." Glen Murray put the Kings ahead 1-0 by one-timing
a pass from Bryan Smolinski past Steve Shields. Smolinski found Murray
at the bottom of the left faceoff circle and he ripped a slap shot past
Shields. Donald Audette scored the go-ahead goal at 17:06 of the
first with another assist by Smolinski. "We've been skating with
each other since the start of the season, so we know each other's tendencies,
and we know where the other guy's going to be," Murray said. "I've already
told Brian that he's turned into Wayne Gretzky. He's got to set up Donald
and me all the time, so no more goals for him." Murray scored the
Kings' third goal and his ninth of the season with 10:06 remaining in the
game, capping his second two-goal performance in three games. He beat Shields
high to the glove side after Audette spotted him all alone in front from
the left circle while Niklas Sundstrom was off for hooking. Zigmund Palffy
scored his 12th goal for the Kings into an empty
net with one second remaining. "I don't know what it is. We just know
it's a big game," Murray said. "We get up for the games, just like they
do, but we've improved a lot from last year. Maybe we can go into San Jose
and steal a couple there, too."
Nov 24, 1999
Kings Can't Beat Stars
Len Barrie and rookie Jason Blake scored for Los Angeles, which was without
two of its top scorers and its top two goaltenders in Stephane Fiset and
Jamie Storr. Len Barrie tied the score at 11:45, taking advantage
when Dallas goaltender Ed Belfour fell while trying to play the puck, as
Barrie fired into an open net. Jamie Langenbrunner's power play goal at
16:39 of the first period put the Stars ahead 2-1, but Jason Blake tied
it at 2 for the Kings at 7:31 of the second period, converting a two-on-one
break. Matvichuk got a break when the puck bounced off Los Angeles defenseman
Rob Blake and back onto Matvichuk's stick. He put it past Cousineau for
the win in overtime. "It was nothing short of a lucky bounce," said
Cousineau, the backup goaltender who was getting his first start for the
Kings."It was a lucky goal. We played well enough to win." He stopped 23
of 26 shots. "I thought it was a real good hockey game played by
both teams. Dallas really needed to win, and you could tell they were pushing
for it," Los Angeles coach Andy Murray said. "When you play a conference
opponent you don't want to reward them with the extra point in overtime.
But they earned their goal."
Nov 23, 1999
Kings Bury Avalanche
Rob Blake showed why he has a Norris Trophy for best defenseman.
Blakey scored twice and picked up an assist in a four-goal second period
that gave the Los Angeles Kings a 6-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche.
Glen Murray also had two goals for Los Angeles, which stretched its road
unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1). Tsyplakov scored his fourth
goal of the year at 1:36 of the second on a perfect pass from Len Barrie.
Jason Blake picked up his first goal of the season. Jamie Storr didn't
return for the second period, and Marcel Cousineau stopped 20 of 21 shots
to record his first win of the season. Reports are Storr suffered
a right groin injury.
Nov 20, 1999
Kings Lose Two in a Row
The Kings have lost two games in a row. Is it time to panic?
Probably not. "We looked tonight like a team that is not playing
good hockey, and [for] most of the season, we have played well," Murray
said. "So what we need to do is get a return to the form we showed earlier."
When they were winning games, and their power play was at the top of the
NHL. Zigmund Palffy scored twice for Los Angeles, which went 0-for-7
on the power play in dropping its second straight game after winning its
previous three. Dainius Zubrus scored twice as the Montreal Canadiens
snapped out of their scoring slump with a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles
Kings. Sergei Zholtok and Patrick Poulin scored goals less than four
minutes apart in the first period. Garry Galley skated the puck along
the left boards and fed it into the slot, where it bounced off Poulin's
leg and Dykhuis' stick before Palffy jammed it past Theodore on his second
try. It was 2-1 Montreal in at the end of the first period.
Brian Savage was injured with 15:40 left in the second. He skated into
the Kings' zone, wound up for a 35-foot and fanned on the puck, keeping
his eyes focused on the ice during his follow-through. After shooting
the puck from just inside the blue line, his face collided with Laperriere's
shoulder, sending Savage crumpling to the ice. He lay on the ice for about
nine minutes before medical personnel wheeled him off on a stretcher.
"I practice with Brian in the summer, and I don't want to hurt him," Laperriere
said. "It just happened. It's a physical sport, and it's just too bad I'm
the one that hit him. I never want to hurt anyone." Savage, who leads
the Canadiens with 12 goals, was transported to Centinela Hospital for
tests and an MRI exam -- the results of which won't be available until
Sunday.
Marco Tuomainen cut Montreal's margin to 3-2 with his fifth goal --
on only his 11th shot on net this season and Ziggy's second goal
of the game and 11th of the season moved the Kings within a goal with 12:09
to go. But with Storr pulled, Zubrus scored into an empty-net with five
seconds left. "Our big thing is that we step up and take responsibility,"
Coach Andy Murray said. "If anybody is hiding out on [reporters], I want
to know. There's a clear message here: We did not play very well,
and it's really tough
to figure it out." Said Murray of the power play: "It's awful.
