Finally! Chicago Snap Kings 10 Game Losing Streak

The Kings went into this game having lost the last 10 games in a row, so they were due one right?? They took it to heart clearly, coming out gunning. Well, Chicago did for two minutes then gifted the Kings an early power play by taking my least favorite amateur penalty ‘too many men on the ice.’ (Least favorite when we take it. Most favorite to mock when other teams do.) Dustin Brown scored his 15th of the season by doing what he does best – staying in the blue paint and cleaning up rebounds. He actually cleaned up his own rebound when Crawford failed to cover it with his sprawling body, Brown lifting the puck cleanly and easily over him. Less than a minute later Chicago was called again, this time for tripping Jeff Carter. It took a little longer but before 5 minutes had gone in the first period the Kings had 2 power play goals. Walker snapped a stunning shot from the blue line, placed perfectly to pass Crawford’s shoulder into the back of the net. What is even happening right now?! Things settled down after that, even swinging a little to Chicago’s direction, aided by a Kempe penalty that Quick did all the work of killing. That seemed to wake the Kings up again from their 2-minute nap and he and Lewis almost made it 3-0, while Clifford was doing his Hulk impersonation. Finally, a third goal did come to the Kings thanks to Kovalchuk, another perfectly placed blue line shot; slightly less impressive because there wasn’t any traffic in front but it still put the Kings in a confident position so who am I to judge? It was too much to ask to end the period that way though, as Chicago got on the board with 1:14 remaining (once again the Kings come so close to closing out a period and can’t quite pull it off. But if they kept this pace, I was willing to allow it.)

They didn’t and so I was even more upset they let Chicago in an inch. First Chicago goal came 2:06 in thanks to Crawford, who actually knows how to stick handle. He snapped it to Perlini who had an uncontested breakaway he wristed past Quick for his second of the game. A minute later Tyler Toffoli and Kruger got a little rough after the whistle and both ended up in the box; the 4-on-4 leaned towards Chicago who would end up tying the game before 7 minutes of the second had passed. (Had it been anyone but Phaneuf with Carter on their mini-breakaway moments before, it would have been a different story.) I was mad at them for 1:11, but Kempe tempered by ire with his fast hands and wrister that beat Crawford, putting the Kings back in the lead. I was still mad they blew a 3 goal lead and had no confidence they could keep this one, but you only need one. Chicago was determined to get it back though, and it seemed to be mostly luck that kept them from it. Posts, pucks ringing around the goal line, and a little Quick stopped their chances but they were getting far too many opportunities for my liking, especially when Toffoli was called for boarding. Little Toff trying to be tough? How about instead you score on those breakaways instead? He had one as the period closed when the puck ricocheted off Kopitar’s head (he looked like he was in pain) and to his waiting stick in the neutral zone. His broken stick had a lot to do with that, but since it broke when he slammed it against the wall of the penalty box, I’m less inclined to cut him slack on that.

Still, the Kings managed to keep their lead heading into the third. And 4:54 into the third Leipsic made it 5-3, at which point I felt much more comfortable. I mean sure, they’d managed to lose a 3 goal lead in the pace of 8:11 but surely they wouldn’t do the same thing again, right? Crawford looked beat, particularly after Leipsic’s goal actually deflected in off of Crawford himself, and he dejected in a way that Quick didn’t. Quick managed to hold on, helped out by in particular the Clifford-Lewis-Kempe line, who seemed to be doing all the right things on the ice to keep the Kings in the game. They had some good chances themselves; some created by themselves but some created by Chicago is a little bit of a mess in front of their own net. The final nail in the coffin came when Brown bookended the game with his second goal, 1:53 remaining. Everyone knew they’d won it by then, but it was nice to see the 3 goal lead restored. Cool fact of the game: Jonathan Quick and Corey Crawford each tallied an assist in the game, marking the sixth time since 1993-94 that both goalies had an assist in a game, and the first time since Cory Schneider (VAN) and Steve Mason (CBJ) each tallied assist on March 17, 2012.