A Little Dose of Defense

 The boys are looking good...much of the time anyway.  As a fan, it is really nice to see consistent offense, and guys scoring.  In addition, they aren't having to take horrible chances to do so.  Sadly, our downfall still seems to be team defensive breakdowns.

Kempe has really come to life lately.  Five goals in two games never sucks.  It's too bad no one saw it coming, though, on second thought, there might have been a few people that discussed his improved level of play.  Is it still too late to call him Deaner, or Youngblood?  

Killer comebacks are nice, but let's compare the last two games against the Ducks.  In the first game, had they never been down by three, they would have won the game going away, much like they did in the second game.  Sure it was great to come from behind, and get a point in the first game, but they have to get better; have to have fewer terrible breakdowns that are leaving our goaltenders hanging out to dry.

I'm pretty sure that much of the blame is team related.  The Kings defenders still need to improve in their decision making in their own end with the puck, as well as developing a bit more dominance in dispossessing the opponents.  The biggest breakdowns though, are the two on ones, or turnover passes that lead to golden scoring chances for other teams.  If there is any hope to make the playoffs and not merely get blitzed once there, then the team has to tighten up on D (Am I a broken record?)

The trade deadline could be interesting.  A high level, dominant defensemen could really change things for this team.  We shall see.  It might be more prudent to wait, but it would be sad to see such a good year by Kopi and Brown go to waste.  We don't know how many more they have in them.  Although, it does look like they could have a few more.

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