Can’t Win Games if you Don’t Score Kings!

When the game opens 15 seconds into the post making a save, it’s probably a portent for the rest of the game. Arizona traditionally hasn’t been a challenging team, but let’s be honest – this season an AHL team could prove challenging. After a minute or so the Kings seemed to settle into the game, getting several clean zone entries in a row for some good chances on net from three different lines. Newbie to the team Leipsic parked himself in front of the net and hustled to the puck when necessary – both traits the Kings need in a player. I had to laugh, however, when Jonathan Quick was awarded a roughing penalty 8 minutes in, mainly because I’ve ‘roughed up’ friends who made me laugh harder than that. And Quickie himself has gotten away with far more than that shove, as he tried to move a player out of his way so he could get back to the net. Not the most convincing kill but still they managed to keep the Coyotes off the board so, small victories. For a good 5-7 minutes after that, the Coyotes failed to register even a shot on goal; plenty of blocked shots but the scales tiled to the Kings favor, especially when they also got a power play with 3:10 to go. But someone clearly forgot to tell the Kings that Arizona had 10 shorthanded goals coming into this game – in comparison the next team has 6. So when Phaneuf and then Kempe (whose brother Mario plays for Arizona) lost control of the puck, it wasn’t surprising but it was disappointing to see Crouse slip one past Quick. Great. Adding insult to injury Thompson was called for boarding at the periods’ end when his target Chychrun couldn’t get up at the buzzer.

The second period wasn’t much better. After successfully killing the first two minutes Kempe did have a solid shot on goal literally 5 seconds later, but a story of the Kings season, scoring was elusive. Muzzin took a slashing penalty a few minutes later when he attempted to stop a breakaway from behind Quick clearly had; surely enough special teams again weren’t the Kings strong suit. Quick has lost his stick on the play, something that could have helped him block the wrister that sailed past his stick side. He was understandably upset and continued to show his displeasure long after the goal had been announced. 5:56 into the second and already our hopes were dashed. And the Kings just couldn’t catch up. Nothing they were sending towards Arizona’s netminder phased him, and it wasn’t because he was making exceptional saves. The shots and chances just weren’t good. Even a shorthanded bid from Forbert and Thompson while Carter was in the box for slashing (control your stocks boys!) wouldn’t go, though it was perhaps the Kings best chance all period. As Jesse from the Kings Men podcast pointed out, the LA Kings are on pace to have the 14th worst goals per game of any team since the 1967 expansion. On a night where other teams were scoring 5 goals apiece – the Flames/Jets game had 15 goals!