We hope — fingers crossed here — that we have resolved the blog server issues and that traffic will be OK tonight. For those who have the site bookmarked, please make sure it’s set to http://www.lakingsinsider.com, as that is where the blog is now hosted. It has had a different host for the past few days, so right now it’s like “Lost,” with parallel lives. Anyway, please make sure you’re set to the main page, and thanks again for the patience…

(Basically, if you’re reading this note, you need to change over…)

Here’s how the Kings are skating this morning…

Smyth-Kopitar-Simmonds
Frolov-Richardson-Brown
Modin-Handzus-Williams
Clune-Stoll-Halpern

Scuderi-Doughty
Johnson-Jones
O’Donnell-Greene

Quick

Much more to come after the skate…

If Terry Murray and the Kings never hear the word “twins” again after this series, they will probably be happy. Chances are, they will even be boycotting the awesome 1988 movie “Twins,” featuring the governor and Danny DeVito. Murray gets daily questions about how to deal with Vancouver’s Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and yesterday Murray deadpanned an answer about how we try to control the twins in Game 5. “We’re going to try to get Handzus out there against them and Scuderi and Doughty,” The coach paused, then said, “No, that’s the same thing we’ve been doing.” Murray and the media laughed, but then Murray did share his thoughts…

MURRAY: “We’re going to stay with it. I liked what we did. We competed hard. We had our scoring chances against that line. I know, on the road, there’s going to be two lines ready to go. The Kopitar line is a line that I have a lot of confidence in, on the checking part of the game against them. Same thing on the back end. They’re going to be looking to match up, probably against defensemen than against the lines, so we’re going to have to be responsible and do a good job. We have to recognize that whenever the Sedins are out there, it’s a defensive situation, and stay above it.”

Drew Doughty has been selected as a finalist for the Norris Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL’s best defenseman. Chicago’s Duncan Keith and Washington’s Mike Green are the other two finalists. The winner will be announced at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas on June 23.

It’s interesting to note that none of the finalists are older than 26 and that the winner will be a first-time winner. Voting has already taken place, so we’ll just have to wait and see who takes the prize. I’ll definitely get some reaction from Doughty after today’s morning skate.

Staples Center has confirmed that Game 6 will start at 6 p.m. Sunday.

It has often been said that Terry Murray is perhaps the most even-keel coach in the NHL. Perhaps that’s what the Kings need right now? They came off a tough loss and squandered a chance to take a big lead in this series, and now they have to go into one of the toughest environments in the NHL and avoid falling into a 3-2 series hole. Murray talked about maintaining that even-keel attitude, and whether it’s more difficult to accomplish after a loss than it is after a win…

MURRAY: “Yeah, it is, especially with a young group of guys. You could really sense it, when I walked into the locker room last night, that it was a very difficult one to deal with. But, as a team, you’ve got to go through it together. Veteran players need to step up here and say a few things. The leadership group is a part of this thing. They’ve all been through a lot of these battles before, and it’s an important time for them to be a part of it.”

After Game 4, Kings goalie Jonathan Quick was true to his nature. It’s to Quick’s credit that, when things go well, he gives credit to his teammates and, when things go bad, he takes responsibility on his own shoulders. Quick’s self-analysis after Game 4 included the observation that goalies need to make big saves in the playoffs and “I wasn’t able to do that for the team.” Quick, under heavy pressure at times, stopped 31 of 36 shots. Today, Terry Murray was asked whether he felt it necessary to keep his goalie from beating himself up too much, emotionally…

MURRAY: “In my opinion, it’s always good to take on responsibility. It’s good to feel bad, as a player, and sense that you could have made a difference in the game, whether you’re a goaltender or a forward or a defenseman. There are critical plays, where something happens and it’s a turnover, and you made the mistake — and I’ve been through that as a player — you’ve got to feel bad. The test is to be able to rebound from that, and know that your teammates are not looking at you and saying, `OK, you’re the reason why.’ Your teammates are right behind you, everybody is in the same foxhole together and we’ve got to battle hard again in Game 5.”

Continue reading ‘Taking the blame’ »

If the Kings want to figure out what NOT to do in this situation, they can go ask the Vancouver Canucks. In the second round last year, the Canucks led the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 in the series and held a 1-0 lead late in the third period of Game 4. The Blackhawks scored in overtime to even the series and then beat the Canucks in the next two games to win the series. The emotional impact of losing a Game 4, especially at home, to fall back even in a series can be big, and today, Ryan Smyth, Anze Kopitar and Terry Murray discussed what the Kings need to do…

SMYTH: “It’s a great question. This is what playoffs are all about. You ride a big wave. At times, you go through your ups and downs, but you can’t ride them too high or too low. We’ve got a great team here. We’ve got older guys who can settle things down, and we’ve got young guys that have energy and that want to learn and want to create things at another level. I think we’ll handle it well.”

Continue reading ‘What not to do’ »

In the context of the strong third period by the Sedins last night, it seemed as though the Kings, at times, got caught up in a track-meet style of game, trading scoring chances with the Canucks instead of focusing on their usual patience and forechecking. As a result, they gave the Canucks 17 shots on goal in the third period after holding them to a combined 20 in the first two periods. Did the Kings get taken out of their comfort zone? Ryan Smyth answered…

SMYTH: “Yeah, it could have gone that way a little bit. We just got away from our game plan. If we play effective, holding on with puck possession, playing low, shooting from every angle, we’re going to get a lot of chances that way, and we have in this series. We just got away from that a little bit.”

Justin Williams has been a healthy scratch from the previous two games, and this morning, Terry Murray was asked whether he had any thoughts about getting Williams back into the lineup for Game 5. Murray grinned and said, “Oh, I’ve got lots of thoughts.” Murray was then asked whether he had any PLANS for Williams to get back in the lineup…

MURRAY: “Well, I haven’t got those laid down yet. I’ve got a lot of different line combinations, with Willy included, trying to look at different situations where I can get him in. I’ll continue to do that today.”

Continue reading ‘Back to Williams?’ »