Matt Greene on Kings v Red Wings, plus tonight's ticket contest

For the Kings, their last visit to Joe Louis Arena wasn't pretty. An 8-2 loss in mid-December stands as perhaps their worst game of the year. However, to be fair, it came just a few days after the firing of Terry Murray - at a time when the team was in limbo wondering what would happen next, while John Stevens stood in as interim coach.

Prior to that game, LA had experienced rather unusual success in a building that's normally tough for most opponents. They were winners of three straight there, including a 5-0 shutout last year that was one of Jonathan Quick's best games in the NHL. He stopped 51 shots that night, something he's not likely to have to repeat tonight.

The Kings will be facing a banged up Detroit team - playing without Nicklas Lidstrom, Jimmy Howard, Pavel Datsyuk, Todd Bertuzzi, Jonathan Ericsson and a few others.

Still, it's the Red Wings. Just ask Matt Greene, who shared the following comments with MayorsManor about tonight's game...

"Detroit in Detroit? It is what it is - everybody knows that. Those aren't easy points," said Greene, who leads all Kings defenseman with 201 hits.

On Wednesday night's MayorsManor LIVE show, Greene talked about what it's like to play in front of friends and family back in Michigan. Dustin Brown also shared his thoughts on the challenges younger players have when going to Detroit for the first time. If you missed the show, you can hear their interviews here.

The Kings are expected to make one line-up change tonight, with Brad Richardson joining the fourth line in place of rookie Jordan Nolan. Last weekend, Richardson took himself for 'first goal' vs. the Ducks - saying he had 'a pretty good feeling about himself.' However, he was a healthy scratch that night, so we'll have to see if his confidence is still in place vs. the Red Wings.

If you'd like to participate in the MayorsManor First Goal contest, we'll be giving away a free pair of tickets to an upcoming Kings home game. It's easy to play, simply leave a comment below with the LA player you think will score first vs. the Red Wings...or reply to the facebook / twitter updates that will be posted around 4:00pm. All correct answers will be pooled together and one random winner will be awarded the tickets. Good luck!

The Mayor
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VIDEO: Quick beats Howard, gets interviewed by Lundqvist

Jonathan Quick is the Kings' lone representative at this weekend's NHL All-Star Game - and the team's first goalie to receive such an honor in thirty years. As part of tonight's Skills Competition, Quick first participated in the 'fastest skater' challenge, opposing Jimmy Howard from the Detroit Red Wings. Take a look...

Here are some other video highlights from throughout the evening:

- What the race looked like from Howard's helmet cam, click here.

- Later, Quick was in net for the 'elimination shootout' - an event he was most likely much more comfortable competing in. He stopped shots by Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, Ryan Suter of the Nashville Predators and this one by Toronto's Joffrey Lupul.  The only guy to beat him was the Flyers (and former LA prospect) Kimmo Timonen (video link).

- At some point during all the fun, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist took a few minutes to try and interview Quick (video link).

- Before things even got started, Quick chatted with the NHL Network's EJ Hradek - click this link to see why he was in the dressing room so early today and what he forgot about prior to landing in Ottawa.

The actual All-Star game is tomorrow afternoon. Quick, Lundqvist and Brian Elliot of the St. Louis Blues will share the goaltending responsibilities for Team Alfredsson, with each playing one period. No word yet on which segment will be assigned to Quick.

The Mayor
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Quotes from Red Wings locker room after def. LA Kings 4-1

Already posted on the homepage are quotes from Matt Greene and LA Kings coach Terry Murray.

Now, we head over to the Detroit locker room for comments following their 4-1 win over the Kings at Staples Center this afternoon...

Head coach Mike Babcock on the overall game - "I thought we played good. The story of our year is we’ve played a lot of good hockey and we found ways to make enough mistakes that we haven’t been able to win enough. You can’t continually get 38 shots a game and give up 22 or 24 and not win. Eventually it’s going to happen for you. It was great to see Pavel [Datsyuk] get a couple tonight. He’s a goal scorer, wants to score, wants to feel good about himself. I thought we had a great effort out of [Henrik] Zetterberg’s line…We had a huge save on the penalty shot that wasn’t even a penalty. The other play I thought was huge was when they scored short-handed and we responded on the same power player."

Defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom on the game - "We wanted to hang onto the puck, especially offensively in their zone. Try to grind their D[efense] and get some shots on their goalie with traffic. We had the PP going early on that really got us going…We stuck with our game plan for 60 minutes tonight. We played solid defensively, tried to clear the rebounds in front of the net for [Jimmy Howard]. On the offensive side we did a great job of really hanging onto the puck...They got that short-handed goal and we responded right away by scoring on the power play and getting ourselves right back into the game…Special teams was very important today."

More later.

The Mayor
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RELATED ARTICLES:

Postgame comments from Matt Greene - 'We played right into their game'

Postgame comments from LA Kings coach Terry Murray - talks Kopitar, Richards and the loss

Kings vs Red Wings pregame - five things to know

Quick quotes from Kings coach Terry Murray after 4-1 loss

I'll have more Terry Murray quotes from his post game presser up later.

Here are some key highlights though...

On Anze Kopitar's first career penalty shot - "It was a critical time, but I would answer today that it was a small part of it—the missed opportunity there to score."

On the overall game - "Things turned after they made it 1-1. They scored right away on the power play after we got a short-handed goal that I thought was really going to be a huge momentum boost for us. I don’t know what happened on that. I haven’t watched the replay on it. I just remember Brownie [Dustin Brown] looked like he almost got tackled there as he was coming out to the point to the loose puck. But they score right away and started to feed off of some of the turnovers and some of the decisions that we made to get the puck back to them. By the end of the second period they had the game going the way they wanted and we ended up chasing it."

On Mike Richards' shorthanded goal - "He is one of the better penalty killers in the game I think. He has always got that anticipation. He’s ready for those plays that he might be able to jump on to put some pressure on the other team. He did it again tonight. Again, that to me was a huge play. Against a team like Detroit, that should be a great opportunity for you to feed off of that kind of momentum."

Comments from Murray on Drew Doughty and the Kings' penalty kill up later.

The Mayor
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Matt Greene - 'We played right into their game'

In the Kings 4-1 loss to the Red Wings this afternoon, defenseman Matt Greene played 13:42, took one shot and had three hits. He was also a plus-1.

After things wrapped up, he spoke to the media...

On the overall game - "They capitalized on turnovers and we didn’t. When you play these guys there are shifts when you’re in your zone for a little while, but tonight it was way too much. We turned pucks over and played right into their game. They had a great game; a lot of their guys were playing really well. We played right into their system like that, so they’re going to have great success."

On special teams - "They had a good power play and we could be better on penalty kills. We got to make plays out there."

On the claim the Red Wings are too old and too slow - "They say that every year and nothing really changes. They have guys who play their system really well and as gifted as they are, they’re a really good defensive team. We turned the puck over in the neutral zone and we paid for our mistakes."

More to come.

The Mayor
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Detroit Red Wings at LA Kings - five things to know

When the Red Wings arrive at Staples Center this afternoon, it will be the first time they see the Kings this season.

- Over the last six games between the two teams, LA has gone 5-1-0.

- The Kings are 6-1-0 with Slava Voynov in the line-up. Yes, they are also 2-0 with Andrei Loktionov too.

- Detroit's power play has converted at 16.4% through 17 games, while the Kings' have clicked at 20.2%.

- LA's penalty kill has also performed better, killing off 82.7% compared to Detroit's 77.8%.

- Jimmy Howard has gone 8-5-2 this season, with a 1.90 goals against average and .928 save percentage. Kings coach Terry Murray will counter with Jonathan Quick.

Be sure to follow along on twitter and/or facebook for live quotes from the locker room following the game.

The Mayor
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NHL 2011-12 season predictions - timing is everything

Predictions - everybody loves them and if you're correct about half the time, you're doing pretty well.

