High / Low points from LA Kings opening games in Europe

For those unfamiliar with the High/Low segment here on MayorsManor, it's a pretty simple format where we look at three highs and three lows from a game, somebody's career, a team etc.

In the past, special guests who have shared their own High/Low thoughts on various topics include Jim Fox, Rob Blake, Luc Robitaille, Marcel Dionne, Ethan Moreau and many others.

Throughout this season we'll take a look at the performance of the Kings in individual games and/or using small segments of the schedule. First up, a review of the first two games played this season over in Europe...

HIGHS

- Anze Kopitar: He scored the first goal of the season on Friday and added two more on Saturday. For anybody questioning how last season's injury may slow him down to start the season, the answer has been given. He flew back to the U.S. with four points (three goals, one assist) and lead the forwards in minutes played both nights.

- Moreau: Singed in late August to bring some veteran leadership and extra grit to the third and fourth lines, Moreau delivered in both games. He had the second most hits on the team in the season opener, with four (only training Matt Greene's five hits) and was tied for the team lead in the same category on Saturday.

- The power play:  Last season the Kings finished with a dismal conversion of rate of 16.1% with the man advantage. After two games, they're up to 25% on the young season.

Need captions for these Kings-Sabres pics from Germany

The other day we had a lot of fun with a few Drew Doughty pictures from Hamburg, Germany - and several readers came up with some great captions.

Well, the fine folks at the O2 Arena in Berlin just posted an album of over 150 pictures taken during today's game between the LA Kings and Buffalo Sabres.

See if you can come up with an interesting caption for these photos...

#1 - Doughty asks if Ville Leino wants to do the limbo

NHL Premiere: LA v Buffalo pre-game notes, quotes and first goal contest

Good morning. It's time to grab some coffee and enjoy some hockey, all the way from Berlin, Germany. Here's your pre-game primer - featuring notes and quotes from several members of the Kings, as they prepare to face the Buffalo Sabres for the only time this season. Details for today's 'first goal contest' are also listed at the end of this article.

- Two line-up changes from yesterday, as coach Terry Murray will go with Jonathan Bernier in net (as expected). On November 19th last season, Bernier faced the Sabres in Buffalo and gave up four goals on 36 shots. The Kings lost that game 4-2.

- Murray's other change is replacing Trent Hunter with Kevin Westgarth among the forwards. This pushes Ethan Moreau up to the third line with Scott Parse and Jarret Stoll, while Westgarth will fill the right wing spot on the fourth line with Kyle Clifford and Trevor Lewis.

- East Coast Bias: In 21 career games, Mike Richards has 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists). Simon Gagne has 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists) in 33 games and Justin Williams has five goals and 10 assists (15 points) in his 26 games vs Buffalo.

- Parse Watch Continues: Due to Dustin Penner's 'lower body' injury (believed to be a sore groin), Parse remains at left wing on the third line. In the season opener on Friday, Parse had 16 shifts for 10:59 of total ice time. He also took two shots on goal and had zero points.

- Morning Math with Jack: After one game, Jack Johnson has an even plus-minus rating. He was on the ice for the final three goals of the game - when Marian Gaborik scored (to put the Rangers up 2-1), when Mike Richards tied it late in the third period and - obviously - when he scored the game winning goal in overtime.

LA Kings def Rangers in OT, post-game notes and video

Many of the areas the Kings were hoping to improve over the summer were on display front and center in today's 3-2 overtime win against the Rangers.

Jack Johnson scored a power play goal with about a minute left in the extra session and then was mobbed by his teammates, in a scene that looked more like a playoff game winner than the first game of the season.

Anze Kopitar showed no signs of the injury he suffered last season, picking up the first goal of the game and assisting on the one that tied things up with about five minutes left to play in regulation.

Here are a few post-game notes, followed by the video highlights:

- Overall, LA now sits at 44-62-19 against New York and they won't see them again this season - unless they were to meet in the Stanley Cup Finals.

- Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is now 2-3-1 when playing the Kings and his counterpart, Jonathan Quick, is a perfect 2-0 against Broadway's Blueshirts.

- Richards vs. Richards lived up to the hype. Brad Richards played 18 minutes for the Rangers, went 9-for-11 in at faceoff dot and assisted on Marian Gaborik's third period goal. Mike Richards scored for the Kings and set up Johnson's game winner in 20-plus minutes ice time.

NHL Premiere: LA Kings vs NY Rangers pre-game notes, first goal contest

Hang on, relax. You only have less than an hour to go and you'll be just fine...hockey will be back!

To get you primed and ready to go, here are some quick tidbits on the Los Angeles Kings vs New York Rangers match-up. Also, be sure to take note of the details for today's 'first goal contest' listed at the end of this article.

- Kings all-time Record against the Rangers: 43-62-19. This is the only meeting between the two teams this season, as it was last year. When they squared off on February 17, 2011, the Rangers won in a shootout 4-3. Dustin Brown picked up two points that night and the Kings collected another point on their nearly-month-long road trip (post-game notes and highlights from that game can be accessed here).

- Rangers defeneman Marc Staal, one of their top defensemen, didn't make the trip to Europe due to lingering symptoms from the concussion he sustained in a game last year.

- Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is from Sweden and earlier in his career played in the Frolunda HC system - the same organization that Kings' 2011 draft pick Michael Schumacher was part of last year (article).

- At least four former NHL players to suit up for both the Kings and Rangers will be in attendance - Luc Robitaille, Mattis Norstrom, Tomas Sandstrom and Bernie Nicholls.

- Richards vs. Richards: In 23 career games vs. the LA Kings, Brad Richards has 26 goals (seven goals, 19 assists). On the other side, Mike Richards has played 37 games against the New York Rangers, picking up 12 goals and 11 assists.

Kings' Richards, Doughty, Gagne on facing the NY Rangers

In just about two hours all the talk of the last five months will be washed away and the NHL season officially begins for the Los Angeles Kings.

Opening against a team as rich in history as the New York Rangers gives today's game a little something extra. Just ask the players. Prior to leaving for Europe, several of them shared some thoughts on today's game...

Willie Mitchell - "It's always fun to play them, they're an original six team. It doesn't matter how long you've played in the league - if you haven't played that long, you look forward to playing against the Rangers and guys that have been around, like me or Ethan Moreau, it's always a team that you look to have a lot of fun playing against because the tradition and history."

Drew Doughty - "I love playing the Rangers. They've been in the league a long time. This off season, they picked up Brad Richards and that's going to make them a much better team. I think it's going to be a great test for us to start the season. They're one of the better teams in the East and I definitely think we're one of the better teams in the West. So, it's going to be a real battle."

Anze Kopitar - "I'm sure it's going to be hyped up (in Stockholm) and I'm sure they might have a few more fans in the arena, because of their goaltender. But, it is what it is. We know that team and obviously we want to get off to a good start and then see what happens."

Bye, bye Hamburg - Kings vs Freezers post-game notes

The pre-season is now officially over for the Los Angeles Kings after they defeated the Hamburg Freezers 5-4 earlier today in Germany.

POST-GAME NOTES:

- The Kings were allowed to play the game under German Elite League rules, thus they had 20 skaters, plus two goalies. The line combinations and D-pairings were:

Scott Parse - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams
Simon Gagne - Mike Richards - Dustin Brown
Brad Richardson - Jarret Stoll - Trent Hunter
Kyle Clifford - Trevor Lewis - Ethan Moreau

Willie Mitchell - Drew Doughty
Jack Johnson - Rob Scuderi
Alec Martinez - Matt Greene
Davis Drewiske - Slava Voynov

- The Kings goaltending duties were split between Jonathan Quick and Jonathan Bernier.

