Jeff Carter Leads the Way to Win and Laid-Back Style

By Jim Ellis
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Updated: February 10, 2017

The Los Angeles Kings center just scored four points, with two goals and two assists in helping his team beat the Florida Panthers 6-3 Thursday night at the BB&T Center.

He is also one of the main reasons the Kings are still in the playoff hunt. And he has 29 goals on the season, only one behind league-leading Sydney Crosby.

So, what does he have to say about all that? “I don’t know. I’m happy that they’re going in the net and I’m happy I’m helping the team out.”

So chill.

But it works. As the Kings had just dropped two games in a row with the same outlandish score of 5-0, the team needed a boost. Leave it to the scoring of Carter, the team focused on a win going into a week break, and the fact they are playing the lame Florida Panthers. Which leads to the question, where are their fans? But I digress.

The Kings team – now 28-23-4 and second in the wildcard spot, one point over Calgary – next plays the Arizona Coyotes at 7:30 p.m. PST, Thursday, February 16 at the Staples Center.

Thursday’s game favored the Kings in every way, except for shots 39-26, including a lopsided 15 to 5 shots in the Panthers’ favor in the third period. The Kings simply had control of this game, as displayed mostly on the scoreboard, three goals in the first and three in the second.

On a power play, Dustin Brown banked a shot off the goalie from a sharp angle.
Tanner Pearson fought for the puck in the offensive zone and then wrapped around a shot on goal, only to have the rebound picked up by Carter who fired it past the blocker side.
On a four-on-four rush, Tyler Toffoli spun his body around and roofed a forehand shot.
On a nice center pass by Brown, Pearson was alone in front of the net and put it home.
Trevor Lewis fought from behind the net to get the puck out front where he and Dwight King kept poking at it, and the Panthers let them until it was in.
After Pearson’s wrist-shot was blocked, Carter took a rebound and went right around goalie to put it in.

A few shots by Panthers found their way to the back of the net, mostly due to a lapse in defense that left a Panther or two on the doorstep alone. But who cares. Let’s be more like Carter, and relax into this win.

Of his top-scoring center, coach Darryl Sutter said, “Jeff Carter climbs the hill for our team.”

The Kings take this win, going into a week-long break. Of that, Sutter said, “We played nine out of 10 on the road, and we came out 6-4. Counting the game in California, we played in nine states, so we’ll take that. It doesn’t matter if there’s a break or not. Our team needs a break and deserves a break.”

And what does Carter say about the win before the break being a confidence booster? “I hope it is, but we’ll see. Ask me in five days.”

Chill.

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