Random Thoughts on the Kings- 10/15/08

A few things I like about Terry Murray:

-He puts Frolov, Brown and Kopitar on the penalty kill when they haven't played in a while and paired them for a shift when Frolov got out of the box

-He's trusting his young guys and giving them playing time in important situations: Doughty is playing 20 minutes a game, Moller is getting regular time on the power play, and Simmonds is getting regular minutes with Alex Frolov

-He seems to have instilled a team commitment to defense that is actually working and players are actually sticking up for one another

A few random thoughts about last night's game:

-Patrick O'Sullivan was again excellent. Since the Kings only have 2 games in the next 9 days, I imagine the Kings will work O'Sullivan in with one of the top 2 lines.

-Dustin Brown has been asserting himself a lot more carrying the puck, but I don't think Kopitar is comfortable moving without the puck. And Brown pasted Sammy Pahlsson in one of the best hits you're going to see.

-Tom Preissing and Michal Handzus are still overpaid but actually look pretty good out there.

-Jarret Stoll has a shot.

-Jason Labarbera is playing pretty well. Sure, he still gives up a few bad rebounds and he's not a great scrambler, but he's stands big in the net and gives his defensemen confidence.

-What the hell has gotten into Derek Armstrong? He's really mad all the time. I hope everything's okay at home.

-The Ducks looked terrible.