Darryl Sutter says Peter Budaj 'wasn't very good' as Kings blanked again
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter didn’t hold back on how he felt about the performance of goaltender Peter Budaj in his team’s 4-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
According to Sutter the Ducks scored just one “good goal” which was a tap-in by Ryan Kesler, who was uncovered in front of Budaj on a second period power play. Other than that Sutter believed the 34-year-old journeyman netminder couldn’t give the injury depleted Kings a big save when they needed one. Sutter specifically pointed out a Rickard Rakell goal with 30.8 seconds left in the first period that put the Ducks up 1-0 as one he believed Budaj should have stopped.
Budaj was pulled before the start of the third period after stopping 12 of 16 shots on goal.
“He wasn’t very good. You look at the shots and scoring chances, he wasn’t very good. That’s clear. It’s not … I don’t pull goalies very often but they’re expected to make some saves,” Sutter said. “When they score (late in the) first period that’s deflating to your hockey club.”
Sutter also understands that help likely isn’t on the way for his team in goal – or many others that have been hit by injury.
The Kings currently playing without starter Jonathan Quick, backup goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, sniper Marian Gaborik and second pairing defenseman Brayden McNabb. Depth forward Andy Andreoff is also hurt.
LA’s Tuesday goaltending duo of Budaj and Jack Campbell started the season in the AHL.
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Quick reportedly injured his groin on opening night and was expected to be out about three months. Gaborik hurt his foot near the end of the World Cup in late September and was expected to be out eight weeks. Zatkoff was hurt on Oct. 22 and has started skating but is still out. The team hasn’t given a timeframe on McNabb’s injury, which was sustained on Oct. 29. Andreoff was hurt a day later.
The loss was the third straight shutout of the Kings (4-6-0), and the first time they had been blanked three consecutive games since the 1968-69 season.
Even in their wins, Los Angeles hasn’t been convincing. Their four victories were all after regulation. Alec Martinez’s seven points leads the team, ahead of core offensive players like like Drew Doughty (four points), Anze Kopitar (six points) and Jeff Carter (five points). Tyler Toffoli led the Kings with 31 goals last season, but has two in nine games this year.
“There’s nobody coming in on a white horse to play goal for us or score goals or to come up from (AHL) Ontario. This is our team,” Sutter said. “I’ve said it early, meaning two or three games ago, and I’ll say it again. Our responsibility is not to use the injuries as an excuse. The responsibility is to try and stay in the race. That’s really clear, so we’ll do some work tomorrow and we’re going to get ready for the next game.”
Unless the Kings can figure out a way to get some points, they may find themselves falling off quickly in the 2016-17 season. Even though there are a few goaltenders on the trade market, help likely won’t come from outside the organization, since Los Angeles doesn’t have a lot of salary cap space. They also lack farm system depth after trading away draft picks for veterans the last several years.
“Early in the season points are just as important as they are late in the season so you know, if we’re going to use that as an excuse, it’s not a very good mentality to have,” Kopitar said. “We’re not looking at it that way. We’re a below .500 team and we have to get above that.”
Meanwhile the Kings’ Southern California rival appears to be trending upwards. Rakell scored a goal and added two assists in his first game of the season.
He was a restricted free agent and signed shortly after the start of the NHL regular season, but hadn’t played as he healed from additional surgery to remove scar tissue that resulted from an appendectomy late last season. Adding Rakell to the mix gives the Ducks more offensive depth up front and an extra speed dimension.
“You saw his hands and his skill and his vision tonight, so we feel pretty fortunate to have that type of player on our side,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.
Anaheim should be further bolstered when newly re-signed restricted free agent Hampus Lindholm is able to start play after he gets his visa. If the Ducks find their footing, they could only make Los Angeles’ road even tougher this season in a Pacific Division that seems improved from a year ago.
“We have to play with a lot more emotion and a lot more desperation,” Kopitar said. “That’s when we’re at our best is playing with desperation, emotion, physicality. On top of that being sharp and executing our game-plan and tonight we didn’t do that and going forward we need to make sure we’re doing that.”
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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