Kings 2, Stars 3 (SO)

I've been marinating this shootout loss for an entire day trying to decide if the Kings really did play alright or if my expectations are really high. Throughout the game Jim Fox kept mentioning that the Kings were playing much better and I just couldn't figure out what he was smoking. I thought the Kings played like crap!

The first two periods were God awful from both teams. The game was boring and messy and given that it was scoreless for almost two and a half periods, it seemed like both teams were just waiting for the other to score. The Kings continued to have problems establishing offensive pressure and, once again, the power play was embarrassing.

Whatever happened to those days when the Kings put up double digit shots in the first period and limited the opposition to under 25 shots through three periods? During those days the Kings did a lot of things right. They cleared the zone, made tape-to-tape passes, stonewalled teams on the penalty kill, and converted on power plays. Not so much anymore.

The first Kings goal was the perfect example of everything they need to do to be successful, but rarely ever accomplish. The play started down low with Doughty, who passed it out of the zone to Calder, who skated over the blueline and crisply connected to Brown who finished it off with a sweet shot past Turco. Tic-Tac-F'ing-Toe. It was a very simple play, executed perfectly.

The Stars woke up after the Kings got ahead and my prayers to escape the game with 2 points were stomped on when the Kings found themselves down by a goal. I gotta hand it to the Kings who persevered and tied the game with 16 seconds left. I thought the Kings had a chance to win it in shootout, but, "Damn, Ribeiro!!" I hate it when the Kings play against that sneaky little pisser. I'm partially satisfied seeing the Kings take one point, but I still don't think they played very well yesterday. The offense is just not there anymore and I find it hard to believe that the Kings can win enough games to stay in the playoff race by only scoring a couple goals. They can't continue giving shitacular performances and expect to win.

Last season the Kings had a meltdown in December and this season the Kings are on a verge of melting down one month later. If they don't win at least one of the next two games (both on the road), this season is D.O.N.E.