Kings Conquer Murray's Blues with Roster updates and Trade musings

[CarlaMuller]

On the one night I finally ran out of gas and stayed home, is the one night the Kings found theirs .... in the second period and finally won this season against the Blues in a 5-1 stand-out performance that is significant for a few reasons:

1. The only player who showed up in the first period was Cloutier (Yeah, that guy!!) who rightly earned the Third Star of the Night and nearly had a shut-out no less;
2. Armstrong re-injured his knee on one of his two shifts and as a result O'Sullivan was moved to center the second line of Frolov and Cammalleri. That only resulted in a five point game for O'Sullivan, the third career hat trick for Frolov and a jump start to Cammalleri's return from a rib injury;
3. The Blues owned the Kings in the circle and lost anyway;
4. Thornton took over O'Sullivan's spot on the first line and was one of only five shots taken in the first period and fought in the third;
5. The Blues owned the Kings period this year and had won every game before Thursday.
6. #1 LaBarbera is now out with a groin strain that he had been playing with for 2-3 weeks but had to sit out because he was in too much pain to complete his butterfly style of netminding;
7. Frolov's hat trick was even more remarkable because he is still playing with his own groin issues and it appears he will need surgery in the off-season to fully repair it.

Roster Moves:

Erik Ersberg who spent the first part of the season in tandem with Cloutier (before the latter's hip IR stint) is up with the Kings instead of Aubin. An interesting stat of the first part of the season is that Ersberg and Cloutier had similar GAA and save % but Ersberg won more. That has to mean something. Nonetheless, I hate to admit this but I would rather see Cloutier than Aubin.

LaBarbera is out for this weekend's Blackhawks' game where Cloutier is expected to start. No word yet on how long Armstrong is out but it is not believed to be a serious injury right now.

The Red Wings tried to send Matt Ellis down to the AHL. The Kings thwarted that move by picking him up off of waivers. Ellis is considered an energy forward who is signed through next season. He couldn't get to Los Angeles in time for Thursday's game but expect to see him dress for Saturday's matinee.

Lauri Tukonen's invisible game from Monday earned him a ticket back to Manchester. This may or may not seem fair since the entire team played invisible against Phoenix. Considering his Monarchs' stats were less than stellar by a lot, this seems like the right call all around.

Trade Winds:

As one of the projected busiest teams between now and Tuesday, I have to believe that has something to do with the no-show first period. Crawford was quoted earlier this week saying how the coaches and players are all professionals so this doesn't really have an effect. Huh? I just don't buy it.

Here are my questions of the day:

1. If there is a market for the UFAs of Wilsie, Thornton, Stuart and Nagy, any guesses on teams and returns?
2. Thoughts on Blake and his flip flopping about his no trade clause. He needs to get real on that one. Be a team guy and agree to go anywhere if you really want to retire and be a part of this organization. Seriously. He materially handicaps Lombardi if he is really only willing to go to the Ducks or Sharks. Anyone going to join me in disrespecting him more if he goes to the Ducks and expects to be warmly embraced next year?
3. Stuart - If he was offered an extension, do you want him to stay or go? If he goes now, any takers on him returning? (My vote is no if he goes, he is hardly the equivalent of Tkachuk or Weight who had real roots and significant time in St. Louis.)

Hockey Buzz Season Ticket Holders:

There will be live stream show of the trade deadline on Tuesday. As the Kings are expected to be busy, I will be participating so I hope others will join me!

Carla Muller

carla.hockeygal@att.net