It see
ms like just yesterday the LA Kings were on the ice with the Anaheim Ducks, auctioning off their practice jerseys for charity and hoping to iron out some kinks in their performance before the season officially begins. Last night the contest took place at Staples Center, home of the Mighty and Glorious Kings of Los Angeles. (My brother and I started calling them that a while ago and it’s stuck.) Kings fans were anxious that the slew of penalties their team took last contest wouldn’t repeat itself. With Jake Muzzin and Matt Greene both day to day with upper body injuries, the defense situation took an interesting turn before the game even began. The morning skate suggested a Martinez-Doughty pairing, Schultz-Ehroff, McNabb-McBain and Forbert-LoVerde. With Brown, Kopitar (who’s contract negotiations are moving at a glacial pace, but moving along none the less) and Gaborik out of the lineup also (remember this is preseason so ultimately this will mean nothing), the forward lines weren’t set to look familiar either.
It seems unfamiliar works well, because this was a much cleaner Kings team last night. Mersch was certainly making his bid to be on the opening night roster, battling on the boards and uptake get quite a few great shots on goal. The Kings had the first power play of the evening. It began sloppy, unable to get any traction in the Ducks zone or set up a play. When they did finally get their footing they managed to sustain pressure for a good minute and a half, getting some treat looks on goal, but unfortunately none in the back of the net. The Ducks traded power plays, with
Jeff Schultz going for holding. McSmash, as I have dubbed McNabb, made his first sighting of the game, choosing his usual corner to rattle a Duck into the boards. A long scramble at the Kings net a few minutes later almost resulted in a Ducks goal, and a second lesser scramble a few minutes after than had potential for the other team, but we went into the second period scoreless, with the Kings having the edge on shots (8-5.)
The second gave Kings fans either a treat or a heart attack – Milian Lucic’s first fight in a Kings jersey, 5:56 into it. He was known for this in Boston; it seemed to go on for longer than usual before Lucic had the other guy on the ground. They both received five for fighting, and thus began the rush of penalties. Again. The Ducks struck first on the scoreboard from
Corey Perry when Jonas Enroth fell flat of his back and couldn’t recover his position, allowing a lot of empty net to his right for the puck to enter. Fans could have been treated almost immediately with a comeback goal on a power play, but Tyler Tofolli found himself on the wrong side of a slashing call and we had some four on four hockey for a bit. Back on the seesaw the Kings found their first goal technically from Clifford who deflected in Andreoff’s beautiful shot. What would have been a great end to the second was marred by McSmash taking offense to a Duck and getting a minor for roughing. The Ducks got a minor too, but the Kings came back into the third with 1:07 of a penalty to kill.
Which they did easily; in fact the third period seemed much like the first in terms of ease. The most exciting play was a toss up between
Kyle Clifford’s fight, which was actually much more interesting than Lucic’s, and the puck that shattered the glass so badly it had to be replaced. No wait, the most exciting part of the third period was definitely seeing Chris Sutter back in the stadium and back on the dance cam. Play stretched out into an eventual overtime, which is now 3-on-3, but that only lasted 43 seconds before Corey Perry put one past Enroth. A disappointing end to be sure, but not completely unexpected. Enroth was caught off guard, and you’d be surprised how much space there is on that ice when there are only six players skating on it. Some good takes from the game, however, as the Kings set off to Vegas for Frozen Fury and into games that count next week. Until then.
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