Kings vs. Flames: Flame out

Who wanted that Divisional title anyways? Oh wait, we did. After losing in rather an embarrassing fashion against our divisional rivals the San Jose Sharks earlier in the week, it seemed imperative that the Kings don’t do what they usually do and play down to a non-playoff team. Call the Sharks game a slight wake up call, credit Anze and Gustl bobblehead night (which may be my greatest piece of LA Kings swag ever), but really credit the recognizable names within the organization stepping up. 

For a full 2 minutes the puck didn’t leave the Flames zone. Of course when it did it didn’t take long for the Kings to get a penalty. At 2:35 Drew Doughty went to the box for holding the stick of Matt Stajan, because getting a penalty after sustained zone time, plenty of shots on goal and no score is the most LA Kings thing that you can do. But not to worry Kings fans, as the penalty kill is a finely honed machine by this point (we are a defensive first club) and the Flames didn’t stand a chance. They couldn’t get anything set up – the Kings cleared as soon as they could get the puck to cross the line. And it looked like Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli had more shorthand chances than the Flames did at all. In fact Carter and Toffoli had great chemistry all evening long. Vincent Lecavalier chipped in with some solid and smart plays, as did Dustin Brown who’s presence on the ice tonight showed Mark Messier award calibre leadership. In a particularly stunning play Rob Scuderi had a mini breakaway but recognized he had players with him, drop passed the puck to Brown (a move that in itself was pretty stunning) who shot it; Carter barely missed the deflection in. At the point where Trevor Lewis created a turnover right in front of the Flames goal fans were wondering how on Earth the Kings weren’t winning by 8 goals.

The second period score reflected the game much more accurately than the first. It started early; 35 seconds in Josh Jooris skated past Quick with enough force to see him flat on his behind. 11 seconds later Carter scored. The shot came from the point from Drew Doughty, his 316th point which pushes him into sole possession of 2nd amongst Kings defensemen.  Carter’s net front presence created the perfect position for him to tip it in past Joni Otiro. (Hey, the Kings scored a power play goal!) His second goal took a little over 5 minutes to score. This one came on the rush; Milan Lucic streamed down the left hand side of the ice,  drew the defensemen to him, and oh what a dirty pass he made to Carter who was by a wide open net on the other side.

It was a great period. Alec Martinez showed more presence as a defensemen without a stick in the defensive zone than many will ever show. A Luke Schenn penalty allowed the Kings to show once again how incredible their power play is. Maybe it’s because they’ve had a lot of practice or maybe it’s the defensive first system the Kings play in, but that period they were completely on top of it. So, of course, to close out a spectacular period, the Flames scored. Except they didn’t – the goal was (rightfully) waved off as there was one Flames player between Jonathan Quick and the net and another in front of him who interfered on the play, hence the call. The Flames used their coaches challenge, claiming there wasn’t interference on the play; after a long deliberation with Toronto the call on the ice stood.

It was a good thing for the Kings, as the Flames are a third period team and they showed it, coming out strong and controlling the neutral zone. The only way the Kings could get any offensive zone time for the first half of the period was to get a power play. Two, in fact, yet neither of them helped. In fact, they almost hindered. At 12:38 Andy Andreoff, Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar netted the Kings third goal (and how close was it to a Carter hat trick!) turning the tide of the period back to them. Kopitar began the play, Carter took the shot on the right-wing and Andreoff tipped it in, amongst a lot of commotion in front of the net. Otiro didn’t have a chance. The Kings didn’t let up. Dwight King could be seen hustling with mere minutes remaining and it was clear the Kings were going to win, showing respect for his teammate Quick, who got his 42nd career shutout. It put the Kings (albeit temporarily, as the Ducks have a game in hand) back on top of the Pacific division again.