Kempe hat trick keeps Kings only team undefeated in regulation

#ThisTeam. Oh, wait, wrong sport. But seriously, this team has been spectacular this season. John Stevens has done wonders with a core of players who were almost stale by the end of last season, and a slew of rookies who are stepping up their game and look absolutely deserving of a slot in an NHL roster.

 The Canadiens did not look like a team who had been crushed last night by the Sharks, unfortunately for the Kings, who were hit or miss in the first period. That 70’s Line looked nice and sharp; Jeff Carter showing a lot of patience to find the right lane and trust in his linemates to open up a slot. Jonathan Quick was offering up a lot of open net waiting for a fat rebound, but as usual Drew Doughty and Derek Forbert were on top of the defensive side of things. Dustin Brown continued his one-man wrecking machine game much to the delight of his coach. But ultimately it was the Canadiens who capitalized on their play first, a rebound of the fattest variety at 10:31. (And while Forbert’s play had been exemplary until that point his sloppy defense didn’t help Quick any.) It didn’t slow the Kings down too much; an illegal check to Tyler Toffoli‘s head did. He was slow to get up and didn’t return to the ice for the rest of the period, about 7 minutes of play in which we were all very concerned about our Cupcake. On the resulting power play, while the Kings spent a good 90 seconds in their zone before the Canadiens could get a change, and their quality and quantity of shots were high, no sore resulted. 31 seconds after Alex Galchenyuk exited the penalty box, he slashed his way into there again. Make way for Cammalleri, whose goal 14 seconds before the penalty expired was only the beginning for him. After a smart feed from Muzzin, Cammalleri almost batted the puck from dead center in front of Montoya just over his shoulder.

The second period opened with 1:56 remaining in a soft Trevor Lewis penalty. With the loss of Jeff Carter, who limped off the ice at the end of the first period due to what looked like a skate issue, the lines were all over the place in the second. (For the record Carter has a lower-body issue and isn’t scheduled to return to the roster for the foreseeable future. There will be rather updates once he’s seen a doctor.) Honestly, the Kings were lucky to make it out of the period. Thankfully Quick looked sharper; he had a great stop on a shorthanded breakaway. Unfortunately, Fantenberg didn’t have quite the faith that we do in Quick and was called for slashing on the same play. The King’s power play was on point as usual, but the whole period had an odd vibe where they were just hanging on, sloppy yet organized as Jesse Cohen said.

The third period was worth the wait. It got off to a slightly slow start, with a Folin penalty 4:03 in which wasn’t unexpected considering. But then it picked up. Significantly. Jonathan Quick made some of his trademark Jedi saves, which served, as usual, to boost the team’s morale and play. Adrien Kempe netted his first goal in the NHL, which quickly became his first hat trick. (We like this kid.) We always knew that the Swede had speed; when Lewis streaked down the right wing Kempe was right there with him. Lewis’s pass was spot on, waiting just long enough for the defenseman to go down but keep the angle in front of the net to where Kempe was waiting. He finished it off slickly and seemingly easily. (With his speed being able to finish the play will make him a stunning player.) Less than 3 minutes later Cammalleri nets his second of the evening, with a Kempe assist; an odd play where Kempe’s original shot had Montoya down and Cammalleri behind the net somehow twisting the puck from behind his skate up and into the net. And we were only half way through the period. (Can we have Kempe and Cammalleri on the same line all the time though please?) Not to be outdone, Kempe added to his total on a somewhat delayed goal – a feed from Pearson was batted in by Kempe but it wasn’t registered until after he’d gotten a few more whacks at it.  So it was a race to the hat trick that Kempe won with less than 90 seconds remaining in the game. Cammalleri fed him the pass from behind the net, and with a perfect position right in front, he went by Montoya’s left shoulder. Hats rained down to the ice, as the Swede grinned from ear to ear. I expect good things from that kid.

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