Kings Gameday: Toronto is killing Jonathan Bernier

It's time for the annual Jonathan Bernier report. We haven't seen Bernier in a while, and unfortunately for him nothing has changed too terribly much. Nothing for the better at least. A timeline:

• 2012: Wins a Cup in L.A.
• 2013: Asks to be a starter
• 2013: Gets traded to Toronto
• 2014: Really hopes that L.A. will reconsider taking him back
• 2014: Battles for starting time. Again.
• 2015 (likely): Compliments the Dalai Lama on his NHL career.

Yes, it's been a rather rough time for Jon. He has been scored on a lot, his team doesn't win a whole ton, and the guy he has to protect his job from looks like Jake Muzzin if he shaved off his eyebrows and glued them to his neck. To top it off, his former team won another Cup, and their new backup goalie is a pipe-cleaner who likes birds. Plus, Bernier got publicly humiliated by not knowing who the hell Nelson Mandela was, when everyone knows he was the guy who died in the same car crash with Paul Walker last year.

Though, let's be real, a hockey team with Nelson Mandela on it would be pretty great.

The Kings allowed six goals last game, a good amount of which weren't exactly Martin Jones' fault. It's been a bad trend they've carried over since the start of the 2014 playoffs. I think a large part of it is the team trying to play a wide open, faster paced style of game. And, regardless of what you think of him, not having Slava Voynov on defense is a major blow. I'm not too worried about the goals against, but the goals for has continued to be a problem after a short reprieve in Ottawa. Sutter is shaking up the lines again, though I'd prefer this look:

Brown-Kopitar-Toffoli

Pearson-Richards-Williams

Gaborik-Stoll-Carter

Clifford/King-Lewis-Nolan

Yeah, I want in Nolan in the lineup. So what? Meanwhile, Nick Shore and Nic Dowd continue to tear up the AHL in Manchester, so maybe one (or both of them) make someone else on the Kings expendable, and the Kings are able to snag another defenseman and stop playing Regehr. Or they can at least bring in another young, raw, and (most importantly) cheap prospect to plug in next season like they did with Brayden McNabb. I would not be surprised if one of the fourth liners got moved at this rate.

Prediction: I get a lot of angry messages about that picture. Kings lose 4-1. Goal by Carter.