Kings of California Again

Just like it was important to show up against the Sharks, it’s equally important to show up against the Ducks. Perhaps more so. So letting in the first goal on the Ducks first shot after dominating the first four minutes was disappointing, to say the least. (They are 8-35-6 when their opponent scores first, for context.) Just as disappointing as Tyler Toffoli’s season. Clearly sending away his Tanner Pearson hasn’t helped (so can we get him back? He’s a stand-up guy.) I used to be excited when he got the puck. There used to be promise on that shot. No longer does an uncontested shot mean the Kings have a chance at scoring. At least the Kopitar-Brown-Iafallo line was looking good. In fact, the team, in general, was looking better. Their passes were (mostly) connecting, they were battling along the boards, and they had good looks on Miller. Their first power play proved that more than their second – as I screamed at Iafallo to pass better, he did. To Martine who’s slap shot got redirected by Kyle Clifford who was stationed at the front of the net, giving him his first power play point ever. I’ve been so proud of his development this season and adding to that a season-high points total of 15 felt fitting. Their energy lifted after that, winning faceoffs and forcing mistakes. Their second power play towards the end of the period wasn’t their best effort, but it was an effort. Coincidental minors ended the first, Silfverberg high sticking Kempe and Kempe with some unsportsmanlike conduct, carrying over the 4-on-4 into the second for 36 seconds.

As the second began it was clear that Miller was going to be a problem. No matter how many chances the Kings got and no matter how good, Miller was up to the task. In fact, it was a performance worthy of stealing a game – and it would be stealing. The Ducks first shot came 11:09 in, then at 16:11, and that was it (until an unfortunate incident I’ll get to.) The Kings, however, earned every shot and every second of zone tome. Trevor Lewis dished the puck to Clifford giving him a clean breakaway I was just as happy to see him get the chance as to the outcome. Which Miller stopped but I just like seeing Clifford being put in such positions. It was a physical game; lots of after-whistle roughing, lots of hits during the action –  a total of 34 hits for the Kings and 31 for Anaheim. But as the Kings shots ticked up and Anaheim’s didn’t I was worried it was a trick game. One of those where the Kings do everything right then one moment slipping up leads to a goal. Well, that did happen, but Jeff Carter got a goal first so it wasn’t quite so crushing when it did. Carter’s goal came from Brown, extending his point streak to four games (3-3=6), he dished it through traffic and Carter wristed it in as he skated almost behind the net at a sheer angle. Short-lived victory, as with 25.9 seconds remaining Wagner took a penalty. And with less than 2 seconds remaining Rakell scored the flukiest goal I’ve ever seen. It looked kind of like Carter’s goal but from a much more difficult angle. Like bizarrely difficult.

The Kings only got 6 shots in the third period. And with the Ducks scoring a shorthanded goal 13 seconds into a Kings power play, that could have spelled disaster. The shorthanded was an embarrassment of fairly epic proportions; missed connections and shocking defense had me worried. The continued flurry of breakaways and outnumbered attacks the Ducks had flipped the script from the second period – it was like the Kings had used up whatever defense they had in the second and needed a cheat code or power up mushroom to get some more back. Which just made the equalizer with less than four minutes remaining that much sweeter. It’s so nice to see a team that battles back again. (Kudos to Kempe too for his hustle in this department.) Grundstrom got his 3rd of the season (he’s played 7 games), and the Kings got to overtime. Which was an incredibly impressive display of athleticism that couldn’t settle the score. Kopitar did a stunning screwdriver move similar to what he did on Jones last game, which was the only puck to make it past a goalie, giving the Kings a win in the game and the season series. It felt so good. The Kings have won all three games this season that went to a shootout, and all eight games that have gone into overtime. They also allowed at least 3 goals in 17 of the last 20 games, a trend I’d like to see snapped. My favorite weird statistic though? Against teams they’ve faced in the playoffs this decade (New York, New Jersey, Arizona, San Jose, St. Louis, Chicago, Anaheim, Vancouver, Vegas), Los Angeles is 16-8-2. Against all other teams, they’re 11-31-6.