A case of Monday blues
Yes, there is a sober, rational counterpoint to the often-distraught pronouncements on social media after a hockey team loses a game.
You can find it at www.sportsclubstats.com.
One calling card for the site: “Your team’s chances of making the playoffs.” It is refreshingly blunt, no capital letters, no OMGs littering the Internet. Stats, not shrieks. If you thought things took a sharp turn south for the Kings’ playoff chances on Monday, then the numbers over at that site back that contention. In fact, it was worse when the dust cleared. The Kings lost to Chicago and two of their chief rivals, the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, both won.
According to the site, the hit to the Kings was significant, putting their playoff chances at 51.7%, a drop of 17.6% in one day. Calgary, which is third in the Pacific Division and three points ahead of the Kings, improved to 84.6%, up by 13.5.
Some better news emerged Tuesday. The Winnipeg Jets, two points ahead of the Kings in the wild-card race, lost to the New York Rangers and the Kings’ chances of making the playoffs increased to 61.1%, the site said.
The Kings, coming off a five-game trip, had Tuesday off. They practice Wednesday and their next two games are at home, against lottery-bound teams Edmonton (Thursday) and Colorado (Saturday).
Kings center Anze Kopitar addressed their position after the loss to Chicago and the victories by Vancouver and Calgary.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” he said. “We’re in a position where we can control our own outcome and standings-wise. It’s disappointing to drop two now where we know we’ve got to play desperate hockey. We’ve got to rack up wins.
“I don’t think it was anything special they [the Blackhawks] did. We gave up the power-play goal and we give up another one that was off our mistake. That just can’t happen.”
Sekera just didn’t feel right
There was no update from the organization about the condition of defenseman Andrej Sekera , who was injured late in the second period at Chicago and did not play in the third.
On Monday, Sekera indicated the injury occurred when one of the Blackhawks fell on his leg. He said he knew something didn’t feel right, adding: “Will know more about it and I will see the doctor tomorrow. I felt something went wrong and that was the night for me.”
Regehr up for Masterton Trophy
The Los Angeles chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Assn. has nominated Robyn Regehr for the Masterton Trophy, given to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.