Game 10: Flames 3, Kings 2

"It was one of those games I felt like we should have won," Kings captain Dustin Brown said. "You got one funny goal for them, one power-play goal - and then we miss one check and it's three goals on less than 20 shots. But at the same time, LaBarbera played pretty good."

"You can teach them how to dig in, play hard, and how to play a system. But actually finding out how to get the job done is something they have to go through themselves."

"It's a little bit of relief, but I can't get too confident or too comfortable," Moller said. "I can't slack off or anything. I've got to make sure that I stick around here all year."

Despite the night before having been Halloween, on this evening, the ghosts of posts were out, and the puck bounced here and there, off legs and players. Sometimes, that resulted in a goal. That was the case for the first for Calgary, which went in off Michal Handzus in a play neither he nor Jason LaBarbera in net could have done anything about. This in the first period, which wound up at 1-0 for the visitors.

Many have referred to the current Kings team as "rebuilding". I have just as frequently bristled at the moniker and insisted they are simply "building". I can't think of a time in the Kings 40+ years that they have turned the franchise over to a singular vision and built with youth from the ground up. The longest tenured Kings are Alexander Frolov and Derek Armstrong both playing their sixth season for the Kings. After them it's, Kings draft pick and youngest Captain in franchise history, Dustin Brown starting his fifth season.

I understand what Coach Murray is doing. Over the last 2 years, former coach and now TV broadcaster, Marc Crawford, juggled goalies left and right... falling in love with Dan Cloutier, playing young goalies who weren't ready, pulling goalies during games to send messages. Coach Murray isn't going to make that same mistake. He's going to continue to ride LaBarbera as the #1, not because LaBarbera is the best choice, but because the Kings need stability in net. They can not have the rotating roster of goalies that has plagued the Kings for the last 20 years. All that said... how about giving Erik Ersberg a chance on Tuesday?

The faces were long and the air was thick with disappointment in the Los Angeles Kings’ dressing room following their 3-2 defeat at the hands of the streaking Calgary Flames in front of an announced crowd of 16,279 fans at Staples Center on Saturday night.

If games were only 50 minutes long, the Kings might have been able to win tonight. But seeing as how The Man hates the Kings, Calgary was able to leave Los Angeles two points richer.

Kings coach Terry Murray said before Thursday's game the team still hasn't made a decision (on Oscar Moller). However... "He's going to have to have a real dud here (to be sent down)."

 "He played a great game," said Eric Nystrom. "He's one of the best goalies in the league, and he's going to be there to back us up when things aren't going that well. He made some huge saves, and it made a big difference in why we won."

"With the way he has played, he deserves to be here. As with all our young players, we will continue to monitor his progress. It doesn't mean he can't go back, if he hits a lull or slacks off, but with Oscar, I don't think that's going to be the case."

"He's what you might call the trip-option guy, like the quarterback who can look up and doesn't see his two primary receivers, but he can find the third one, and there's not a lot [of defencemen] like that," Kings GM Dean Lombardi said.

"The guys are helping me become the two-way forward I want to eventually become," Simmonds said. "They make it easier for me out there. Those guys are veterans — they talk to me all the time, tell me if I'm doing something wrong. They let me know what to do and what not to do, so it's been really helpful for playing on line with them."