Did Doughty and Johnson Improve This Season?

For the Kings to have a significant chance of beating the San Jose Sharks in the opening round of the playoffs they'll most likely need to rely heavily on their goaltending and defensemen.

Four of the six blueliners were with the team for last year's post-season appearance against the Vancouver Canucks. Willie Mitchell - a veteran of 45 NHL playoff games - and rookie Alec Martinez now round out the group.

Yet, nearly all of the attention will be on the Kings' pair of high-profile defensemen, Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson.  Both had strong years last season for the Kings and represented their countries at the Winter Olympics.

But, what about this season? Doughty's goals (16 to 11), assists (43 to 29) and point totals (59 to 40) all slipped from a year ago - when he was nominated for the Norris Trophy.   And Johnson saw his point total slightly increase (36 to 43) by adding more assists. However, he hasn't scored a goal since February 2 in Edmonton.

Have they improved from a year ago?  Here's what coach Terry Murray had to say...

How are the Kings preparing for Sharks?

They say that spouses often take on the personality of their partner and animals begin to mimic their owners over time.

So, it's no surprise that the Kings, as a team, are somewhat a microcosm of their head coach.

Terry Murray is consistent, yet ever changing (see his lines).

Thus, so are the Kings - evolving, yet stationary.

With round one of the 2011 NHL Playoffs set to begin tomorrow night in San Jose, how are the Kings preparing for the match-up with the Sharks? After all, their six-game season series featured many 'different' games - a 4-0 shutout on the road, two overtime affairs, a blowout, etc.

Today's activities at their practice facility in El Segundo were set to begin with a video review. Murray said, "The clips will be pulled from all of the games we've played against them this year. Mind you, they'll be selective in what I'm going to show."

He went on to explain that he liked the "attitude" in the December 27th game (when the Kings won 4-0 in San Jose). However, the message couldn't be as simple as 'just do what you did in that game.'

So, overall, how does preparation change for the playoffs compared to the regular season?

"Not a lot of change. I'm a big believer that you stay consistent in your day-to-day routine," said Murray. "You come to the rink and here's what you're doing, we did it all year long - get on the ice and go through the same kinds of drills. You select your drills that are more appropriate to that team. But, the routine as an athlete is really important. There are a lot of guys who are superstitious. I know I was when I was a player and I like to be consistent on that part of it."

What about the memory of the last game in San Jose, a 6-1 win for the Sharks?

Dustin Brown Evaluates the Rookies, Crowns Kings ROY

Over the weekend we took a look at the four leading candidates who were vying to become the Kings' Rookie of the Year - Jonathan Bernier, Kyle Clifford, Trevor Lewis and Alec Martinez.

Each gave their thoughts on the other three candidates and then selected the player they felt was most deserving of the honor. Lewis and Clifford both received one vote and the other two claimed it was a three-way tie.

On the same subject, coach Terry Murray was very complimentary of Bernier, especially his play in the second half. Yet, ultimately, he went with Clifford as his pick.

Now, let's talk to the team captain, Dustin Brown. First he sizes up the play of all four rookies before choosing his winner...

How tough will the Kings line-up be vs. San Jose Sharks?

Kevin Westgarth, the Kings resident heavyweight this season, played in the final seven regular season games - where the Kings went 3-4.

One of those loses was to the Sharks on April 4th.

For the season, Westgarth suited up in four of the six games between the two teams and LA was 1-3 in those games. When he was a healthy scratch the Kings were 2-0 versus San Jose.

Now, the Kings performance in those games can't be simplified down to the fact that (more often than not) they won with him on the sidelines and lost with him in there.  After all, he had an 'even' plus-minus rating (going E, +1, E, -1).  And in the game they won he had 13 shifts, totalling 7:30 of ice time - his second highest of the season series.

However, his stats for the post-season is at least worthy of a question to coach Terry Murray, especially considering the there's a high probably of Justin Williams returning to the line-up.

So, after practice today I asked Murray if he has Westgarth penciled in to play the entire series...

"No, probably not," said Murray.  "He might play in the early part of the series and as you move into the deeper part of it, then you need to take a look at the line-up. And that is probably when minutes will diminish for that role."

For better or worse, by comparison, Ratias Ivanans played in just one of the Kings six post-season games versus Vancouver last season, getting 5:48 of ice time in the first game against the Canucks.

That came after he had played in 61 regular season games for the Kings last season, six more than Westgarth's 56 this year.

This will be just one of the many games-within-the games to be played out over the next two weeks.

NoCal, SoCal...and Westie.



The Mayor
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Murray - not much 'special' in playoff match-up w/ Sharks

When it comes to special teams in the upcoming series with San Jose, the Kings fourth-ranked penalty kill (85.5% success rate for the season) will be tested by the Sharks second-ranked power play (23.5% conversion rate for the season).

When you go the other way, both the Kings and Sharks units ranked in the bottom third of the league. LA scored 16.1% of the time they were on the power play (ranked 21st) and SJ shut teams down 79.6% of the time (ranked 24th).

How important will any of this be come playoff time on Thursday?

Here's what coach Terry Murray had to say after practice today...

"I think there will be a lot of five-on-five play. I don't think we're going to get into too many special team (situations), in my opinion. Just based on the way the season finished off in the last month or so, it was 'let the teams decide' the outcome."

He noted there were even a few games down the stretch where the Kings didn't really have any time on the power play and then added...

"I think that's the way it will go. Obviously, if a game gets out of hand, they'll watch things very closely and then there will be three or four or five power plays at the end just to keep everything under control - which is normal and the right thing."

More notes and quotes later this afternoon.

[update - to read Murray's thoughts on playing Kevin Westgarth click here]



The Mayor
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Kings v Sharks by the Numbers, Plus a Prediction

Every year it's the same thing, once April rolls around you start to wonder 'Where has the time gone?' It seems like just yesterday training camp was opening and roster questions were starting to sort themselves out.

