Kings Post-game 10-23-15
- Updated: October 24, 2015
Well last night marks a significant night for the Los Angeles Kings. After three very hard games to watch of the Kings getting beaten down, they have rallied and won their last four games. Most of the credit to scoring is given to Tyler Toffoli who has scored 6 goals in 6 games, but a goal streak of 4 games which is Tyler’s longest goal streak of his career. The game last night was a big step for the King’s not only being 4 in a row, but the first shutout of the year! Jonathan Quick had been making great saves throughout the night, (40 to be exact) with only a few of those shots actually being dangerous. Last night our boys were out-shot again, and by similar remarks to the game against the San Jose Sharks. The Kings scored 3 goals on 28 shots against the Carolina Hurricanes, and 4 goals on 29 shots against the San Jose Sharks. I guess we were only one shot away from another goal.
The pace of the game was a bit slow, something unusual for a Kings game. Both teams had lacked puck control during the second period, and for most of the third there was no direct control. When the Kings did have control, they sure did make it count. Anze Kopitar took a very, very stupid pass from Ron Hainsey. A hand pass directly in front of the blue paint gave Kopitar a perfect opportunity to score and he made every bit of that play count. Both of Tyler’s goals had been from very good set ups. Jeff Carter set up the power play goal with a fake shot that ended up being a pass and made Tyler Toffoli wide open for his first goal of the night. Milan Lucic, a man who has proven me wrong since my last article, made quite the perfect assist for Toffoli’s second goal. Lucic had made the break away with the puck while keeping the last line of defense at bay which left #73 wide open for his final goal of the night.
The Kings do need to work on their puck possession. As much as I love the Kings winning by 3 goals two nights in a row, being outshot by 11-12 two nights in a row is not the best thing in the world. Minimizing the opponent’s chances to put pucks in the net is the only problem worth noting that needs work. In comparison to the last few games, the Kings have taken less stupid penalties. The two we had last night was a hold by Marian Gaborik which seemed to have sparked a bit of life the left winger last night, and a delay of game from Jamie McBain. Both were not needed, but neither resulted in power play goals against so there are worse things to stress about. The Kings will not play again until Sunday when they face the Edmonton Oilers. Hopefully the Kings can keep up their successful play and give Connor McDavid a solid taste of Los Angeles play.
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