Two years ago I had the Los Angeles Kings finishing sixth in the Western Conference. Nailed it.

Last season, I slotted the Kings at fourth during my NHL season preview article. That's certainly where they should have finished, if not for their horrible losing streak in November. As such, they ended up seventh - three notches back.

Further, as noted at the time... If GM Dean Lombardi added a high-end player before the trade deadline, the Kings would challenge the Sharks for the Pacific Division.

Which sort of brings us to this present.

Sure, Lombardi added Dustin Penner at the deadline last February. And getting a guy to play on the top line with Anze Kopitar definitely qualifies as a big move. However, the addition didn't net the desired results. Couple that with a power play that saw a huge drop off from the year prior and the aforementioned losing streak to dig out of - well, the timing wasn't right for a run at the Sharks.

Things have now changed.

Penner spent the summer committing himself to conditioning. Check.

Lombardi went out and acquired the long-needed second line center in Mike Richards. Check.

With Ryan Smyth's departure to Edmonton, the Kings had a new hole at left wing.  They could have moved a prospect in - an unproven commodity - or have relied on a role player to fill the hole, essentially asking somebody to try and overachieve. Instead, Lombardi signed veteran forward Simon Gagne.  Second line, check.

On defense, all six starters from last season - and arguably the best collective unit of six in the Western Conference - return and are back on the blueline. Check.

In net, it's Jonathan Quick and Jonathan Bernier reprising their roles in Battle of the Goalies part II. Quick has spent two years rewriting the Kings record book and Bernier was lights out in the second half of the last season. Coach Terry Murray says he's going with the hot hand this year, rather than a planned 60 games-22 games split. So, goaltending - check.

What does this mean for the Pacific Division and the Western Conference?

After hearing bits and pieces leaked over the last few weeks during various radio appearances and on twitter, here are the official MayorsManor predictions for the 2011-12 NHL regular season...

POLL: Loudest Kings Game Ever at Staples Center?

Following up on the Mercury News article from yesterday (and my rebuttal available here), what is the loudest Kings game ever at Staples Center?

Beginning Wednesday morning, I'm confident the answer will be 'Game Three vs. San Jose, 2011 Playoffs.'

Until then though, which of the following games would you say was the loudest?



Poll closes at 6pm PST tonight.

The Mayor
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Two Goals, Two Points and Two Wins in Detroit

"We came out of the gates a little slow" - Anze Kopitar on the Kings getting just three shots on goal in the first period.

Post-game news and notes from LA's 2-1 win...

* With their second win in Detroit this season the Kings finished the season series 3-1-0 vs. the Red Wings. There wasn't any pattern to the four games - overtime, a shutout, a blowout and one goal game tonight.

* LA is now 8-1-3 in last 12 road games.

* The game marked Jarret Stoll's 500th NHL game (214th with LA).

* Kopitar had three shots on goal, matching his total from the last three games combined. His goal in the second period was his 21st of the year and gave him seven points vs. Detroit this season (4 goals, 3 assists).

* PennerMania continues - Dustin Penner assisted on Kopitar's goal and led LA with four shots in the game.  He now has a small three game point streak as a King (1 goal, 2 assists).

* Dustin Brown took the team goal lead back with his 22nd goal of the season at 14:43 of the second period.

* After losing to Dallas on Saturday (in overtime) for the first time all season when ahead after two periods, LA shut things down in the third period tonight to get back on track - they're now 20-0-1.

* Drew Doughty led all skaters in the game with 26:48 of ice time.

* Jonathan Quick gave up just one goal over the two games in Detroit this season, stopping 79 of 80 shots.

* Has anybody heard from Ryan Smyth lately? Ryan Smyth, please pick up the white courtesy phone. Smyth to the courtesy phone.

Smyth and Westgarth Look Back to Move Forward

Nine days ago the Kings lost 7-3 to the Red Wings at Staples Center.

Defenseman Willie Mitchell said LA 'dominated' that game.

Regardless, they didn't get the two points they needed. However, the two teams will meet again tonight in Detroit.

