Budaj helps Kings scrape second OT win

By Emily Redenbach
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Updated: October 23, 2016

It was Peter Budaj’s 300th NHL game and he made sure it was an interesting one! It came on the heels of news that not only is Jonathan Quick out for 3 months with a groin injury, his backup Jeff Zatkoff will join him on the IR list, also suffering from a groin injury he pulled at practice the morning of the Canucks game. Don’t panic Kings fans. (I’m kidding, you should definitely be panicking.) The Canucks, as everyone predicted I’m sure, came into the game 4-0 in the season, and the Kings, struggling to find their footing with out Quick to rely on in net, only 1 win in the season and that in overtime.

The game began with some good Kings possession, some solid zone time, and some solid goaltending from Budaj. It didn’t take long for that to be rewarded, thanks to a nifty wrister from Brayden McNabb who lofted the puck past Canucks goalie Jakob Markstrom. McNabb had an uneven game, playing for the most part the way you’d want a second defensive pair to play, yet making timely blunders that cost the Kings dearly. Kyle Clifford and Derek Dorsett were surprisingly the only pair to get in a fight this game, the Canucks being infamous for their high penalty count during Kings games. (It wasn’t the greatest fight – more like a dance as the two whirled around and occasionally threw a punch or two. The referees broke it up out of boredom before anyone won it conclusively. Clifford did have the upper hand however.)

Andy Andreoff took the first penalty of the game, one of many the team took and it cost them. Not this particular penalty; in fact the Kings took advantage of the second power play they were given minutes later to score their second goal. It wasn’t as beautiful as McNabb’s, in fact it was a thoroughly dirty goal but it counted. Markstrom misplayed the puck allowing Tanner Pearson to pick up the rebound and nudge it almost underneath Markstrom’s sliding leg. Moments later, McNabb’s first delay of game penalty came. Luckily it came as a split penalty, 29 seconds of which were played out during the first period and the remaining 1:31 in the second. So far this season the second period hasn’t been the Kings strong suit. It looked like that could change with a shorthanded goal 33 seconds into it, coming from Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown hiking away at the puck until it passed over the goal line. It was reviewed in Toronto for goaltender interference but deemed a good goal, putting the Kings up 3-0, and play resumed.

The Canucks first goal came 8:40 into the second and it was strange, to say the least. (Of all the things we’d want goaltenders learning under Quick to pick up, his stick handling is not one of them.) Budaj mishandled the puck allowing it to come out to the side where no King was waiting, he did a pirouette and ended up looking into the back of the net as the puck followed in. Not his finest hour, but he didn’t let that throw him off. The Kings followed up with some very solid zone time, good puck control keeping the Canucks away from the Kings zone for a few minutes, until Jake Muzzin was called for tripping. (Weak call, in my opinion.) Special teams continued to dominate the evening as the Canucks scored their second goal of the period on the power play, a rough goal I wouldn’t want to pin on Budaj. It began when Drew Doughty had his stick broken and had to take Kopitar’s, which of course meant Kopitar was the only one available to clear the puck at one crucial point and couldn’t without a stick. The Kings were tired and Henrick Sedin’s shot was fast.

The third was a parade of Kings penalties, not what you’d want to see from a team with only a one goal lead. It began with Derek Forbort at 7:49, interference against Daryl Sutter’s nephew Brandon Sutter, 14:14 Nick Shore boarding against Alexandre Burrows and then the fatal McNabb puck over the glass delay of game. You know when’s a good time not to take a penalty? When you have a one goal lead against a team who’s gone 4-0 and only 1:48 remaining in the game. They pulled Markstrom for the extra attacker and sure enough, with a mere 34:4 seconds to go, they tied the game. It was eerily similar to the Stars game, where the extra attacker lost the Kings that regulation win with 2:07 remaining. Into that glorious 3-on-3 OT we went again, yet it wasn’t the Kings strongest 5 minutes. Unlike previous OT’s, they didn’t dominate the play. They looked tired, couldn’t win a face-off to save their lives, and couldn’t capitalize having an extra man for 1:16 minutes. Kopitar couldn’t get his shot past Markstrom in the shootout, but Pearson could – a gorgeous wrister Markstrom couldn’t even see. Setoguchi didn’t score on his either, but it didn’t matter because none of the Canucks made it past Budaj. The Kings scraped out their second win of the season. Barely.

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