LA Kings lose to Detroit Red Wings 4-1/Preview and photos for the 2007 season (10/07)
The Detroit Red Wings came to the Staples Center October 14, 2007 and defeated the LA Kings 4-1. We were hoping to give a good early season prognosis for the local team but the Kings looked sloppy. They haven’t won since the opening game of the season vs. the Ducks where they played in London, England. They will have their work cut out for them this year with 19 year old Jonathan Bernier starting as the goalie. He looked a little shaky vs. the Western Conference finalists of last year. Detroit’s first goal was scored by assistant captain and star player Pavel Datsyuk as it trickled through Berneir’s legs. The Red Wings made it 2-0 on a short handed goal by grinder Kris Draper as he took the puck away from defenseman Brad Stuart. The Kings closed the gap on leading scorer Mike Cammalleri’s 6th goal of the season on a 5 on 3 Power Play. The assistant captain Cammalleri, pictured below was one of the few bright spots of this evening. The Kings nearly tied the game on the ensuing Power Play but a shot went off the goal post.
Rookie defenseman, Jack Johnson looked pretty good and will be counted on heavily for years to come. There are high expectations of Johnson, pictured below. He has plenty of talent and will get great tutoring from captain, Rob Blake. The Kings need 2nd year Center Anze Kopitar to help carry the load. He had a fantastic rookie season last year and scored his first 2 goals of this season vs. the Bruins in their last game. Alexander Frolov had a break out season last year but has yet to score a goal this year. They are looking for a lot of scoring from him as well as from Dustin Brown. Hopefully head coach Marc Crawford will turn things around before the Kings dig themselves too deep in a hole. The key players mentioned above need to start scoring more while the rest of the team and role players need to step it up. Defenseman and assistant captain, Lubomir Visnovsky will be a key member especially on the point during the Power Play. A third assistant captain for the Kings is rugged forward Scott Thornton who has yet to score this season. Jason LaBarbera will share the goal tending duties while Blake anchors the defense.
The Red Wings pretty much controlled the game as backup goalie Chris Osgood was a wall and assistant captain and forward Henrik Zetterberg was dominating on offense. Zetterberg had three points total and put the game away in the 3rd period with an assist on Tomas Holmstrom’s goal and his own netting his 4th goal of the season. He is pictured below with 45 year-old Chris Chelios who also played a strong game and just keeps going. Osgood was in net so #1 goalie could get ready for the Ducks game the next night. The Red Wings next travel to Anaheim for a rematch with the Ducks tomorrow night while the Kings host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. The Wild just beat the Ducks 2-0 tonight and are unbeaten this season with a 4-0 record.
The Kings showed off a very cool movie type highlight show in between periods. They projected a high image video on the rink creating a huge screen on the ice.
For more information, schedules and tickets please go to www.lakings.com