Some of the Red Wings' motivation for the last game may have come from the Kings 5-0 shutout when the two teams met up in December.

It's something I asked Ryan Smyth and Kevin Westgarth about before the team left LA to begin this four-game road trip...

MM: Do you think the 'Wings were out to send a message after the December game or was it more that they scored a couple of early goals and built some momentum?

Smyth - "Well, I'm not too sure what they were thinking. But, obviously they were thinking come out and rebound. After we were up 1-0 I thought we had a few chances early and then they - they're a good team, they're a measuring stick, they hound the puck really well, all four lines and obviously their d-core are very solid."

Westgarth - "I'm sure it was a little bit of everything. Every team in this league has a memory. Guys don't like to get embarrassed, especially at home, and they got a couple...uh, (long pause)...I guess, lucky goals on us early on - that got us behind the eight-ball. I think we played really well. The irony in this Detroit series this season is that, I think, every team that has been out shot has won the game. So, it's been the battle of attrition going both ways in some ways. We look forward to the rematch."

Kings - Red Wings Primer: Interview w/ Mike Modano

Mike Modano is the greatest American-born hockey player of all-time.

At least that's what the readers of MayorsManor said via their votes in a poll last week.

It's an obvious choice too, as he's scored more goals and points than other strong contenders, like Jeremy Roenick, Pat Lafontaine and Chris Chelios - not to mention his representing Team USA in 11 different international tournaments.

Taking nothing away from the other three though, perhaps what also helps elevate Modano to his deserved pedestal is his class. He's been one of the most respected players in the league for 20 years and remains so to this day.

While some eyebrows were raised last summer when he chose to sign with Detroit, rather than retire, those thoughts turned to concern when he severely damaged his wrist in November. Determined not to end his career on an injury, he battled back and returned to the league a few weeks ago.

Tonight he'll face the Kings for the second time since rejoining the Red Wings five games ago.

In the interview below we look back over his incredible career - talking milestones, memorabilia, Messier, head injuries Jaromir Jagr, Brett Hull...and of course, we play word association.

Matt Greene on Dustin Penner's Latest Challenge

When Dustin Penner arrived in town last week he made it clear - he was here to help the Kings win games, score some goals by using his size, listen to the coaches, play the team's system...and challenge Matt Greene to some ping-pong.

However, Greene quickly turned down the challenge, claiming he was 'retired' from the game because he doesn't continue doing things he's "not good at."

How about a different contest though?

MM: We know you turned down the ping-pong challenge, but Penner also says you're pretty good at guitar hero too...

MG: I don't know, I'm a little bit out of practice with video games. When he was living with me (in Edmonton) that's when it first came out. So, that was all the rage.

MM: You've moved on?

MG: Yeah, now I think I'm back to Tetris on the GameBoy.

MM:  Well, that's much easier to bring on the road. Maybe you two can square off this week during the trip...

Smyth and Murray Respond To Mitchell's Comments

You won't get a lot of cliche answers from Kings defenseman Willie Mitchell about the team's performance. He's a veteran who's been through the rigors of the season with five different teams over 10 years and brings an honest perspective when assessing games.

After practice yesterday he said the Kings "dominated" Monday's game and that some players may have lost interest when it became 4-1 (full comments here).

Are those things that fellow veteran Ryan Smyth and coach Terry Murray agree with?

Smyth - "I wouldn't think we lost interest because we started to battle back a little bit in the scoring punch. But, there were times throughout that where we weren't as consistent as we are capable of being. Playing a full 60 (minutes) against a team like that is something you have to do. For us to be successful, you have to bring your assets to the table as a group and come through against a team like that."

Murray - "He's probably right about the middle (of the game). You lose focus, you don't lose interest. You lose your focus, you lose your concentration. But, it came back in the third period. I thought we gave it a pretty good push. And what's really important - we were talking about it on the bench - is we got behind and you know you're playing Detroit and it's going to be very hard to get back against that team because they check so well, they know how to do the job. But, we're talking about doing things the right way. You can't get bad habits into the game. If you start cheating on the game and cheating on your system and structure and not giving 100% on your effort, then you're doing a disservice to your hockey club, to the LA Kings, and I won't tolerate that."

