King’s Chemistry On Point, Picks Up 2 Points in Home Opener
- Updated: October 13, 2019
This is LA, and you know how we like to put on a show here. The Kings are no exception, blowing a 3 goal lead in the third to ultimately win their home opener against the Nashville Predators. Coming off that awful, never to be spoken of again 8-2 game in Vancouver, McLellan made the bold move of putting in Campbell over Quick, one that endeared him to many fans and definitely this reporter. While I have always admired Quick’s play, and believe he’s earned all his accolades, he had two intensive group injuries last season and he is reaching an age of decline. The Kings need to begin transitioning in his replacement, and while I fully expect to see Quick in net tomorrow for the second half of the back-to-back against Vegas, there was a message today. And it worked. For the first two periods anyway.
For the first 5 minutes, the Kings looked solid until a sharp angle shot made it past Campbell, their first on net. Sounds like Kings hockey, right? The Predators would only get 3 more shots on goal for the rest of the period, stifled by the Kings defense and impressive control of the puck. A power play wasn’t much to write home about, but it did swing the momentum back in the King’s favor, capitalized on by Amadio, cleaning up Kovalchuk’s shot in the crease 8:47in. Less than 3 minutes later Kopitar cashed in on a sick no-look side pass from Dustin Brown that had me drooling just a little, to make it 2-1. It wasn’t just that line that had chemistry. It seemed like every King’s pass was connecting; moreover, they were skating circles around Nashville. When’s the last time you could say that about this King’s team? Even a late period penalty couldn’t stop them, as the Predators managed no shots on goal during their man advantage and had a hard time keeping the Kings contained in their zone. Leaving the first 2-1 made the game look like it was a contest – it wasn’t. The King’s came out gunning and absolutely slayed it.
Naturally, we were concerned about the second period. Act 1 was truly impressive and Act 2 has never been the King’s strong suit. And for half a second, it looked like that might be the case here. But after some initial pushback from the Predators, the King’s quickly regained control. Wow, this team could go places if they kept consistent. I mean they looked *good.* The hits were big, the skating was fast, the passes were slick, and the shots were dangerous. The defense was on top of their job too – everything was coming up Kings. Even more so when Clifford (one of the more underrated players in my opinion) tipped in Ryan’s blast from the blue line, making it 3-1. It appeared they knew Bob Miller was in the house for his 80th birthday! With 7:42remaining the Predators had yet to hit double digits in shots, and a penalty on Walker did nothing to help their situation. If the King’s has this chemistry every game, the season is looking up. Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. A late period power play lasted 19 seconds after Martinez tripped a dangerous Nick Bonino, so they played some 4-on-4 for a bit. The King’s didn’t let it get to them though, as with just over a minute left in the second Amadio showed off another incredible pass to Kovalchuk who slapped it past Saros to make it 4-1.
The third period is where the wheels came off. Their first goal game 1:17 in. Their next two came 34 seconds apart so by halfway through the third it was all tied up. A 3 goal lead blown in less than half a period. It was almost like they’d forgotten to save any energy for the third period, pouring their souls into the first two and leaving nothing left for the last 20 minutes. It was a total collapse, one stopped by McLellan with a time out and reset. Whatever he said worked, because the King’s managed to stop the bleeding, but barely. For a few minutes towards the end, it looked like they wouldn’t even come out of this with a point, and what a waste that would have been. But just when you counted them out, in swooped who else but Brown and Iafallo, scoring the go-ahead goal with literally 59 seconds remaining. Brown had my vote for star of the game; he has 1 goal and 2 assists off 6 shots, 4 hits, 2 blocks, 0 giveaways and 1 takeaway, all in 20 minutes of ice time. He scored the first empty-net goal, and Doughty followed up with a second, bringing the final tally to 7-4. While 60 whole minutes of good hockey is ideal, this game was full of excitement, clinch players and ultimately 2 points. Bring it on Vegas.
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