Funny thing, with the Kings set to start their first round playoff series against the Sharks this Thursday, it looks like once again the LA roster is starting to take a different shape than just a week ago.

To the surprise of many, it appears right wing Justin Williams will be available to play in game one. And to the shock of just about everybody, left wing Scott Parse could follow soon thereafter.

What does all of this mean and how do the two teams match-up in other areas?

That's what we look at below - the teams head-to-head. It doesn't matter how many points the Sharks generated this year or how many shutouts one goalie had over the other. What happened in the 82-game regular season doesn't mean much at this point, with one exception. Well, actually, six exceptions - and those are the six times the two teams met.

Here's a high-level overview of the key in-game areas of play and a prediction for how this series will end...

Offense - No doubt the Kings will miss Anze Kopitar. However, as noted a few days ago, he didn't have one goal against the Sharks in five games this season. Dustin Brown led all players with four goals, while the Sharks had three players tie for their team-lead with three goals each (Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi) in the LA-SJ regular season series. San Jose scored 18 compared to the Kings 13 non-shootout goals. Yet, the season was split 3-3 and most notably, five of the six games were either tied or separated by just one goal after two periods. The Kings best game was a 4-0 shutout in San Jose at the end of December. The Sharks best game was a 6-1 drubbing just a few weeks ago. The three games played between those two were all one-goal games. All said, the offense tends to favor the Sharks.  Oh yeah, one more thing, Scott Parse had one goal this season in five games played. Who was that against? Yes, the Sharks. Just Saying.

LA Kings Prospect Report - 2011 Playoffs, Round 2 Updates

While the Kings get ready for their opening round showdown with the San Jose Sharks later this week, their junior prospects are already two games into the second round of the CHL playoffs.

Below is a brief overview of how each of LA's top prospects have fared so far, plus a look ahead to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL) post-season plans...

Western Hockey League (WHL)

Brayden Schenn - The team that was tops amongst all WHL clubs this season enters tonight down 0-2 to the Kootenay Ice, who will now host games three and four. Schenn produced ten points in six first round games, posting five goals and five assists. Kootenay's ability to limit him to just one point in the first two games of this series has been a major story line so far. Can the Ice possibly sweep the Saskatoon Blades right out of the playoffs? It sure would make for an interesting conversation about Schenn's immediate future.

Linden Vey - He leads all WHL players with nine goals and 18 points in the playoffs. Exactly what you'd expect from the 2010-11 WHL Scoring Champion.  Vey was also just named the WHL Player of the Week, rightfully so. His Medicine Hat Tigers crushed the Red Deer Rebels in the first two games of this series by scores of 9-1 and 5-0. Vey had a pair of goals in each game. The series moves back to Medicine Hat for games three (today) and four (tomorrow).

[update, Tuesday 4/12/11:  Vey has been announved as the CHL Player of the Week too, so not just the WHL - but, now all of Canadian junior hockey]

Ontario Hockey League (OHL)

RIP Tanner - Forever a King

You'll now enjoy the best seat in the house for every game. Godspeed.

If you aren't familiar with Tanner's story, read this article - For Love of the Game and Your Kids

Five Questions with Monarchs Goalie Martin Jones

Yesterday afternoon the Manchester Monarchs wrapped up their regular season schedule with a 3-2 loss to the Providence Bruins.

More significantly, Kings uber prospect, Tyler Toffoli, made his professional debut and scored the first goal for his team. He arrived with high expectations after being the top goal scorer in the OHL this season, netting 57 goals.

Jeff Zatkoff took the loss in goal.

On Friday night, the Monarchs beat the Adirondack Phantoms 4-1 behind the stellar play of goaltender Martin Jones.

As they begin their AHL Playoff run this year with a first round series versus the Binghamton Senators this Thursday, the coaching staff has a tough choice - Zatkoff or Jones?

In brief, the season began with Zatkoff as the starter. Jones outplayed him in the middle part of the season and ended up earning a spot in the AHL All-Star Game after going 14-3-0 in his first 20 games with a 1.75 goals-against-average and a .943 save percentage.

Then, Zatkoff came on strong in the second-half, earning the AHL Goaltender of the Month for March with a 5-3-1 record, a 1.55 goals-against-average, a .949 save percentage and two shutouts.

Obviously, having those two guys vying for the spot isn't a bad problem to deal with.

Prior to wrapping up the regular season I had a chance to catch up with Jones for a few light hearted questions...

MM: You debuted a new mask recently (pictures here).  People always want to know, what was the inspiration for the design?

MJ: I'm really not too picky. I used the same guy who painted my first one (this season). He did a great job with the first one, so I just said 'Make me a cool mask.'

MM: That's it, just 'Make me a cool mask?'

SJ Sharks vs LA Kings - Playoff Tidbits and Schedule

In the coming days MayorsManor will have a plethora of playoff coverage leading up to the first game - notes, interviews, analysis, etc.

To kick things off, here are five tidbits to keep in mind...

* Anze Kopitar - it's the name that will probably come up more often than any other until this series is over...and he's not even going to have one minute of ice time. Interesting point though, Kopitar didn't have a single goal versus the Sharks in five games played against them this season.

* Justin Williams - he wasn't expected back this early, but it looks like he'll be playing vs. the Sharks - which, of course, could be a huge boost for the Kings

* Goaltending - the Kings enter the playoffs this season with a completely different set up in net than what they had last year. Jonathan Quick is the number one goalie. But, but, but...if he struggles at all or if the team needs a different look, Jonathan Bernier is there to jump in. The players and coaching staff has plenty of confidence in him too, especially after he went 4-0-1 in March.