Mitchell Says Kings 'Dominated' Monday vs Detroit

Monday night's game vs the Red Wings was not a 'trap game' for the Los Angeles Kings.

A match-up with Detroit is a measuring stick, a barometer...and it doesn't matter if the game is played the first week of the season or in the final month.

After a horrible November the Kings were hot in December, punctuated by a 5-0 shutout of the 'Wings in Detroit.

Well, the Kings came up short in the re-match a few days ago, something defenseman Willie Mitchell had an interesting take on yesterday afternoon...

MM: You were pretty open about your disappointment with the Islander game, are there similar feelings coming off the loss to Detroit considering how well the team has been playing lately?

WM: Well, we played great against Detroit. I will sit there over and over again - I think the guys played excellent for two periods. Excellent for two periods. We dominated that hockey game and we were down 3-1 and then they scored a power play (goal) to make it 4-1. We controlled the play, we did everything. They got a couple of bounces the other way. But, we dictated that hockey game. In this league when you get down 4-1 against a good team like Detroit, it's natural when there's only twenty minutes left for everyone to just loose a little bit of interest and I think that's what happened, obviously, to make it go up to 7-1. The team lost interest because the game kinda got away, even though I think there was a lot of disappointment in the room because we played hard and we played well for the first two periods.

Kings Quickly Out of Game With Red Wings

By the time you read this most of the Kings players have already forgotten tonight's game with the Detroit Red Wings.

At least that's what they'll tell you.

LA came into the game riding a mild four-game winning streak over Detroit, including a 5-0 shutout in Michigan two months ago.

Although Michal Handzus scored first, this game was all Red Wings.

Drew Miller scored the first of his two goals 6:37 into the game and they never looked back. Two more in the first and one more in the second made it 4-1 Detroit and it only got worse, with another two goals in the first six minutes of the third period.

This led to Jonathan Quick being pulled for only the second time this season.  Yet, the damage was already done though.

Dustin Brown would later score his team leading 21st goal of the season (on Anze Kopitar's second assist of the night). Next was Wayne Simmonds, who seems to be doing quite well on the top line (3 goals, 1 assist in the last three games). And Brad Richardson even put one in the net at 19:39.

However, it was too little too late. The Kings were down 7-4 and out of time.

Richardson will now return to fourth-line duty, having spent some time with Kopitar and Simmonds the past two games (after Marco Sturm was lost to waivers).

Earlier in the day the Kings traded for Dustin Penner, who is expected to start Thursday night on the top line - wearing #25.

[note: for trade coverage, start here to read Welcome to LA - 10 Tidbits on Dustin Penner]

Random fact of the night, Peter Harrold dressed for only the second game since Christmas and first since January 6 vs. Nashville.
Warning - the following video highlights may be tough to watch for younger viewers...

Kings in Giving Mood on Red Kettle Night

Jonathan Quick just might be the biggest Grinch in all of HockeyTown, USA right now.

The Red Wings were trying to get into the holiday spirit by hosting Red Kettle night on Monday. And why not - the Salvation Army has a big presence in Detroit, including hosting the world's largest kettle in Campus Martius Park.

While the visiting Kings were in the giving mood - allowing a season high 51 shots on goal, the stingy Quick stopped them all.

At the other end of the ice, the Kings deposited five goals in Detroit's net and picked up a huge win to kick off their five-game road trip.

Here are some other news and notes from the game...

* Wayne Simmonds opened the scoring. All I can say is be sure to read this article from yesterday to understand why it was bound to happen.

* Oscar Moller scored his first goal of the season, to put LA up 2-0. This could (read: should) be his final audition for the Kings prior to being part of a trade (we look at the issue here).  The play was set up by Drew Doughty 'walking the line' and taking a shot - a move he used so effectively last season, yet is hardly doing this year for some reason.

