Pre-season or not, seeing hockey instead of talking about last season, next season and every/any crazy rumor just to talk puck sure gets old. I may be in the minority as to pre-season games since Staples Center only had 44% seats sold. Obviously, more seats than that were empty.
The First Period:
The Coyotes scored on the second shot on goal. To be fair, LaBarbera was squared to the shooter who made a dangerous cross the crease pass. He adjusted best as anyone might to a shot coming from the opposite side of the ice. Brown screened
LaBarbera’s view and Turris scored. From there, the night could have gone so many different ways – a repeat of last season thankfully was not what followed. In the first twenty, Richard Clune got in two fights personally. In Saturday’s scrimmage, he drove to the net so hard that he got a shot on goal and a belly flop on the ice for the effort. Ouch! Monday, he had a couple of scuffles early. Already, I like the swap of Tukonen for him this summer even if I never see the guy at this level again.
The Coyotes started the game earlier than the Kings. Advantage Desert Dogs. They followed that up with a beat down by Ivanans against Keefe and Los Angeles gets a four minute power play. The home team started playing. Advantage Kings. Calder starts crashing the net to the extent that the visitors literally piled on him – an interesting defense tactic. More advantage Kings.
Bottom line at this point is that Los Angeles got one shot on goal in the first minute and waited another five minutes to start playing. Once they did, they finished the period strong and left to applause on their way off the ice after the first. The players earned that appreciation by nearly doubling the shots of their opponents and tilting the ice in the Kings’ favor from the six minute mark on.
The Lines, Leaders and Defensive Pairs:
Here were the lines most of the night:
Brown Kopitar Parse
Lewis Boyle Moller
Murray Armstrong Calder
Ivanans Meckler Clune
There were some changes with specialty teams but overall the lines remained intact more than not. The defensive pairings juggled far more but the majority of the time had these pairs:
Johnson Greene
Gauthier Voinov
Hickey Harrold
While Murray ultimately waits to designate a team captain and two alternates, Monday, Kopitar, Brown and Greene wore letters on their shoulders.
The Second Period:
The Kings inconsistency resurfaced its ugly head in the second period. Sure, Boyle scored early in the second. Moller took a double minor for high sticking and the first PK unit cleared the zone twice. So far so good,
almost. What stood out to me was when Kopitar and Brown took over in the second minute of that long kill and had the Coyotes chasing them literally for a full forty-five seconds. Really. That was a thing of beauty precisely until they went for some much deserved rest. Calder and Meckler replaced them and the Desert Dogs scored immediately after
that change.
The Coyotes scored twice in a New York minute literally. Armstrong regained the lead, so all is right with the world, but no… LaBarbera’s next goal allowed would best be described as Cloutier-esque on a shot from Yandle before said Coyote even entered the Kings’ defensive zone. That latter miscue by the trimmed down LaBarbera received some well-deserved screams from those present and rightfully so. Overall, the Kings managed approximately three minutes of possession time in the second and went from 15 shots in the first to six in the second. Ugly all around.
The Third Period:
In the third, the home team decided to play more like the first 20 and thank heavens for that. In fairness, the goalie change from LaBarbera to Taylor had as much to do with the eventual win as the better and more consistent play of the skaters. Ranford’s off-season program where the seven goalies spent time working on rebounds, controlling them with sticks, to their bodies, however but stopping them, proved to be what became the difference between winning and losing. Taylor stood tall and made game saving stops. A late four minute power play resulted in the game winning goal and a three point night for Moller. On Saturday, he spoke of wanting to go to Staples Center and score a goal on
any NHL goaltender. If the pre-season and Al Montoya count, then Monday was Moller’s dream becoming a reality.
On a humbling note, Moller showed more in the first, far less than that in the second after his ill-fated double minor and played far less than that in the third before redeeming himself with the game winning goal. On the statistics sheet, he had a three point night and was named the #1 Star. Overall, his defensive shortcomings were as apparent as his offensive and strong play with the man advantage. In other words, I maintain he is still not ready for prime time.
Sub-Texts:
Besides Moller’s high and low points, a discussion on LaBarbera and Armstrong seem in order. I want to blame LaBarbera’s off night on the fact he has not played since his second half injury. That seems off and I will further explain. Last pre-season, this same player who had no excuses
then and brought the Monarchs to the Final Four lost a starting job he was expected to earn to Bernier. When the proverbial
bad environment took over and Bernier returned to Lewiston, LaBarbera got the spot by default and then showed he could keep it. Here is the thing though; he kept it against Cloutier and Aubin – hardly NHL talent then and now.
This season LaBarbera has no such luxury. There are a stable of capable goalies whose plan is to take his job. Absent multiple injuries to more than one goalie in the organization, he will be a back-up or worse. In other words, he needs to find his game and his saves pronto or hello everyone else and rightfully so.
As to Armstrong, I happily acknowledge my bias in his favor. His effort, his passion, his singular ability to fit with the veterans and the kids pays dividends beyond what shows up on the score sheet. He spent forever trying to find the net last season the
first time . Seeing him score two, even if it was a pre-season game or not tells me he won’t have to press and can just play his game. For those who fit in the category of let him play anywhere but here, well, knowing he got power play time may burn. That being said, once the Kings are only playing in one city a night, should keep him on the bench in the future on the man advantage. Or if the rumor mongers prove correct for a change, he will be a Duck. Ewww.
Carla Muller Carla.hockeygal@att.net 
Carla Muller
A Night of Firsts and Sub-Texts 