We have some pretty good players on the power-play unit. It's not like
we haven't practiced it." Where was the defense? "We're making
turnovers when we have clear possession," Murray said. "Our defense
has played well this season, but our defense tonight, certainly three of
our six defensemen did not play up to standards."
Nov 18, 1999 Kings Drop to Second in Pacific
The Kings dropped to second place in the Pacific Division with a 3-2 loss
to Phoenix.
Aki Berg and Donald Audette scored, and Glen Murray had two assists
for the Kings, who lost for only the second time in their last 12 games
(8-2-2). Berg got a cross-ice pass at the top of the right circle
from Murray and beat Essensa to the stick side. Audette put Los Angeles
ahead 2-1 at 3:42 of the second period, getting the puck deep in the right
circle from Murray and lifting it into the top right corner of the net.
Mike Sullivan, Keith Tkachuk and Trevor Letowski scored for the Coyotes.
Storr started his fifth straight game in place of Stephane Fiset.
Nov 16, 1999
Kings #1 in the NHL
Vladimir Tsyplakov and Bryan Smolinski scored 38 seconds apart in the first
period as the Kings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Tsypy's goal
was his third of the season, all scored in his last three games since taking
over for Luc at left wing on the first line. Blake and Barrie assisted
on the play. Smolinski quickly gave the Kings a two-goal advantage when
he one-timed Glen Murray's pass from the left corner under a sprawled Passmore.
Murray sent in a centering pass to Smolinski, and we had a 2-0 lead.
Donald Audette broke through the doldrums with a second-period arrow-shot
in which he sent a three-inch puck 40 feet through a six-inch hole between
Passmore's stick and the goalpost. "We weren't skating tonight, particularly
in the third period," Smolinski said. "We weren't making the plays and
gave them every chance to win. Our goaltending was fantastic. (Jamie) Storr
saved us." That was evident in shots on goal. The Blackhawks
out shot the Kings 38-21, with a 23-1 ratio in the third period.
Storr's record is 3-0-1 since Steph suffered a bruised right hand. He lost
his shutout bid on a goal by Chicago's Eric Daze, only 28 seconds after
coach Murray called a timeout. Shot No. 22 became a Tony Amonte goal.
The Kings are 9-1-2 in their last 12 games, and NUMBER 1 overall!
The last time they were number 1 overall was Dec 7, 1992.
Nov 14, 1999 Kings Take Bite
Out of Coyotes
Rob Blake scored a power-play goal, and Craig Johnson and Ziggy Palffy
scored on breakaways that kept the Kings in the lead the whole game. Blake
scored on a one-timer from the circle, beating Shtalenkov on the glove
side with 9:27 left in the first period. Blake had just come out from the
penalty box when Johnson cut between two Coyotes to steal a crossing pass
and skate unhindered down the slot for a shot that beat Shtalenkov with
4:07 left in the second period. Palffy interrupted Phoenix's momentum when
he swept down the left side and beat goalie Mikahil Shtalenkov with a slap
shot from the circle. That made it 3-1 with 9:53 left in the game, and
the Kings held on to improve to an NHL-best 7-2-2 on the road. "It was
important because we were struggling," said Palffy, who led the New York
Islanders in goals and points last season. "I only had one other shot in
the game, so it was important to get it. They scored against our penalty-killing,
so it wasn't in the bag." "No question he's valuable -- that's why we pay
him $5 million a year," coach Andy Murray said after Palffy scored the
winning goal in a 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday night.
"He's scored some timely goals for us this year." Kings moved ahead
of idle San Jose into first place in the Pacific Divison and are tied with
Ottawa for most points in the NHL.
Nov 11, 1999
Avalanche Fall (pics)
Vladimir Tsyplakov scored his first two goals of the season and tied a
career high with three points as the Kings ended a three-game winless streak
with a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. Ziggy Palffy opened the
scoring at the 7:24 mark when he was standing all alone at the right of
the crease, and shot Sean O'Donnell's pass from the left point past Roy's
glove hand for his eighth goal and fifth in five games.
Palffy, who had two assists to go with his goal, set it up with what
has become a King specialty: a pass to Blake in open ice, with a goalie
at his mercy.The lead was 1-0 , and it was doubled 52 seconds later when
Tuomainen, playing with the fourth line, won a puck, circled, then shot
it past Roy. Dingman made it 2-1 with 2:35 left in the opening period on
the power play. Tsypy made it 3-1 with a power-play score that came when
he rebounded Rob Blake's one-timer at 17:03 of the second. Barrie made
it 4-1 less than five minutes into the third period, one-timing a cross-ice
feed from Palffy from 15 feet out and beating Roy to the stick side. "We
kept it simple, we cycled the puck and it paid off," Barrie said. "I need
to hold on to the puck a little longer. I had time to work with Ziggy.
