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Cardiac Kings Win Thriller Against Rangers, 5-4 in OT

“I thought Jeff [Carter] played really well, but our other centermen had a hard time.” – Darryl Sutter to LA Kings’ Insider Jon Rosen after the Kings lost to the Islanders 5-2.

I don’t know for sure if Sutter’s comment about his centermen had any impact with Anze Kopitar but it sure did seem that way after “Kopi” responded with an epic hat-trick to lead the Los Angeles (cardiac) Kings to a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory over the New York Rangers.

After the lethargic game the Kings suffered the night before, they started this game as if they were being shot out of canon (not Columbus) and Kopitar got to work quick (not Jonathan, who is still day-to-day with an injury he suffered at the end of the Boston game) by showing incredible patience before sniping the puck into the net just :33 seconds into the game!

The Rangers tried to answer back but the Kings were playing very strong defensively. In one sequence “some Ranger guy” (as the great recapping Queen Emily Redenbach might say,” was stopped from taking a shot at the Kings’ net by a fantastic backchecking stick raise by Tanner Pearson, (more greatness from him still to come). Overall the Kings were all over the Rangers and seemed to have an abundance of open ice.

Around the 14:30 mark Milan Lucic smashed former Blackhawk Viktor Stalberg with a clean but explosive hit and Toffoli took a high stick around the 11:12 mark but there was no call.

In the Kings’ net and making his LA Kings’ debut was former Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadien and current Ontario Reign goaltender (and 2016 AHL All-Star) Peter Budaj, who made some positional saves to shake off his NHL rust from Ranger shots that none of which seemed that threatening. (Not yet anyways and by the way, I seriously can’t get enough of Budaj’s fantastic Ned Flanders’ goalie mask!  So awesome!)

(Photo credit to www.vnews.com)

(Photo credit to www.vnews.com)

Fox West Sports Kings live host Patrick O’Neal told a great story during one of the commercial breaks about when Budaj and defenseman Kevin Gravel arrived to New York City to meet up with the Kings with nothing but their sweat pants and shirts. They had to leave immediately from San Jose (where the Ontario Reign had just played the Barrucuda) after being called up by Dean Lombardi and didn’t have any other clothes with them.  Sutter then asked (told) the Kings’ assistant general manager and Hall of Famer Rob Blake to “take care of them” and he did right away, buying expensive suits and shoes so Budaj and Gravel could be dressed in style. Just goes to show how the Los Angeles Kings’ organization takes care of its own! I love this team!

Rangers’ defenseman Mark Staal took a delay of game penalty at 10:13 and Marian Gaborik made him pay after a horrible clearing attempt by Derek Stepan that was blocked by Alec Martinez and bounced right to Gaborik’s stick, who skated towards an open lane and scored a power-play goal at 11:26. (Earlier in the play, Doughty was rushing to grab the loose puck in the Rangers’ defensive end but was interfered with by a Ranger defender with no call by the officials. Just as I was screaming bloody murder at the ref, the Gaborik goal happened so … um … nevermind!)

The Rangers get one back at 13:00 when Stalberg was left unchecked and one timed an unchecked Kevin Hayes pass past Budaj.  The reason why the two Rangers’ players were left unchecked was due to Kings’ defenseman Brayden McNabb (more on him too later) turning the puck over to Hayes after he slipped and fell.  This led to Doughty being forced to leave his man (Hayes) and cover the man with the puck but before he could, Hayes had set up Stalberg with the goal.

If that goal was considered bad, then things just got worse when Gaborik was back checking a rushing Dominic Moore and they accidentally collided knee to knee with each other.  Gaborik took the worst from the hit and crashed to the ice in pain.  After he limped to the bench, he was escorted off the ice and to the back, never to return to the game. (Can’t blame Moore for this one as he didn’t see “Gabo” coming but man, this is seriously unfortunate for both Gaborik and the Kings, especially right after what happened with Quick).

Smelling blood, the Rangers start to take over completely but Budaj guards the net with some more sound positioning before the first period ends.

The second gets under way and at first things seemed even.  In a sequence that made me question it’s sorcery, Nick Shore and Trevor Lewis seemed to have both missed an open net while Rangers’ (back up) goalie Antti Raanta was out of position.  Then Jake Muzzin seemed to be poised to slap shot (not Paul Newman) the puck for a goal while Raanta was still vulnerable but his stick broke in half just as he was about to shoot the puck.  In the ensuing play, the Rangers’ Chris Kreider (remember him?) broke free with the puck, leaned to the outside and shot the puck past Budaj and right off the post. (Hmm interesting. So it’s gonna be one of those nights is it?)

All the momentum then was swinging in the Rangers’ favor and they took full advantage of it by making the 2016 Kings look like the 2015 Kings.  At 7:44, Stepan got some revenge and scored 5 hole on Budaj after a Tyler Toffoli turnover to tie things at 2. Then shortly after at 9:21, Mats Zuccarello scored a goal that in real-time seemed to have confused Budaj.  During the slow-motioned replay, it revealed that the reason it seemed that way for Budaj was because the puck was deflected by unfortunately hitting the back of Vincent Lecavalier and into the net.  Budaj had no chance.  Just like that the Rangers had come back from an 0-2 deficit and now lead the game 3-2.

