Aubservations From Austria

They were showing the game online at NHL.tv, so I ignored work for a while and watched the game. The Kings won, 4-3.

-Jack Johnson is a very good stick handler for a guy his size.

-You can't blame the goaltender for any of the goals the Kings let in. (I'm actually not sure who allowed what; Bernier started but was removed some time before the middle of the 2nd.) The first goal was Blake's fault; he jumped up during a change, lost the puck, and hung Lubo out to dry on a 3-on-1. The next two were both tip-ins on the power play.

-Patrick O'Sullivan looked pretty good. He was out there on the penalty kill and really got after the puck. He scored with a rocket from the circle.

-Brady Murray looks like he's skating underwater; he's pumping his arms and legs really fast but isn't actually moving that much.

-Lubo looks amazing on a large ice surface. Can he and Scott Niedermayer play together once? He scored on a power play that was almost ruined by Brian Willsie running into the goalie. I despise that dude.

-Cammy had a ridiculous goal where he went around two guys and then flipped over the goalie's far pad while he was almost past the net.

-Anze outdid him, though, scoring with 46 seconds left in the game. He had a partial breakaway, took a shot, got hauled down, then flipped a backhand over the goalie while he was on the ground. Is it possible for me to have his children? (Side note: he won MVP for the Kings and was given a jersey. The goalie for the other team won a PSP. Apparently tournament organizers thought the particpants were twelve.)

Overall, it was a pretty good game. I hadn't seen the Kings play yet this season, so I was happy. They outshot the other team 47-32, but penalties did them in. I hope that's just because of the larger ice surface (it's way easier to bring the puck in on the power play) and the fact that the refs called everything. The Kings still needed some work and they lacked any real secondary scoring without Handzus and Frolov out there. (I think Nagy was taken out of the game at some point, but I don't know why.) And now, London.