* Anze Kopitar put in the third goal of the game. During the pre-game radio show Daryl Evans said Kopitar needs to learn to be more selfish. I couldn't agree more. He should have 40+ goals every year.

...And Now You're Caught Up

For all the Kings fans that had a busy weekend shopping for gifts, going to holiday parties, watching football, etc. - don't worry. We've got you covered.

You should already know the score from last night's game. So, in no particular order, here are the ten other things you need to know heading into the work week ahead...

* Kyle Clifford continues to impress and now the sponsors are taking notice. This week the rookie signed an agreement with Bauer to wear their equipment from head to toe. He was already using their skates and sticks - I guess you can now add gloves, helmet, etc.

* More on The Colonel - If you missed UFC's pay-per-view card from Montreal by going to the Kings game instead Saturday night, you still got to see a great fight. Here's video of Clifford destroying Brad Staubitz.

* Last night was defenseman Rob Scuderi's 400th NHL game. It was also his 100th game with the Kings. When Willie Mitchell returns to the line-up this week it will be his 600th NHL game. We'll have more from Mitchell in an interview on Monday where he talks about reaching the milestone plus what he's learned about the team while being on the sidelines the last few weeks.

XI Makes XXV Memorable

Anze Kopitar continues to get it done for the Kings.

In their 25th game of the year, he had the winning goal with less than a minute to go in overtime.

Quickly, here are the other eleven things of note from LA's big win over Detroit...

* Quick, which player has the most goals among the Kings defenseman? Here's a hint, it's not Doughty or Johnson. It's...Alec Martinez! Over the weekend we've had a few articles on some Kings prospects playing college hockey this season and the former Miami RedHawk now has two goals in his five games played.

* Justin Williams said he thought his early second period goal got the team going. I would say, well sorta. Former Kings coach Andy Murray used to talk about the importance of the next shift following a goal. Sure, Williams' goal was a big one. However, giving the lead right back to the Wings, less than a minute later, was fairly deflating.

Interview w/ Los Angeles Kings legend Marcel Dionne

Throwback Thursdays continue here at MayorsManor...

Today we're proud to welcome in another living legend. Earlier this week Marcel Dionne celebrated his 59th birthday, which is hard to believe for some...as it seems like just yesterday he was skating on the Triple Crown Line with Dave Taylor and Charlie Summer.

In reality, Marcel played for the Kings from 1975 to 1987. When he netted goal #700 in 1987, he became just the third player in history to reach the milestone.  Nearly all of those came with the Kings (550).  Dionne is in the top 10 of almost every major offensive category for the Kings and he took his rightful place in the Hockey Hall of Fame after retirement.

In the interview below, The Mayor and Marcel look back at his career - from being drafted by the Red Wings...to signing with what-was-then hockey Siberia, Los Angeles...and finishing up in New York, on some really bad Rangers teams. Never shy, he shares his thoughts on the league, owners, managers, his teammates - well, let him tell you all about it...

Interview with Kings Playoff Hero - Gary Shuchuk

Gary Shuchuk is one in a long line of unsuspecting NHL playoff heroes. Ironically, his brightest moment in a Kings uniform was against the Vancouver Canucks - the same team LA will begin battle with later this week.

An LA Times article recapping the May 11, 1993 game began with 'The hero of the Kings' double-overtime victory over the Canucks in Game 5 was a player who had not taken a single shift in the first four games of the Smythe Division final.'

It was the longest game in Kings history and the biggest goal in Shuchuk's NHL career.  The few years prior hadn't been that bad for him either, be won the NCAA hockey championship at Wisconsin in 1990 and the AHL Calder Cup in 1992.

Last week we sat down with Shuchuk to talk college hockey life in an interview published here.  This week, he's back to share memories of making to the NHL, Barry Melrose, the Kings, Wayne Gretzky, Dan Blysma, Warren Rychel and more.

Another Mayors Manor exclusive interview - welcome in Gary Shuchuk...