Carter And Enroth Lead LA Kings Over Sharks 4-1
- Updated: October 23, 2015
“Revenge is a dish best served … cold.” – Klingon Proverb.
Revenge might be served cold, but it’s also delicious. In a re-match from the first game of the season, where the Kings were heavily outclassed 5-1, the LA Kings continued their winning streak with a focused 4-1 win over the rival San Jose Sharks.
In what was at first a very unpopular decision, coach Darryl Sutter decided to play new back-up goaltender Jhonus Enroth instead of the red hot Jonathan Quick. So instead of the Quick vs former LA Kings back-up and current Sharks number 1 goalie Martin Jones, or better known as a “Quickie” vs “Joner” re-match, we got what LA Times reporter Lisa Dillman called, “Jhoner” vs “Joner!”instead and it did not disappoint, well unless you’re a Sharks fan of course. As unpopular and confusing as it was for Sutter to choose Enroth over Quick, (therefore Quick will play today against Carolina), the move worked out brilliantly as Enroth made 39 saves in a solid performance.
Days after a dog named “Cece” that he and his wife foster care for went missing, (but was eventually and thankfully found safe and unharmed), whatever traumatic stress Jeff Carter may have experienced over the last few days (and rightfully so) was converted into a tour de force as “Carts” ended up with 2 goals and 4 points!
To start things off in an epic fashion, das wunderkid Tyler Toffoli received a long pass from Alec Martinez (after Carter had won the defensive face-off) and skated up the left flank. The lane immediately opened as the play turned into a 3 on 1 and the hapless Shark defender executed a defense 101 maneuver by trying to take away the pass by covering the rushing forwards. This allowed Toffoli to walk in on Jones, and after a few fake outs, Jones over committed his right leg before “Toff” could shoot the puck, allowing Toffoli to dance in and around “Joner’s” leg and slide the puck into the net at 11:37 of the first period. Really, this move has to be seen to believe and thanks to the magical power of YouTube, we can make this easily possible, (predict that Back to the Future part II!)
And speaking of predictions, check out what my colleague Phil Loos had to say about Tyler Toffoli’s future this season.
Then the impossible happened as the LA Kings scored a power-play goal. Yes a power-play goal by no other than Christian Ehrhoff! No wait, it was Toffoli again! No wait, it was … actually everyone on the LA Kings team, including me, the barber down the street and the infamous kitchen sink were credited with the PP goal on twitter due to the confusing rapid display of the play. In the end, replays showed that it was in fact tipped into the net by the struggling (for points at least) Milan Lucic at 19:32 near the end of the second period. Carter received the secondary assist.
The momentum continued for the Kings as they started to physically and maybe even, mentally dominate the Sharks in every capacity. Though they were still being heavily outshot (all the penalties the Kings took or the constant struggle to clear the puck out of their defensive zone didn’t help things at all), they were winning loose pucks, winning the battle on the boards and scored again when Jeff Carter sniped a shot past Jones at 3:46. Sharks coach Peter DaBoer issued a “Coaches Challenge” debating that the play (aka Lucic) was off-side but after the refs called Toronto and exchanged recipes, it was considered a good goal.
The Sharks got one back when former Washington Capital Joel Ward scored at 15:06 of the second period, but the Kings nailed the door shut when … guess who?… Jeff Carter won an offensive face-off and passed the puck to … well himself! Quickly (not Jonathan) shooting the bouncing puck, the puck hit the glass behind the net, bounced back into play by hitting the unsuspecting Jones’ right leg and rolled into the net for the second power-play goal of the game (and the season) at 9:35 of the 3rd period. After a red hot start of 3 wins in a row (including beating the Kings in the season opener) and 2 shutouts, Jones has given up 8 goals in the last 2 games.
The LA Kings play the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at the Staples Center and will look to extend their current 3 game winning streak to 4 games. Jonathan Quick should be a shoe-in to start in goal.
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!
Related Posts
About Jeff Duarte
