Kings Bank Seventh Win Over Senators

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, seven wins in a row. (Obviously, the Kings are my true love. They always have been. Sorry boys.)

The Senators, who were 1-8-1, played (and lost quite convincingly too) the Ducks last night, so the Kings felt safe letting Keumper have a go in net. Apart from a few fat rebounds, the defense had handled, so did I (feel safe that is). A Kings powerplay 1:41 in had me less convinced that their man advantage was safe – if they registered a shot on goal I’d be shocked. It didn’t stop the unstoppable Brown-Kopitar-Iafallo line from a few tenacious shifts to keep the Senators on their toes. Alec Martinez made his presence known with a blast from the point that somehow made its way past every man on. The ice but not the post. It was like that a lot – by the end of the first, the Kings should have had 4 or 5 goals. Tanner Pearson‘s first attempt on net was a breakaway as Jake Muzzn came out of the box (a penalty kill that was substandard by any standard as it took the Kings almost 90 seconds to clear the puck on the first shift!) that should have been the Kings second. As it was Pearson did get the Kings actual first goal, finishing off a stunning Tyler Toffoli play where he deeked the puck in between a Senators legs and kept control to pass it to an open Pearson who was waiting on the other side of the net. It took less than 2 minutes for the Senators to equalize. A sure-fire formula – Kings score then get a penalty, Keumper lunges left and Matt Duchene scores on his right. (I keep forgetting he’s a Senator now, I miss him as an Avalanche.) literally, as he scores the Kings took another penalty, possibly trying to stop the goal but instead causing more commotion. Toffoli should have scored shorthanded (seriously it made no sense that he didn’t, he and the puck were in between their goalie and the goal line buy it slid on the line, never over it.) Rinse and repeat for Kopitar a few shifts later – he had a chance so good I wondered if there were actually anti-Jedi forces at work to stop it.

As we entered the second it was much of the same. Chasing the puck more than they should be against a team that’s arguably not good right now and had played the night before. Shots that defied logic not going in but the Kings needed to capitalize on. Oh yes and trouble keeping a lead. Martinez was schooled when he was smashed hard into the boards by Keumper, but it did lead to a Pearson breakaway he again couldn’t bury. Iafallo did, however, when a weird bounce left him alone in the neutral zone and he sniped the shot in on his breakaway. Once again the celebration was short lived. A sloppy turnover in the offensive zone saw the Kings out of position for the shot that would get past Keumper less than 3 minutes later. Seriously guys keep a lead. Please. They killed a penalty easily and had plenty of chances on the rush but couldn’t finish any of them. They (and we) were getting frustrated. Iafallo missed a grade-A chance after some nice movement from his linemates caught the Senators out of a good defensive position. But none were meant to be. The second ended with some hugs. Though Toffoli probably wasn’t actually hugging that Senator…

The third period was just as choppy, with the Kings unable to really connect on passes or get clean zone entries. There were a lot of turnovers on both sides neither team could chip away at the other team’s defense enough to get through. The Kings finally did first, again; with 3:28 remaining in the third Drown tipped Folin’s beautiful shot up over everyone’s head and into the back of the net.

It was just enough time to be nervous – after all, every other equalizing goal didn’t take that long. Sure enough… It took an empty net but with 8.5 seconds remaining in the game, it couldn’t have been more frustrating. The fat rebounds Keumper was giving up once again put the Kings in a vulnerable position that the Senators used to their advantage. It did, however, give Drew Doughty a chance to outshine the other Norris Trophy winner Karlsson in overtime, when the extra space made his breakaway look just stunning.

He elected to shoot in a very sneaky move that proved too much for Mike Condon. Phew!

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