Bruins Hand Kings Fourth Straight Loss

 My Kingdom for puck management. When I was a guest on All The Kings Men podcast he asked me if I was concerned about the high number of shots the Kings were giving up. As I worried about getting offense perhaps at the expense of our strong defensive first structure, at the time I was not. It seemed like a small, inconsequential detail because at the time the Kings were 10-2-2 and had managed to come back from just about anything. Now, with 3 straight losses going in (including 2 divisional rivals, the Sharks and the Canucks of all teams), puck management was on everyone’s mind. Unfortunately, the Kings didn’t rise to the occasion, showing questionable puck management and sloppy play interspersed with some nice moments that just weren’t nice enough.

The game opened with Anze Kopitar losing his stick and a Bruin kicking it away from him as he tried to puck it up. No interference call but okay. His line had some of the more crisper moments and cleaner breakouts of the first period. It clearly wasn’t his line on the ice when I counted 3 defensive zone breakouts in less than 90 seconds that must have had Jonathan Quick just cringing. Meanwhile Tanner Pearson and Adrian Kempe were showing some promise and speed (Kempe with his skates, Pearson with his hands), garnering some chances but none were Grade A. Quick had some fun saves, almost juggling the puck at one point, but with 3:46 left in the first, McAvoy deeked him out and snapped the puck over his stick side top shelf to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Andy Andreoff was shoved from behind so hard he sprawled on the ice and I spent the rest of the game waiting for his retaliation. Speaking of being sprawled, during a period ending play (in which the first unit was spectacular and the second was, well, not) Quick had his skate clipped as Acciari came out from behind the net and left Quick on the ice. Not the greatest way to end a period.

27 seconds into the second the Kings found themselves on a power play so at least the second started well! It was McAvoy, and I would have found it quite fitting to toe up the game right then and there but alas, no such symmetry. Folin drew the next penalty with a whopper of a hit mid-ice that leveled his opponent Heinen; Bergeron took offense and had to be restrained by Kopitar. When Pasternak got in on this action he, Folin and Pastrnak made their way to the box for roughing. That’s when Drew Doughty sniped the Kings to a tied game; newly traded Jokinen picked up his first point as a King with the assist, and Kopitar picked up a second, giving him a 10 game point streak. It’s the longest since Dustin Brown‘s streak in February/March 2012, the longest active point streak in the league and the third longest overall this season. Bergeron, who was not showing his Selke caliber self, went to the box again but it didn’t look much like a power play to me. In fact, it was the second time I noticed Doughty making an unforced error that led to a shorthanded chance for the Bruins. With Kopitar in the box, the momentum easily swung back to the Bruins, who seemed determined to get back their excellent forecheck and show the Kings weaknesses. They did just that moments after the power play ended – sustained pressure that didn’t let up and too much traffic in front of the net. Technically Chara was credited with the goal to be most accurate it was Trevor Lewis who tipped it in. After several more excruciating minutes where the Kings couldn’t get a good cycle going they finally managed to find their rhythm, creating good chances from the forecheck (Pearson I’m looking at you.)

Remember when the Kings had the best goal differential in the third period? They led the league in 3rd-period goals and comebacks? Yeah, they don’t either. 2 minutes into the third a slew of penalties left the Kings shorthanded and vulnerable. The Bruins couldn’t capitalize but they did keep the Kings at bay quite easily it seemed. When they finally did get offensive zone chances, there were so many rebound chances in a row I have no idea how none of them stayed out of the net, but some blown chances and again sloppy puck management there left the Kings behind the 8 ball. They needed a goal when they had the opportunity because there weren’t enough of them coming. But the team who showed up the past few games were not the same team that started the season. A penalty with 1:31 remaining sealed their fate; fourth loss in a row. The two divisional losses were harder to bear than one against an East Coast team but a string of losses is disconcerting, to say the least, especially against teams that they should be at least competing against if not easily winning outright