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Welcoming Dustin Penner

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Anze Kopitar: Hey look, a new linemate!

Wayne Simmonds: Yeah... guess we better have sex with each other.

-Probably the thing I'm most excited about with Dustin Penner now in the fold is the effect it's going to have on our power play. As you know, the Kings often bat the puck back and forth at the blue line, from Kopitar to Doughty to Johnson/Stoll. They have tried to get Michal Handzus involved down in the lower corner, leading to this goal against the Red Wings.

I think Penner is going to take that Handzus role, a role he'll be able to play far better than Zeus can. It allows Handzus to set up shop in front of the net on the 2nd unit, where he's best. I look for Penner to handle the puck down low and run the power play through the half-wall rather than up top along the blue line. That movement (or at least the threat of that movement) should improve the power play.