Anze Kopitar

Power(less) Play

January 26, 2013

In Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals last year New Jersey's Steve Bernier was called for a five minute major and given a game misconduct when he boarded Rob Scuderi. Despite a dismal track record on extra man opportunities, the Kings blew the game open when Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, and Trevor Lewis all found the back of the net. The lead was too significant and the Kings won the Stanley Cup after finishing off the Devils, 6-1. Penalties can change the course of a game as quickly as they occur.

In a short but young season where the drama is back on the ice instead of conference rooms the Kings have a problem. After three games (0-2-1) the Kings inability to capitalize on ...

Kings Drop Second in a Row With 3-1 Loss

January 23, 2013

Ty Fisher

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Different game, same result. A contest Tuesday night in Colorado did little to propel the Los Angeles Kings into the win column, and with the 3-1 loss the defending champions' record stands at a middling 0-2.

Kyle Clifford picked up his first goal of the season in the waning moments of the first period. A juicy rebound plopped right on his stick and ultimately into the back of the net after a Jordan Nolan slap shot. For Sergei Varlamov, it was the most out-of-place he would be all night, who ferociously buckled down the rest of the way despite his team being in the hole most of the evening.

Jonathan Quick stopped twenty-eight shots, ninet...

Blackhawks at Kings: Does the Reign End Here?

January 18, 2013

Madeleine Stroth

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The Staples Center will be packed tomorrow with fans eagerly awaiting the return of their Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings. Celebrations are scheduled to begin long before the start of the banner raising ceremony at 3pm ET (2pm CT), officially sealing off the Kings’ 2011-2012 victory year, and announcing the hunt for a new champion.

For Chicago Blackhawks, the spectacle will be all too familiar, it being only two years...

NHL Lockout: Kopitar Scores, Dominates in Swedish Debut

September 27, 2012

Dillon Friday

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After witnessing Anze Kopitar's triumphant return to Swedish hockey on Tuesday, friend of TCL Petter Filipsson had this to say via twitter:

@noclassfriday @r_johnson21 Never witnessed anything near this in any sport. Kopitar alone humiliated my home team. 1+3 twitter.com/PetterFilipsso…

— Petter Filipsson (@PetterFilipsson) September 25, 2012

Well it appears that the recent Stanley Cup winner has adjusted to life in the SE-2 quite well. In his first game in Sweden’s second league (the top league has barred locked out NHL players from signing there although it appears that ban will be lifted soon), the Kings’ Slovenian...

Claude Giroux Wins NHL 13 Cover Vote

June 20, 2012

Kim Pollock

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After tallying up the 25 million votes submitted, the results are finally in: Claude Giroux will be on the cover of EA Sports’ NHL 13. The results were announced live at the 2012 NHL Awards in Las Vegas on Tuesday night.

Giroux beat out Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne in the final round of voting, and follows in the footsteps of recent cover models Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane.

The tournament began with 50 cover vote candidates, and was eventually whittled down to 16 nominees, set up in a bracket format. Giroux surpassed such big names as Stamkos, Evgeni Malkin, and Anze Kopitar on his way to the final round.

Devils Stave Off Elimination, Defeat Kings 3-1

June 7, 2012

Ty Fisher

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Hey, it's a series! And hits like this will continue. (Photo courtesy of Christian Peterson/Getty Images)

Despite the sheer dominance the Los Angeles Kings have shown over the previous three contests, one sort of expecting these road-weary Devils to show some fight at some point. Tonight they did. The teams combined for four goals, all of which were scored in the third period. The final tally was recorded by rookie Adam Henrique, who only has two series-clinching goals on his short resume prior to tonight’s game. His short-side snipe with less than five minutes to go sealed the victory and saved his team from a...

Lights, Camera, Action!

June 6, 2012

Shane Brennan

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For the first time in their 45 year history the Los Angeles Kings will be playing a game to win the Stanley Cup. The Kings other trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993 amounted to only one win and a series loss against the Montreal Canadiens, 19 years later L.A. only needs one more game.

The Kings postseason campaign has been taken right out of a Hollywood script. Substantial underdogs, the Kings ran through the top three seeds in the western conference suffering only two losses. Two overtime victories and a blowout later in the finals and the Kings are a step away from becoming NHL royalty.

Most fitting, the potential clinching game will be in Los Angeles. Kin...

Kings One Win Away After Trouncing Devils 4-0

June 5, 2012

Ty Fisher

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Yes, lightsabers. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

One more win. Drop those three words around any long-suffering Los Angeles Kings fan and you’re bound to see grown men reduced to tears. There’s also endless elation from fans of all ages as they shout, hoot, and holler until the sun rises the next morning. It promises to be a glorious moment when it happens, and it could be Wednesday. One more win.

That’s where the Kings sit this morning roughly nine hours after shutting out New Jersey by a score of 4-0 to take a three games to none series lead. Alec Martinez, Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter...

Stanley Cup Preview: Game 2

June 2, 2012

Ty Fisher

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"Gross." - Every Flyers/Rangers/Kings fan. "Cool!" - I guess everyone else. (Photo courtesy of Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Wednesday night’s Game 1 didn’t fall too far from the format of a typical series opener. The game play became rather ugly at times, due largely to both teams’ inexperience with one another and the acknowledgement that one small mistake could cost you the game. The scoring chances were minimal, save for, of course, the three combined goals and Mark Fayne’s swing-and-a-miss (or a swing-and-a-wide, however you want to look at it) at a wide open net late in the t...

Western Conference Final Predictions: Phoenix Coyotes vs. Los Angeles Kings

May 14, 2012

TCL Staff

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2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs - Western Conference FinalPhoenix Coyotes ( 3 ) vs. Los Angeles Kings ( 8 ) The Los Angeles Kings are eliminating teams in numerical order in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs. First, it was the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks. Then the little team that could in the St. Louis Blues, the second-best team in the West. Now, LA looks to the final division winner, the Phoenix Coyotes, on their potential route to an unlikely appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. If they make it, it'll be their first such appearance since 1993 when they lost to the Montreal Canadiens, and they've alread...