Kings road trip hope Jettisoned with a 4-1 loss

This was definitely a road trip the LA Kings would want to forget. With a playoff berth confirmed, the Kings could have firmed up their divisional title and made a strong bid for the conference. Instead they lost all three games against non-playoff teams. (Well, 2 wild card contenders and one non-playoff team.) It wasn’t as bad as the final stretch of last season, where they also stopped playing well, but only because of much more solid play the rest of the season. It was, however, eerily similar. With Kris Versteeg still nursing an injury and Vincent Lecavalier taking a break this game, the Kings were missing some offensive players they clearly need back soon. (Marian Gaborik is also supposed to be back for playoffs, so at least there’s that.)

It only took 40 seconds for the Kings to get a power play. Don’t get too excited there; they don’t have a power play goal in any of their last 7 games, despite 18 opportunities. And it wasn’t looking like they’d get one this game either, as they were unable to successfully set up any dangerous plays. Moments later Kyle Clifford slipped the puck over the glass and was awarded the automatic minor; thankfully the Kings are much better at killing penalties than they are at converting power plays and the Jets were held scoreless also. Shots were 3-3, but the Kings quickly took the game into their own hands. About halfway through the first Dwight King, Nick Shore and Dustin Brown has an extended shift in the offensive zone almost finished off by Trevor Lewis taking two or three whacks at Ondrej Pavelec’s goaltending. Tanner Pearson was also creating good chances at the net with a turnover he got to Tyler Toffoli and Nic Dowd – now isn’t that a fun new line. It was a familiar scene – the Kings making it the game they want with speed, turnovers and huge offensive zone time yet no goals to show for it. Shots were 10-4 with a little over 5 minutes remaining in the first, the Jets unable to get a shot off for almost 10 minutes. They had another power play chance with 1:50 remaining (though it took a good 30 seconds for the Kings to touch up) but couldn’t barely get it into the Kings zone let alone get a shot off.

Less than a minute into the second the Kings had another 3 shots on goal, so of course Dustin Brown took a double minor 2:26 into it. In true LA Kings fashion they toyed with their opponent. They limited the Jets to 1 shot on goal in the 4 minutes. They had their own shot on goal when Jeff Carter streaked down the ice on a breakaway, ran out of room but got the puck to Toffoli who made a fast shorthanded bid that Pavalec absolutely stole from him. There were a few almost chances for the Jets but not only was Jonathan Quick on top of it, so was the Kings defense.

The Kings got another chance to prove they suck at the power play at 8:38 thanks to Drew Doughty, yet instead the decided to score on it. (First in 20 power plays.) Finally, breathed the entire fan base. After a beautiful sequence they couldn’t quite capitalize Drew Doughty (who now ties all time Kings defensemen for points, congratulations) brought the puck to an open Anze Kopitar who despite having Carter open center front of the net elected to shoot, confusing Ravalec. The puck went over his pad and under his blocker to the back of the net. The Kings continued to dominate; the Jets responded with a few after whistle scuffles McNabb found himself in the middle of. Eventually the refs found one scuffle too many; Andy Andreoff drew a roughing penalty on Chris Chairot that would have been converted too if not for the post. So despite out shooting the Jets 27-11 it was inevitable that the Jets would tie the game. Their first sustained offensive zone pressure had Quick on his heels; Halischuk had the puck behind the net, passed to Lowry who was in perfect position in front of the net to snap one past Quick. (It’s worth noting that the Kings were dominating every thing: 28-13 hits, 2 giveaways to the Jets 9, 43 attempted shots to 26.)

And because of course it was going to happen, the Kings gave up another goal 15 seconds into the third period. Quick was screened and the shot was blasted straight by him. And because of course this is a Kings game against a non-playoff team it happened again, at 2:54. In almost the exact same way as before except this time the Kings were in possession the whole time until the turnover to the Jets in the Kings zone. Pavalec looked like he may not be able to play the last half of the game when Milan Lucic accidentally clipped him with his stick as he was crashing the net. He rallied; the Kings did not. They couldn’t get any traction and an empty net goal with a couple of minutes to go sealed the deal. A week ago the Kings had the chance to not only win their division but win the conference. With these three losses that’s looking less and less likely. They return home Saturday to play another non-playoff team the Edmonton Oilers.

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