- Kopitar led the offense, as he has all pre-season. He finished the game with three points (one goal, two assists). Williams (one goal, one assist) and Scuderi (two assists) each had two points in the game.

- Serge Aubin (who played with former Kings defenseman Rob Blake in Colorado during the 2002-03 NHL season) had two goals for the Freezers, while Brandon Brooks had one goal and added an assist.

- The three stars of the game were: 1) Cristoph Schubert 2) Aubin 3) Kopitar [no explanation for how/why Schubert received the first star]

- Total shots on goal were: Hamburg 42 (17 – 11 – 14) and Los Angeles 37 (16 – 17 – 4)

MayorsManor podcast - European travel with the LA Kings

LA Kings plane ride (photo by J. Quick)

The MayorsManor podcast is back for the 2011-12 NHL season and this edition isn't going to need much of an intro.

Prior to the LA Kings departing for their season opening trip to Europe for the NHL Premiere series, we caught up with various players to talk about the experience in front of them.

All of your favorite Kings are included, like - Drew Doughty, Matt Greene, Jack Johnson, Anze Kopitar, Willie Mitchell, Dustin Penner, Rob Scuderi, Jarret Stoll, Kevin Westgarth and more. Even the new guys are get involved - Simon Gagne, Ethan Moreau and Mike Richards!

We play a slightly twisted game of word association, find out who will be the best dressed and worst dressed player on the trip, plus take a few guesses on who will be the most annoying person on the plane ride over.

Get to know a whole new side of this year's LA Kings team...

(audio player after the jump)

Luc Robitaille on why the LA Kings are going to Europe

A few weeks ago I joked that it must be contract week, as several Kings prospects and players were busy getting deals inked.

Well, today is 'address the cynics' day here at MayorsManor.

This morning I posted comments from Luc Robitaille, Kings President of Business Operations, explaining the how and why behind the team's jersey changes for next season.

In a summer filled with more positive vibes than any other in recent memory - from the trade for Mike Richards on down - we'd be remiss to at least not address one of the few news item that's caused a little bit of confusion.

Why are the Kings opening the season in Europe? Some point to the fact AEG owns the arenas. OK, fine. Are there any other reasons and even so, how does management feel about it?

Here's one man's opinion...

"We were asked by the league. We talked with them and they're (only) picking so many teams," Robitaille started out with. "To me, it wasn't a big deal. I kind of like the experience for the players. Yeah, for sure, you think you want to play your games at home. But, 15 years from now those players can say, 'Wow, I got to play a game in Berlin.' I think that's very special. Those are great memories for the players that they'll cherish later - like, someday when they retire."

Fine, that's years down the road. However, at least one thing on his mind that tied back to the upcoming campaign - "There was certainly something inside of me that (kept coming back to) the last three Stanley Cup winners started in Europe. So, once I heard we had a chance to go to Europe, I said I want to go!"

The Kings will open the NHL regular season with a game vs. the New York Rangers in Stockholm, Sweden on Friday, October 7.  They'll also play the following night in Berlin, Germany - taking on the Buffalo Sabres.

Once they return to the US, the Kings will play at New Jersey and Philadelphia.  Then, St. Louis will visit Staples Center for the Kings home opener on Tuesday, October 18.

Back to Richards for a quick moment... to see what the Kings new center - and former Flyers captain - had to say about that first game vs. the Rangers, be sure to click the link below.

[REMINDER - You can now add facebook comments DIRECTLY on MayorsManor - simply scroll down to the comments section below - it's super easy...have fun and please be respectful - no personal attacks, profanity, etc.]

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/MayorNHL
www.facebook.com/MayorsManor

RELATED ARTICLES:

Mike Richards looking forward to first game with Kings - talks 'hatred' for Rangers, fights with Dubinsky

Luc Robitaille on why the LA Kings changed jerseys

Kings 'most likely' opening next season in Europe