Muzzin’s new stick sparks uptick in performance
Of all the ways Jake Muzzin could explain his recent success on the power play — good team passing, being in the right place at the right time or something like that — the Kings defenseman opted for something much simpler.
“Honestly, I just switched some equipment and feel a lot better,” said Muzzin after the Kings beat the Minnesota Wild in overtime on Saturday afternoon. “That’s about it.”
Muzzin changed his stick at the end of December, either against the Vancouver Canucks or Edmonton Oilers, and has since felt an uptick in comfort and confidence. He was involved in the Kings’ last two powerplay goals: Jeff Carter’s against San Jose on Tuesday and his own third-period finish against the Wild.
The Kings’ power play currently ranks 19th in the league with a 16.5% success rate, and Muzzin regularly teams with Anze Kopitar, Carter and Drew Doughty at the start of them.
Muzzin’s burgeoning power-play performance can only lift an offense that’s struggled to find consistency.
That starts, and ends, on his stick.
“I think a lot of it’s mental. But when you find something that works for you or a little change here or there, sometimes it kickstarts you,” Muzzin, who doesn’t consider himself superstitious, said of changing his stick. “You know, numberswise it hasn’t been the best year individually for myself.
“But when something like that happens it gives you a little boost and hopefully we can ride this wave the rest of the season.”
Before assisting on Carter’s goal against San Jose, Muzzin had just seven points (three goals and four assists) through 36 games. He finished with 41 points in 2014-15 and 40 last season. He also notched more than 30 assists, and 10 or more power-play assists, in each of those years.
That makes this season a statistical outlier, which led Muzzin to change things up. He was using a Warrior stick since the start of the year and called it an “awesome stick” that “just wasn’t for me.”
So he switched to a Bauer stick and it immediately clicked.
“I can feel the puck a lot better. That’s pretty much where [the difference] is,” Muzzin said. “I kind of know where it is on my stick and I feel like you can put the puck where you want it, haven’t had that in a while so it feels good.”
Muzzin is an accurate shooter and also displayed patience on his last two power-play points. In San Jose, he drifted on the left wing and waited for Carter to burst toward the net. Muzzin then slid the puck into empty space in front and Carter one-timed it past Martin Jones.
He was again stalking the left wing four days later, except this time he waited a few beats before firing a shot past the Wild’s Darcy Kuemper. It made it reasonable to wonder if his new stick has more goals to offer.
“There was one tonight,” Muzzin said, smiling, on Saturday. “Hopefully a few more.” VS. DALLAS When: 7:30. Where: Staples Center. On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 790. Update: The Kings (20-16-4) host the Stars (16-16-8) for what will mark the midpoint of both teams’ seasons. Stars forward Jamie Benn (foot injury) is not expected to play, per multiple reports. Benn has 10 goals and 24 assists this season. Kings forward Tyler Toffoli (lowerbody injury) did not skate this past week and Coach Darryl Sutter did not have an update on his status.