Kings open the preseason with a 5 to 4 win over the Sucks.
Some notes on the game from Rich Hammond of the Daily News:
-- Blake will be the captain of the 2007-08 Kings. That won't be made official until the end of camp, but it's unofficially official, if you get my drift. I was just confused as to why he was wearing an ``A'' tonight. Even after I got the explanation, I'm still not sure why he was wearing an ``A.'' But I'll let it go... No word on alternate captains yet.
-- Zeiler is fine, after he got rocked in the first period by Matt Beleskey. Zeiler said it was the hardest he had been hit in three or four years and he felt fortunate not to end up with a concussion. He had a slight cut on the inside of his lip but didn't have a headache after the game. ``I'm usually the one giving the hits,'' Zeiler said.
-- Crawford pointed out Jack Johnson, Brian Boyle and Wayne Simmonds as three young players who he found particularly impressive. Crawford said of Boyle, ``Boyle showed that he will be able to play defense in this league. It's going to take some time but I think he's close.'' Boyle, for the most part, expressed relief about getting that first NHL game (albeit preseason) under his belt. ``I just tried to be as calm as I could with the puck,'' Boyle said. ``I tried to think less and just relax. ... If I think too much, it's just going to cause more problems than good.'' I asked him about the 5-on-3, when he went out with Blake and blocked a shot. ``Rob Blake was just kind of telling me where to go,'' Boyle said. ``We hadn't really practiced it. I'm just glad he hit me (with the shot). I don't think he got all of it.''
-- Dan Cloutier was in good spirits after the game and said he performed pretty much the way he expected. ``I thought the thing I would be rusty with would be plays with traffic in front, and that's how they got two of the goals,'' Cloutier said. ``I was seeing the puck well from the outside, or if they had open shots. I could see those. As long as I keep improving every time, it will improve my chances to be better.'' Cloutier pointed to one save, when he slid across the goal crease, as an example of his improved health. ``It's more natural now,'' Cloutier said. ``I don't have my hip locking up on me when I move.''
-- Crawford, on the goaltending: ``They did make some good saves. I didn't like the way (Cloutier) handled the puck behind the net and the carelessness of our defensemen with the puck behind the net. Anaheim is a good forechecking team so you have to prepare yourself for that. But it was a very positive night for our goaltenders.''
Inside the box score: Calder had two goals, Matt Moulson had a goal and an assist and Derek Armstrong and Lubomir Visnovsky each had two assists. Jack Johnson had a plus-two rating and Brian Boyle was minus-two but did have an assist and blocked five shots. Alexander Frolov took a team-high six shots on goal. The Kings outshot the Ducks 33-28 and won 30 of 65 faceoffs. The Kings were 2 for 10 on the power play and the Ducks were 1 for 4.
That's all from Anaheim. I'll be out of town until Monday so I'll leave the blog in Matt's capable hands.
"This stinks! This is total BS!" - Bob 'Bulldog' Briscoe