Kings Blank Oilers in Quick’s 51st Shutout, 300th Win
- Updated: January 6, 2019
Uhhhh, the LA Kings won a game. Convincingly. It was a throwback to the 90’s all around and apparently throwing back to when they knew how to play professional hockey. Who is this team and why haven’t they been around all season?!
It did begin like any other Kings game, Toffoli getting chances he couldn’t bury and a backup goalie making us look like idiots. But that table turned quickly starting with Kyle Clifford’s 6th goal of the season 3:15 in. His wrist shot sailed past Kostiken leaving fans pleasantly surprised and hopeful. Sixish minutes later Tyler Toffoli did the same thing, also from a Drew Doughty pass mind you. Being Toffoli we automatically had to check it wasn’t going to be recalled for offsides or goalie interference or some other nonsense but no, it was a genuine Tyler Toffoli goal. Cupcakes all around! Fourish minutes after that Jeff Carter joined his friends on the scoreboard and Kostiken joined his friends on the bench, Cam Talbot taking over in net. I would have let him play the last 6:03 of the first at least but the Oilers did need a shaking up. The Kings were playing excellent hockey. They were forechecking, they were controlling the neutral zone, they were generating chances and limiting them at the other end. By the end of the first, they had 9 shots to the Oilers 3. Yes, you read that the correct way around. Leipsic lost his stick in the neutral zone, strong-armed two Oilers to kick the puck into the Kings offensive zone and proved that giving up on the puck doesn’t have to be the mindset! It was so refreshing.
The second period wasn’t anywhere near as exciting as the first. The Kings continued to stifle the Oilers chances but the change in net seemed to have stabilized their defense. Compared to the first period it was disappointing, but the Kings continued to stick to their gameplay, which was, oddly enough, play good hockey. They were blocking shots and continuing their excellent forecheck, so when a power play in the form of Alex Chaisson slashing Nate Thompson, I fully expected the Kings would convert. After all, it had been that kind of game. But power play was going to be the only area the Kings wouldn’t drastically improve, though it wasn’t awful and actually generated some chances so I’ll take it. During the Kings only penalty kill of the period, Jonathan Quick was more than up to the task, pulling out those old Jedi moves we’ve come to know and love. The Kings were clearly getting underneath the Oilers skin; they were getting killed in the hits – Edmonton ended up outhitting the Kings 25-10 by the end. Nurse pushed Wagner after a play by Talbot and it became a scuffle, little battles erupting more frequently after whistles. The Kings ended the second on a power play but sadly didn’t win the stadium free McFlurrys.
The third wasn’t the Kings best period of hockey ever, but it wasn’t their worst. The did little to grow their lead and much to try and let the Oilers back in it. They took three penalties and while I know their penalty kill percentage needs a boost, let’s also play 60 minutes of hockey yes? The Oilers, who had trouble getting to the net in the previous two periods, didn’t have as much this period, but Quick was determined to get his 51st shutout. (What a career night he had – he’s the second-fastest American born goalie to reach 300 wins, and the 11th fastest overall. Can you imagine how much faster he would have if the Kings hadn’t hit such a slump this season?) It was odd though, that only 4 Oilers forwards were credited with shots on goal – McDavid with 4 (a low number for him), Draisaitl 2, Nugent-Hopkins and Khaira with 1 apiece. It was the Kings forwards getting all the results – Kopitar stretched the lead with a stunning snapshot from the circle, earning him his 300th career goal. Only four other Kings have reached that milestone – Robitaille, 557; Dionne, 550; Taylor, 431; Nicholls, 327. Things got rougher for Edmonton when Carter leveled McDavid, who’d otherwise been kept fairly silent by the Kings. Lucic retaliated by going after Leipsic, so far away from the play the guys who actually had the puck took a good 10 seconds to realize play had to stop. The official penalties were Lucic for slashing, cross-checking and a game misconduct. For Leipsic just the crosschecking. But perhaps sensing they were lonely in the box Toffoli and Nurse ended up there too, 26 seconds later. (Or perhaps the Oilers were quite undone by the Kings.) Edmonton almost kept their goals against average steady when Dustin Brown scored with 1:16 remaining; they’ve allowed an average of 4.9 goals in their last 10 visits, so a 5th goal would have been perfect. And it would have been lovely to see Brown score in his record setting 1078th, now the second most games played by a King. Instead, they called for an offsides review (which I wasn’t sure they were able to do since they already called a timeout) and it was recalled. Ugh, fine, I guess we’ll take the only four goal win. Thanks, come again!
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