(This game with the Rangers also continued the LA Kings’ fathers’ get together which started a night before in the Islanders’ game …

…  and then I start thinking, could having the fathers’ of the Kings’ players around be cursing the team??? … )

Then the 2015 Kings turned back into the 2014 comeback Kings (and the Rangers know all about those 2014 LA Kings, am I right???) when (superhero) Kopitar tied things up with his second goal of the night with a tap in from a precise pass from Lucic, who received the puck from a panicked Rangers’ turnover due to some intense pressure from Captain Dustin Brown.  3-3.

The pace of the game picked up in the third period with some (thrilling yet nerve-wracking) back and forth action. Around the 11:00 mark, Doughty showed Manhattan why he deserves to finally win the Norris Trophy when he knocked Stalberg quite easily off of the puck and then took it down the ice for a Kings’ offensive opportunity. (See NHL award voters, this is a defenseman who can actually play defense as well as provide offense, just saying).

In a welcome to the NHL moment, Gravel got rocked with a clean but impactful hit on open ice around the 12:00 mark but to his credit he got right back up and got the puck back to clear the Kings’ defensive zone.  Well done.

Then it happened again, and by that I mean Alec Martinez flipped the puck into the crowd while trying to clear the zone and gets hit with another delay of game penalty at 13:30 for the second straight game in a row and like the one before, it cost the Kings again. With seconds to go on the power-play, Hayes scored at 15:14 to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead after Zuccarello danced around the defending (illegally bear hugging him) McNabb and got the perfect pass to Hayes. This has not been a good game at all for the young defenseman.

Desperate to come back and hoping to prevent another loss (and more ground to the second place San Jose Sharks and rising Anaheim Ducks), especially in a game where they held a 2-0 lead, the Kings turned the jets (not Winnipeg) on and tried to 2014 themselves back into this game.  After pulling Budaj for the extra attacker the Kings’ were able to get an offensive face-off (not John Travolta or Nicolas Cage) in the Ranger zone.  Carter won it (what can’t he do?) and got the puck to the point to Doughty, who passed it to … ANZE KOPITAR, WHO SHOT THE PUCK PAST ALL KINDS OF RANGERS’ TRAFFIC AND RIGHT INTO THE NET FOR THE NATURAL HAT-TRICK WITH :30 SECONDS TO GO IN THE GAME!!! (THIS TRULY IS LIKE THE 2014 KINGS!!!)

And with the third period ended and the Kings claiming at least 1 point of a possible two, we’re off to 3 on 3 overtime.  The Rangers come close to winning the game with a clear path on Budaj when the puck was sliding free in front of him and “some Ranger guy” picked it up without Budaj challenging him.  Budaj “the Jedi’s” strategy ends up paying off when he successfully stops the breakaway attempt and the rebound shot that came right after with a Jonathan Quick like leg in the air save! That right there just saved the game as just moments later Tanner Pearson took the puck from a redeeming long pass from Martinez and with his speed, he got past the Ranger defender and wrist shot the puck right past Raanta and into the net for the overtime and comeback winner at 3:10! Kings win and get another 2 points!!! (This was a goal and moment that Pearson desperately needed as he had been a healthy scratch for a few recent games due to Sutter not being too impressed with his recent play. Welcome back Tanner!)

Pearson and the Kings’ celebrated and cheered, the Kings’ dads all stood up and cheered, the Kingdom stood up and cheered and Peter Budaj fist pumped and cheered as he registered his first victory as a LA Kings’ goalie, (and I try to catch my breath so my heart rate can slow down. These guys are without a doubt the CARDIAC KINGS!)

Though some of the goals that were scored on Budaj were not his fault (two were turnovers and one a deflection), he still didn’t seem that sharp overall but in the end he made the two most important saves that he needed to provide (in overtime no less), to help the Kings comeback and win this game so congratulations Budaj on your victory and welcome back to the show!

And congratulations to superstar Anze Kopitar for his first hat-trick since 2011! Sutter had this to say about “Kopi” to the LA Kings’ insider after the game,

“It was Kopi’s best game of the season, that’s for sure. Not just because he scored three goals, but it was his best game all around in terms of using his whole package. I mean, he was a pretty dominant player.”

(Photo credit to www.newsday.com)

(Photo credit to www.newsday.com)

As of this writing I haven’t heard any updates about Gaborik’s leg and the extent of his injury.  If it’s as bad as feared then look for the Kings’ to recall Michael Mersch back up from the farm to replace him.

The Kings continue their eastern (Grammy) road trip swing by playing another team that they faced in the Stanley Cup final, the New Jersey Devils on Sunday morning at 9:30 am pst, 12:30 pm est, (damn that’s early!)

Okay I’m out of here, GO KINGS GO!!!

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time!

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