Lightning Strike Twice, Kings Fall 2-1

To say the Kings had a slow start is generous. It took them 8:33 to get a shot on goal, but Kyle Clifford at least kept himself busy. Less than 90 seconds in he threw down the gloves and pummeled Luke Witkowski into the ice. If you’re gonna throw down make it worth it, and he did. It took less than 30 seconds for a teammate to join him – Derek Forbert was called for tripping and the Lightning pushed their advantage well. They kept the momentum going, locking the Kings out of their offensive zone essentially for 8 full minutes. When they did make it there, however, heir first  shot was a goal, less due to Clifford who was the one who shoved it in, but more thanks to Ben Bishop getting caught behind his net stick handling leaving it wide open. Clifford, who stripped him of the puck, had an easy time getting it around and in. It was a night of 13 as 13 from the Lighting then entered the penalty box, not that the Kings could get anything going on it. The pendulum of momentum swung easily back to Tampa, who equalized at 14:33. Jonathan Drouin stripped Tanner Pearson of the puck in the Kings zone, made a slick pass through two other Kings to Tyler Johnson, who caught Budaj trying to sprawl back across and snapped the puck over him into thr net. The Kings attempted to bounce back, spending thr next few minutes in the Lightning zone, applying nice pressure but couldn’t bury any of their attempts. The Lightning took over for the last 90 seconds of the period but couldn’t bury any more either.

It appeared the Kings took some sleeping pills instead of their red bull during the first intermission because hey came out in the second the way they began the first and could barely string a shift together. They spent more time behind Budaj’s net trying to dig the puck out and failing then having to defend than anything else. Indeed the only other thing they seemed to do was chip the puck into the neutral zone, dump and chase to get a shift change, then chase it back into their defensive zone to play it behind the net again. Finally Nic Dowd got some offensive going and Marian Gaborik drew a penalty. It was slightly better than their first but barely. Play went straight back to the Lightning and stayed there for most of the second. The Kings had far too many offensive zone turnovers. With about 5 minutes left the Kings seemed to wake up and managed to string two shifts together in their offensive zone, but it didn’t last. Namestnikov won a 4-on-1 board battle and that ended the Kings pressure. It also ended the tie as Budaj fell to his belly trying to stop the first attempt but got stuck down there, and Boyle lifted it easily far side to snipe the Lightning’s second goal.

The Kings at last decided they didn’t want to lose the game, so they came out firing in the third. After a few shifts however Drew Doughty started trying to do it all, which is usually a sign that he doesn’t trust his teammates to get the job done. While I don’t blame him and would watch Doughty do just about anything on the ice, it wasn’t a good sign. A final power play for the Kings only served to send Dowd back down the hall, as he blocked a puck with his face and required stitches. Being a hockey player he wasn’t out long, but when he came back he ended up in the penalty box, giving the Kings a little less than 3:30 to mount a comeback, something they hadn’t been able to do all period. While it was better than the second the Lightning were chocking their zone entries and blocking any great shot attempts. With less than a minute Carter was assaulted with no call, so the Kings relied on a time out and pulled goalie to be able to pull anything out; they couldn’t. For the first time since 2008 they fell to the Lightning, going 3-3 on this home stand. They play the Sharks Wednesday.