Bruins Likely Bury Kings Playoff Dreams

Oh playoffs, you’re looking further and further away by the second, especially if the Kings keep playing the way they have been of late; little to no scoring, a borderline pathetic power play, and sloppy puck play. After starting the first with some gusto, the Kings did that thing they do where they give up a bad goal early in (3:16 to be exact) and get kicked off-balance. I’m blaming the whole play on Jake Muzzin, who gave up the dumbest of dumb turnovers on our offensive zone blueline, leaving Bruins winger Brad Marchand completely on his own to score unassisted on the breakaway. From there the Kings were playing catch up, and they weren’t doing it very well. There were some very loud pings and many shots wide of the net, when they were getting any offensive zone time at all. A Kings power play didn’t do much to avail my fears that the Kings were playing themselves out of a playoff spot when who should come to our rescue but Derek Forbert, Adrien Kempe and Alec Martinez. Martinez did the smart thing by getting the puck to Kempe, who took the initial shot and almost buried his own rebound, instead choosing to pass to an open Forbert on the right-wing, who took the opportunity to wrist the shot by a vulnerable goaltender. It was his first NHL goal (congratulations!), and the Kings only goal of the game.

It took less than 45 seconds for the Bruins to get their second goal after the Kings power play goal (yes I know I said the power play was borderline pathetic and the Kings other two were. One shining moment in an otherwise series of power plays that show clearly the Kings are incapable of setting up steady and dangerous plays with the man advantage doesn’t alleviate my fears.) That’s so LA Kings, isn’t it? Giving up a goal immediately after getting one? Thankfully someone behind the Kings bench was paying attention and called for the coaches challenge; the play was reviewed to be offsides before the goal so it was disallowed and time put back on the clock. Time the Kings used to try and give the Bruins back their goal apparently. Thankfully Peter Budaj was up to the task, and kept it a tied game at the end of the first period. Of course that wasn’t to last. Kyle Clifford made his way to the penalty box and the Bruins capitalized. It was a series of things that could have been avoided. The puck wasn’t cleared, the players were tired. The shot wasn’t what Budaj expected; it changed angles as the stick broke upon shooting, and knuckled towards him, but he could see it the whole way. So his fault? Partially. But with the other saves he made he kept it a one goal game, and the big boys in the club should have given him more at the other end of the ice.

The Kings had two more power plays in the second period. Jeff Carter drew the second on a breakaway he perhaps could have scored on if not for the slash; the Bruins certainly knew what they were doing on that one. That 70’s Line had perhaps the best chance of the period, when they had a 3 on 2 led by Papa Carter. He drop passed the puck back to Tyler Toffoli, who’s shot left a huge rebound Tanner Pearson couldn’t quite get to in time. It was the theme of the evening – rebounds that could have been goals if the Kings just went to the front of the net. Brayden McNabb and Marchand tried to get into it to shake things up, but the refs didn’t let them get further than 2 minutes each for roughing. Pity, it would have been more entertaining to see a fight. The second closed with the Kings down 2-1 but with some hope left at least.

That hope left slowly but surely as the third progressed. For the first 14 minutes the Kings were held to 1 shot on goal. They would end the period with 3. For a team that relies heavily on quantity over quality when it comes to shooting, it was a disaster. The Bruins were stifling any kind of offense; the Kings could barely get the puck in the neutral zone let alone into their offensive zone, and when they did the Bruins were all over them, blocking a total of 19 shots by the games end, and barely allowing the Kings to get shots off to block. Budaj came up big, but again, with no offensive help and having to shoulder a massive amount of games, one can’t expect him to play a perfect game every night. The Bruins would seal it with not one, but two empty net goals, and when will the Kings be able to use an extra man effectively? The playoff picture is looking bleaker, but their fate still remains in their own hands. They only have 1 game in hand now on the Flames and are behind them by 4 points, but they do have 4 more 4 point games against the Flames. Still, the Kings can’t afford to play the way they have been (Drew Doughty being the exception. He puts it all on the line every night, and is practically flawless.)