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head coach: Larry Robinson roster: C - Jason Morgan, Ray Ferraro, Ian Laperriere, Yanic Perreault, Jozef Stumpel, Nathan Lafayette, Roman Vopat. LW - Craig Johnson, Matt Johnson, Luc Robitaille, Vladimir Tsyplakov, Steve McKenna, Dan Bylsma. RW - Sandy Moger, Glenn Murray, Russ Courtnall. D - Aki Berg, Rob Blake, Phillipe Boucher, Garry Galley, Mattias Norstrom, Sean O'Donnell, Doug Zmolek, Jan Vopat. G - Jamie Storr, Stephane Fiset. injuries: Luc Robitaille, lw (groin/abdominal surgery, end of regular season); Frederic Chabot, g (tweaked knee, 2-4 weeks); Nathan Lafayette, c (concussion, whenever). transactions: Sent Vitali Yachmenev, rw, back down to Long Beach (IHL). Brought Jan Vopat, d, and Roman Vopat, c, up from the minors. standings: Western Conference - Pacific Division Team GP W L T PTS GF GA x-Colorado 77 37 24 16 90 217 192 Los Angeles 75 34 30 11 79 210 204 San Jose 76 31 37 8 70 190 205 Edmonton 76 30 36 10 70 192 208 Calgary 75 25 36 14 64 200 222 Vancouver 76 24 39 13 61 212 258 Anaheim 76 24 40 12 60 187 241 x - Clinched playoff spot game results: 3/24 at San Jose W 4-3 3/26 San Jose L 5-2 3/28 at Calgary L 5-2 3/30 at Toronto W 3-2 4/01 at Buffalo L 4-0 4/02 at Philadelphia L 3-0 4/04 at Washington L 3-2 4/06 at Colorado W 3-1 team news: by Matt Moore, Los Angeles Correspondent I don't know any other way to put it, but the Kings got into a rut where they played like total and complete crap. How else can you describe a team that got shutout on two consecutive games, with the one to the Sabres being somewhat understandable since they do have Dominik Hasek, who does that to a lot of teams. But the shutout by the Flyers? Jeez, the Flyers shouldn't (and usually don't) shut out anyone. So it was a lousy two weeks for the Kings. Entering it they were in position to make a run at the Blues and the fourth spot in the West. Now they have to put the brakes on a skid that has pretty much assured that they will finish in the fifth spot. Thank God the other teams behind them have sucked it up so much worse or else I would be worried that the Kings would fall even lower in the West. The main problem of the Kings right now is that only one line and one defenseman are consistently showing up every night. The line of Stumpel, Tsyplakov and Murray have continued to shine, although not as brightly recently. With the disappearance of the other players from the scoring picture this line has struggled, with them being lucky to knock in a goal a game. Rob Blake though, has continued on his great play. He leads the league's defensemen with 22 goals, and is still dominating people in the defensive zone. If he doesn't win the Norris it will be a crime... The Kings surprised everybody by not pulling any trades at the deadline. They were expected to go after another scoring winger and a playmaking defenseman for the power play. Of course who the hell isn't looking for that? Every team needs more scoring and more talent on defense, and very few teams have that to trade. And the ones who have that are teams like Colorado or Detroit, who are not going to trade away anything good. So the Kings weren't too surprising in not doing anything, since they are dark horses for the Cup this year anyway. Why take a chance and ruin the future of the team by making a trade now? One person in particular who has been sucking it up has been Yanic Perreault. Sure, he has 25 goals. Sure, he's fifth in team scoring. But where has he been since those two weeks where he scored almost all his goals? And he isn't a player who can make up for his offensive shortfalls by playing great defense. Look for the Kings to try and shop him around in the off season, since he sure isn't going to lead them to the Stanley Cup. Bet update: I bet Michael Dell and Zippy that the Kings would beat the Pens in points at the end of the season. Dammit, it looks like I'm screwed. I am only going to be saved by the fact that the Kings will finish ahead of the Sharks. Losing to Dell is a lot like being kicked in the sunshine. But I'll be a man. I'm already buying the rice and potatoes for Delly to pay him off with. And I hope Zip like Pez. It'll be PEZ PEZ PEZ for him...but here are the standings anyway:
Team W L T PTS Pens 37 22 17 91 Kings 35 30 11 81 Sharks 31 37 8 70 So, to sum it all up: Dammit, I'm going to lose. But I think the Kings might have convinced Dell that they don't suck as badly as he thought they did.
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