Kings Undefeated in New NHL Season

 The LA Kings are undefeated in the 2017-2018 season! Sure they’ve only played one game but when’s the last time you remember them winning their season opener? (In regulation is was in 2007.) Jonathan Quick was perfect for the 45th time in his career. The rookies played like they earned their spot on the roster. The third line of Brodzinski-Kempe-Cammalleri had some fantastic chemistry, as did the always entertaining That 70’s Line. Anze Kopitar looked like he was getting back to his old self, Dustin Brown looked free of the shackles of Darryl Sutter, and Trevor Lewis was the Kings leading goal scorer for a period of time there. Yes, you read that correctly.

While a blatant trip on Brown should have been the first penalty of the game, it was Adrian Kempe who drew the first Flyers penalty giving us a chance to see how their new strategy of four forwards-one defensemen on the power play was going to go. It didn’t produce a goal; in fact, it didn’t produce a whole lot of comfort at all. The Kings lacked chemistry and quickly settled into their old rut of outshooting their opponents with nothing to show for it. But the energy of the team felt different. The puck was solidly in the Flyers zone for a substantial period of time, and the shots had potential that had lacked at the end of last season. Quick had several solid sequences where he looked like a magician. Cammalleri tested the Kings with their first penalty of the game; as usual, it was on point with some nice and timely clears. With 1:19 remaining in the period Kopitar came pretty darn close to getting the first goal of the game when Iafollo fed him a stunning cross-ice pass and he took a point-blank shot goalie Michael Neuvirth absolutely robbed him of.

49 seconds into the second period the Kings penalty kill was tested again when Derek Forbert made his way to the box. Once again it came up strong, led by Quick’s stellar performance. They didn’t let it set them back; they surged forward and created strong offense for a sustained period of time. So strong that Lewis got them on the board! In a move so similar to the Iafollo-Kopitar one it was eerie, Clifford gained the zone, fed the puck to Nick Shore who’s cross-ice pass in front of the net found Lewis’s stick, then the back of the net. For 33:21 Trevor Lewis was the leading goal scorer for the LA Kings, and it was glorious. McDermid endeared himself to me by becoming the new McSmash (as the previous McSmash currently resides in Vegas.) His checks were fierce. A few more special teams followed – the first was a power play that looked like a penalty kill for about half of it, then an actual penalty kill – then Lewis had to make his way back down the tunnel when a high stick caught his eye. The resulting four-minute double minor was the same as the number of stitches he needed.

Since the penalty occurred with 1:46 remaining in the second period, the third began with a surge of energy from the Kings on the remaining 2:14 of a power play. Things went slightly downhill from there when they settled back into the dangerous habit of forgetting to play a full 60 minutes of hockey. A one-goal lead is hardly the safest place to be resting on your laurels. The Flyers had 7 uninterrupted shots on goal and put Quick to the test for a good 10 minutes. A Drew Doughty penalty didn’t douse our fears, nor did the Lewis penalty immediately following. It seemed to snap the Kings out of their funk, however, as a flurry of high-quality shots followed that had Neuvirth earning his paycheck. It was Carter and Toffoli who finally broke through his defenses; Carter caught the Flyers defense flat-footed, gained the zone and knew Toffoli was there (seriously the chemistry on the play was beautiful.) Despite a desperate defensive play Carter maneuvered the puck deftly around the Flyer, across the net and to an open Toffoli who snapped it up and past Neuvirth. From neutral ice as the play developed through to the finish, it was truly fine play from the two. Despite a pulled goalie for the last couple of minutes, the Kings had ensured a win. With 25.2 seconds remaining the Flyers all but sealed it with a penalty, and the Kings skated their way to victory!