Kings vs. Sharks: Game 1 Defense Disappoints

Welp, here we go again. In the battle for the Stanley Cup the LA Kings once again found themselves needing to go through the Sharks, who this year have our own Martin Jones. In recent weeks the Kings haven’t been playing up to their potential, and there was fear that the Kings would underestimate the Sharks. They did.

If you thought it’d be a heavy hitting game, you’d be right. Milan Lucic lived up to his reputation from Boston by making timely, big hits. (Late into the first he delivered a hit on Tommy Wingels that was so big even the ref who was six feet away cringed. Honestly it was gorgeous.) Kyle Clifford, who clearly knows his role in the playoffs, was on a team racking up hits like the Sharks insulted his mother. Even Dustin Brown was in fine form, adding to the Kings 22 Hits in the first. The first goal came early, from Jake Muzzin, who should actually thank the Sharks defense for redirecting the rebound past their own goalie at 2:53. Things were looking good; the Kings went up early, Jonathan Quick was making Jedi saves, so of course the Kings did what they do best. They took a penalty. And let the Sharks score on it. Barely 2 minutes had passed and the puck found its way between Quick’s left skate and the post. They Kings let the Sharks take it away a little after that – their best chance in the next 10 minutes came from Andy Andreoff who did absolutely nothing on the breakaway. Vincent Lecavilier made his way to the box too, but only a few scary shots made it through. The Kings continued to smash their way through the game, ending the first period still tied 1-1.

I don’t know what happened to the Kings during the first intermission but it can’t have been good, because the second was atrocious, with only one bright gleaming moment. Early in the Kings had a power play but proved that just because the game is a playoff game it doesn’t automatically mean your power play is going to miraculously get good. It wasn’t awful but certainly not what you want to see. Especially since the Kings followed it up with letting in the Sharks second goal. They scored it right off the face-off and it looked like Quick didn’t even see it. Thankfully their next power play, literally 2 seconds after the Sharks goal, was successful, thanks to Jeff Carter. I’m still not sure how he managed to make it work, but he was almost behind the goal when he got the shot off and it ended up off of another Shark and into the back of the net.

The Kings continued to play like they were asleep, allowing the Sharks to skate circles around them. I can count on one hand the amount of chances the Kings had all period to even see Jones. They even let them score, but as it was a high stick that batted it in the goal was saved off. Jake Muzzin (who made some very careless turnovers) was penalized after the whistle, in which the Sharks continued to monopolize the puck. They got lucky when the Sharks shot a puck directly into the pole, as Quick was down and wouldn’t have had it. Drew Doughty then made the save on the other side of the net. Yes, you read correctly, Doughty. And what you’re about to read next you’ll also question: with Doughty the next in a parade to the penalty box, Trevor Lewis scored a shorthanded goal. The bright, gleaming moment in the second period was Lewis making just a stunning play. While everyone else was just thrilled to have the puck cleared, Lewis decided to make a go of it. With Dwight King drawing the defense to him on Lewis’s left, and the other defense sliding in front of him, Lewis waited for the right time, looked right at Jones and wristed the puck over the defenseman and Jone’s head. Of course the Sharks scored moments later, before the penalty kill ended and before the celebration of Lewis’s brilliance had died down. (It died down pretty quickly after that.)

Lucky to make it out of the second period alive, the Kings then gave up what would be the go ahead goal 17 seconds in to the third period. Martinez, who didn’t come back to the game after Lewis’s goal, the Kings relied heavily on defense that simply wasn’t there (I’m looking at you Muzzin, Luke Schenn.) And while Quick came up big many times, the Kings couldn’t do more than defend. With 1:24 remaining Sutter finally pulled Quick, and while the Kings got what felt like 11 quality shots on Jones during that time, none of them got past. Clifford came closest, with an empty net essentially to shoot into; he whiffed on the shot. Truth be told the Kings didn’t deserve to win the game. The Sharks came to win, and they managed to keep the Kings on their heels for the majority of the game. If the Kings want to do better Saturday, they’ll need to stay out of the penalty box and step up their defense. Doughty can’t do it all.

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time!