Bit late for it, but I figured I'd share some of my thoughts on the Kings/Flames game from Friday night.
I've kinda gotten away from habitually doing post-game pieces, but a couple of things about the last victory jumped out at me.
Firstly, Keenan managed a mean bench that night. He had the match-ups down cold the entire time. Significantly, it looked to me like the Conroy/Tanguay/Moss trio was seeing the toughest competition while Iginla was being fed the minnows. I was favorably impressed.
Speaking of Iginla, I thought he struggled all night despite seeing the softer match-ups. He's currently mired in a 5 game goalless slump and seems to be fighting the puck whenever it's on his stick. He lost a lot of battles along the boards and committed a couple egregious give-aways, including the stunningly awful turn-over in his own end that led to the Kings only goal. Thankfully, his teammates picked up the slack (first time for everything) and scored the convincing win anyways.
In contrast, Kipper had an outstanding game. He made all the stops he should have and several improbable ones to boot. That might be the closest he's gotten to "Classic Kipper" this season.
David Moss looks better now than he did before his injury for some reason. He's generating chances in front of the net and isn't a liability in his own end. Does Nolan get dropped to the 3rd line when he returns as a result? I think that would that would certainly help the Lombardi/Boyd tandem to keep their heads above water.
