On the March 4 loss to Nashville:
ANZE KOPITAR: “Our intensity and our compete level has to be a lot higher than that. We didn’t show up. That’s the bottom line."
DREW DOUGHTY: “We’re pretty disappointed as a team in our effort tonight."
On the March 6 loss to Montreal:
RYAN SMYTH: “In today’s game, you need to capitalize on special teams, and we didn’t do that. We gave up on it, and it’s unacceptable."
(Head Coach) TERRY MURRAY: "We played fine but we were just playing the game, and you can’t just play the game right now [this late in the season]; you got to play with an attitude.”
The Kings could clearly use a spark.
Trade deadline acquisitions Jeff Halpern and Fredrik Modin have been solid, but they aren't exactly the type of high-energy, goal-scoring, fight-starting players who really get the bench fired up. They are simply role players, though they are very good in their roles.
Modin did score his first goal as a King on Saturday night, a nice move around the 6'7" Hal Gill, and I thought that may have been what the Kings needed to get going, but it did not have the desired effect.
According to Rich Hammond of LA Kings Insider, left winger Justin Williams, who went down with a broken leg on Dec. 26, will be evaluated by a team doctor today and is hoping to get cleared for contact.
Williams, 28, has been skating for a little over a week and has reportedly looked pretty strong in practice.
If he is cleared for contact, it is up to him and Terry Murray when to get him back into the line-up.
I can't imagine any reason that either of the two would have any hesitations about wanting to get Williams back into a game as soon as possi...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Kings