A day off tomorrow, no practice. I'm going to the beach." Klemm tallied
his third goal 84 seconds later but Tsyplakov took advantage of miscommunication
between Roy and Foote to close the scoring with 2:52 to play. "I played
with a superstar in Ziggy, it makes it a much easier game for me," Tsyplakov
said. "That helps me a lot. I guess I got lucky tonight. I got good rebounds.
We scored the first two goals and then we sort of sat back. We relaxed
a little and then they scored and we picked it up again." The Kings
are six games over .500 for the first time since April 18, 1998.
Nov 9, 1999
Kings Settle for Tie
The Kings are 0-1-2 in their last three following a five-game winning streak.
Los Angeles was without two of its top players, center Jozef Stumpel and
left wing Luc Robitaille. Stumpel will miss eight to 10 weeks following
abdominal surgery and Robitaille is out two to six weeks with a fractured
left foot. After about 12 or so minutes, the Oilers took a 1-0 lead
when Mike Grier swept a puck past Jamie Storr, who learned only minutes
before the game that he would play in place of Stephane Fiset who was scratched
with a bruised hand suffered in pregame warmups. Storr stopped a shot by
Ryan Smyth, but the puck slipped under his pads, close to the goal line.
Garry Galley reached in with a stick to try to push it out of harm's way,
with Audette adding his bit in the effort. The result was a tangle of Kings--Audette,
Galley and Storr--with Grier, who muscled his way out and had an open net
as a target, inches away.
The Kings tied the score on Bryan Smolinski's goal only 25 seconds
later. Audette also was involved in that one, taking a puck from a scrum
at the point and sending it to Smolinski in open space, straightaway and
30 feet from Tommy Salo. The goal was Smolinski's fifth of the season.
Nov 6, 1999
Flyers Outskate Kings
Playing without Luc Robitaille and Jozef Stumpel might not be as easy as
coach Andy Murray thinks. In their first game without Luc and Jozef
(two-thirds of their top-scoring line) the Kings were outshot 23-5 during
the first 33 minutes of the game. Eric Desjardins scored the go-ahead goal
early in the second period, and Mikael Andersson and John LeClair added
goals as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-3. Craig
Johnson opened the scoring at the 3:46 mark with his first goal of the
season, but Anderson responded with his first goal of the year. "We came
out full of energy and scored that first goal and it was a fortunate goal,
but I knew we didn't have it tonight," Murray said. When Marko Tuomainen,
who scored a first-period power-play goal to tie the score, 2-2, it was
the Kings' fourth shot of the game.
By that time, Philadelphia had 14. Goals by Greig and LeClair seemed
like just piling on, though Palffy scored an individual-effort goal to
counter them in the third period. At that point, he was skating in a double-shift
situation with the fourth line. By that time, things had gotten frustrating
for the Kings, who received a noble effort from goalie Stephane Fiset.
He stopped 27 of 32 shots but was pressured much of the night by the Flyers,
most of whose goals began with plays that were spawned by King turnovers.
That the Kings generated only nine shots in the first two periods, compared
to Philadelphia's 26, was a sign the lines were struggling with their new
identities and the defense with its increased responsibility.
Nov 6, 1999 Stumpel
Out 8 to 10 Weeks
Jozef Stumpel needs surgery to repair a hernia and will be sidelined eight
to 10 weeks. Stumpel, who missed 17 games last season with hip, ankle and
knee injuries, will undergo abdominal surgery on Monday. Stumpel, 27, is
third on the Kings in scoring with two goals and 15 points in 15 games.
"It's hard to tell," Stumpel said, concerning how and when he was injured.
"The last couple of
weeks it's gotten worse and worse. It was in my groin and then went
into my stomach lately." Stumpel had been treating his injury with ice
and massage and continued playing without complaining. He had an assist
on the Kings' only goal in a 1-1 tie on Wednesday in Detroit.After the
MRI, he practiced Friday, then participated in Saturday's morning skate,
all the while trying to stay in the lineup.
Dave Taylor, the Kings' senior vice president and general manager,
said Saturday the club was considering moving up a center from the minor
leagues, with the likely candidate being Len Barrie, who is playing for
the Ice Dogs.
Nov 6, 1999
Luc Out With Broken Foot
Luc Robitaille, the team's leading scorer, has a broken bone in his left
foot that will sideline him two to six weeks. Robitaille was injured when
he was hit by a shot by Ziggy Palffy in a game against Pittsburgh at Staples
Center on Oct. 28. After X-rays were negative, Robitaille played at Chicago,
Pittsburgh and Detroit before undergoing an MRI exam on Thursday that showed
the break.
