Newly acquired Jeff Halpern and Fredrik Modin were both in the lineup for the first time as Kings on Thursday night, when the Kings faced off against the Predators in Nashville, TN.
Unfortunately, it seemed that only the Predators were informed that an actual hockey game was to be played that night.
Jonathon Quick uncharacteristically misplayed the puck multiple times, two of which directly resulted in goals.
Perhaps these miscues caused the rest of the Kings to play erratically and carelessly throughout the game.
Sometimes, the way a goalie is playing really dictates the play of the skaters, either contagiousl, or perhaps if they are concerned about the state of mind the goaltender is in.
Whatever it was, the entire group of Los Angeles Kings did not look like a playoff team Thursday night in Nashville.
Halpern and Modin were thrown together on the fourth line with Scott Parse and though that line did not play badly, they certainly were not on the same page.
This is not to say that the loss and the poor play is to be blamed on the newcomers. In fact, it was quite the quite the contrary.
Many might say that Jonathon Quick should own up to this one and take the blame for the lost, since he did make two critical errors.
But that's not the way it works with the goaltender and a team.
Quick has been a consistent backstop all season, putting the Kings in position to win night after night and has even stole some games that the Kings did not perform particularly well in.
Because of that, if Quick is having an off night, it's up to the players in front of him to step it up and make some plays to keep them on top. Actually his play in net wasn't bad at all, it was simply a couple of errors while trying to play the puck.
But, nobody stepped up.
It was as though the Kings were waiting around for Halpern ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Kings
