Kings shine brighter than Stars

By Emily Redenbach
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Updated: January 20, 2016

I don’t know when it happened but the Stars, who had been defying all expectations and streaming ahead of their competition in the Central Division, were overtaken by the Chicago Blackhawks. The Kings however, remain consistently atop of the Pacific Division with a cushy 10 points. (I’m going to regret saying that later I’m sure.) So the Stars were hungry for a win, the Kings simply another opponent in their way. The Kings weren’t going to go down without a fight. In fact, they weren’t going to go down at all.

The opening period looked bleak for the Kings. Their first shot on goal (and while it was a shot it certainly wasn’t a scoring chance) was recorded 6:26 into the contest. By that point they’d already given up a goal. 3:03 in Dallas by way of Ales Hemsky seemingly with ease wristed a shot past Jonathan Quick, who punched the air, mad at himself. It wasn’t entirely his fault; the Stars outplayed the Kings with their speed, controlling the neutral zone and keeping most of the puck possession. The Kings were forced to dump and chase any time the puck looked like getting near their zone. If it wasn’t for a power play (thanks John Klinberg for hooking Jeff Carter!) they wouldn’t have had any sustained zone time

Turns out that was all it took for to Kings to recover their game. Vincent Lecavalier – proving once again that Dean Lombardi is a hockey genius, and that he really, really wants that Stanley Cup when he retires – notched his 3rd goal in 6 games with the Kings. Credit Jamie McBain and Carter for changing up the angles on the puck several times before getting it to Vinny. The sequence happened twice in a row and the second time fooled Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen into the wrong position to stop Lecavalier’s absolute blast from the right circle. It was his 3rd power play goal in as many games.

Things could have gone badly again, when Nick Shore was called for hooking at 16:08 but 49 seconds later Lehtonen was called for a rare delay of game: playing the puck outside the trapezoid. (Turns out that’s illegal for a goalie. Who knew? Apparently not Lehtonen, or he did and he played it anyway.) The Kings dominated the 4-on-4 and the continuing power player, only Drew Doughty’s goal wouldn’t be credited as a special teams goal. 4 seconds after the penalty expired Doughty, through traffic, blasted his shot from the blue line straight past a bewildered Lehtonen. Credit to Anze Kopitar and Tyler Toffoli for battling along the boards to not only keep the puck in but get it to an unmanned Doughty. (Kopitar earned the second star of the evening with 2 assists, and Toffoli ended the night with a +2, putting him up to +28, still the highest in the league.) The Stars used their coaches challenge, claiming goaltender interference, but the call on the ice stood. Good goal!

It wouldn’t be a LA Kings game if they didn’t immediately give up another goal, so 33 seconds later Cody Eakin wristed his shot past Quick. And then take another penalty. Lecavalier closed out the period by taking an ‘illegal check to the head’ penalty with 7 seconds remaining. But he also got the first goal and ultimately the Kings were able to kill it off easily, so we forgive him, the second was a much cleaner, tighter period. The Kings smartened up their game, Dallas remained on top of theirs, and the contest stayed relatively even. Things could have tipped the Stars way at 17:45 when Jason Spezza broke out from the pack on a breakaway Quick stopped with the splits and the head of his stick. (Jedi Quick, gymnast Quick, Conn Smythe winner Quick. 1.72 GAA, 0.938 SV%, 9-1-1 in the last 11 games Jonathan Quick.)

The Kings only needed the 3rd period to close out the game. They played with an energy they hadn’t been able to find in the previous two periods, and had the better of the chances. With the momentum of the crowd surged them forward and it was Milan Lucic who capitalized. The go ahead goal came at 6:17 after sustained zone pressure. Antoine Roussel lost his stick and the Kings took advantage; it left a hole right in front of Lehtonen that Lucic found easily. Jake Muzzin’s secondary assist gave him points in 8 straight games, one short of the record in the Kings organization.

The speed came back into the game, but rather than Dallas controlling the neutral zone the Kings had their fair share of the puck. Energy fused into the Kings, spurred on by a revved up crowd (and as always Chris Sutter on the dance cam), some incredible scoring chances and Quick coming up on the big saves. The Stars pulled Lehtonen with a couple of minutes to go but to no avail. The Kings pulled out the regulation win! They return to Staples Center Thursday to take on Minnesota. Watch out for Jarret Stoll’s return. The Kings are 7-2-1 against the Central division.

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