"I'm talking two weeks [to recover] and I'm going to try to beat that,"
Robitaille said. The six-week estimate was made by doctors who diagnosed
a crack in a bone just above his big toe.
Robitaille will be replaced by Jason Blake, a healthy scratch
on Wednesday at Detroit to playing on the Kings' top line tonight against
Philadelphia. "We have a number of interchangeable parts," King Coach Andy
Murray said. "We just have to go to the parts department for another one."
Murray made the decision to elevate Blake and move him from center to left
wing after considering moving Vladimir Tsyplakov from the fourth line and
Marko Tuomainen from injured reserve into Robitaille's spot. The coach's
chief consideration was not disrupting the other lines because they are
playing well.
"It's a great opportunity for Jason Blake," Murray said. "Based on
his training camp and his offensive capabilities, and not wanting to alter
the other lines, this move made the most sense. I get tired of him looking
around at me on the bench with that look that says, 'Coach, when are you
going to put me in?' " Murray said. "He never says anything, but I can
see that little kid's look in his eyes."
Blake is averaging fewer than 10 minutes a game, having spent most
of his playing time centering the fourth line. "I don't know how I look,"
Blake said. "I just want to be out there. I know this is a different level--you're
being paid and all that--but at every level I've ever played, I've been
the guy to go out there." He has two assists and has not scored a goal
in 19 shots this season. "Obviously, I haven't been putting the puck in
the net, making the people around me better," said Blake, expressing disappointment
in his offense. "A lot of times I get knocked off the puck, and you've
got to look at yourself and say, 'Maybe I've got to be grittier.' "
Blake is listed at 5-10 and 185 pounds, and he must deal with players
much bigger and stronger. "Jason Blake will go [to the net]," Murray said.
"He's a strong little guy. And his body will get there a little quicker
[than Robitaille's]. I don't have Luc at my disposal, and we have to look
at the positives that this young guy brings. He's tenacious on the puck."
Robitaille tried to deal with the injury by icing the foot, but found in
Wednesday's game at Detroit that it was no longer enough."It was hard to
jump on the ice between shifts," he said. "I knew then that there was something
wrong."
Nov 4, 1999 Kings Extend Fiset's Contract
The Los Angeles Kings extended the contract of goaltender Stephane Fiset,
who has a 7-3-3 record and 2.25 goals-against average this season.
USA Today is reporting that the deal runs through 2001-02, with a club
option in 2002-03. It averages $2.35 million a year. If the option is picked
up, the average is $2.5 million.
"We are certainly pleased to reach this agreement with Stephane, which
adds stability to our goaltending situation," Kings general manager Dave
Taylor said in making the announcement Thursday. "He has been a very
solid and dependable goaltender for our organization the past three seasons."
Fiset, 29, had an 18-21-1 record and a career-best 2.60 goals-against
average along with three shutouts last year. He missed 23 games due
to various groin strains.
"It was very important to me and my family that I reach a long-term
agreement with the Kings," said Fiset, who as a restricted free agent signed
a one-year contract based upon an arbitrator's ruling in August.
Fiset has one shutout this year, giving him 10 with the Kings and tying
him for second on the team's career list with Kelly Hrudey. Rogie Vachon
leads with 32.
Nov 3, 1999
Oh Ziggy!
We could have come away from this game 3-1 if not for the crossbars.
Steve Yzerman and Ziggy Palffy traded goals as the Kings tied the Wings
1-1 Wednesday night. The Kings still lead the NHL with 21 points. The Kings
were able to come away with a point thanks to Palffy, whose fake in the
left faceoff circle froze goaltender Chris Osgood and enabled the sniper
to wrist the puck into a vacated net for his sixth goal. Fiset was perfect
after allowing Steve Yzerman's power-play goal with 5:01 left in the first
period, turning aside all 21 shots over the final 45 minutes, and total
of 31 saves. He sprawled to stop Yzerman on a shorthanded breakaway
in the second period and helped the Kings move to 6-2-2 on the road. The
Kings had the best chance toward the end of the game when Brad Chartrand
and Glen Murray skated in 2-on-1, but Chartrand's shot glanced off the
crossbar in the final seconds of regulation. Josef Stumpel, who assisted
on Palffy's goal, hit the left corner pipes earlier in the third period.
Nov 2, 1999
Kings Own Penguins
Kudos to Jamie Storr. He kept the Kings in the game during the first
period when it looked like the Penguins were on a 20 min. power play.
Ziggy Palffy scored in the first to tie the game 1-1. Second period was
pretty quiet. Donald Audette had the only goal, and Rob Blake was
hitting everyone in a white jersey. The Kings broke out in the third period
trading goals with Pittsburgh. Rob Blake scored, and Audette and
Palffy finished the night with two goals apiece. The Kings are 2-0
against the Penguins this season. |