Kings Win it in Shootout for Bob Miller

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the other Kings news from today; Bob Miller announced his retirement after 44 years with the LA Kings. A career that has spanned 57 years, Miller called 3351 games with the LA Kings. For 27 years he was part of the longest running commentary duo, and when Jim Fox started crying at the press conference, he wasn’t the only one. Miller’s legacy around the league will be great. He wanted people to remember him as a guy who was good to his fans. “I had a great time talking to him and I had a great time listening to the broadcast,” Miller said when asked what he wanted his legacy to be. As someone who had the privilege of meeting him on several occasions, I can attest to the fact that this is true. He was wonderful to talk to, full of incredible stories and genuinely interested in the fans lives too. And listening to his calls of the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup Championships will always bring a tear to my eye. Bob Miller: you are a Champion in every sense of the word, and you will be greatly missed by so many. LA Kings hockey won’t be the same without you. “This is not the way I wanted it to work out,” Miller said. “I wanted to finish every game this season.” Sadly his health prevents it, but we will have two more games of the legend at the end of the regular season, the Hawks and the Ducks games.

So, to the Maple Leafs game. The Kings have some new personnel since the trade deadline finalized teams rosters for the rest of the season. Ben Bishop we’ve seen in action already – this will be the first time fans have seen Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla in a Kings uniform. (Best. Name. Ever.) Daryl Sutter has coached him before, and has been practically salivating over the chance to coach him again. It came at the expense of Dwight King, who heads to the Montreal Canadiens. The draft pick the Kings retained in the deal will likely stay with them, assuming the conditions Avalanche GM Joe Sakic agreed upon aren’t met. It wouldn’t be a Kings game if they didn’t start from behind, so after some extended zone time (and by extended I mean the Iginla-Kopitar-Gaborik line had maybe 7 seconds in the offensive zone then the puck didn’t leave Quick’s side/crease) the Leafs cashed in on a shot from Bozak at 2:03. A collective groan rose up from the crowd as they saw Quick try to scuttle back to his left where the shot was coming from, and the puck rise over his pad into the back of the net. Play continued, and at the other end of the ice, shockingly enough, Trevor Lewis and Nick Shore couldn’t pull off the same feat (though Trevor certainly did his part of the work.) Drew Doughty did his one man hockey team impression many a shift, and it was just as beatific as always. Not beautiful enough for any of his teammates to finish it off, but again, not for lack of trying on Doughty’s part. They finally got some nice puck movement on a delayed call, but the actual power play itself was exactly what we’ve come to expect from the Kings. Lots of clearing from the other team and no real chances. Half way through the game there faceoff percentage was 12.5. It improved slightly to 26.7% but if it seemed like the Kings were  chasing the puck that’d be a good reason why.

The Kings had 1 shot on goal from the 13:36 mark of the first to 8:19 of the second, where they recorded their 9th shot. In that time they had a power play early into the second, in which yet again Drew Doughty was the only King seemingly to actually be playing hockey. It was so bad they allowed a shorthanded shot then immediately preceded to ice the puck. Also during this shot less period of time, the Leafs found a way to score again, at 7:20 of the second period, from another faceoff win (serious face palm moment.) The Kings lacked any kind of chemistry, and gave pause to Iginla’s earlier comment “it’s nice to be back and think of the playoff race.” Really? Because if the Kings keep playing like this Bob Miller’s final broadcast of the regular season will be the Kings final game until October. Even Trevor Lewis was getting frustrated, getting scrappy after the whistle with a few Leafs. Nick Shore had to pull him off. Alec Martinez stepped up, breaking up a nice 2-on-1 rush. Unfortunately so did the post at the other end, and Brayden McNabb continued to practically beg to be next game’s healthy scratch. After his stint in the penalty box, the Kings improved their penalty kill to 44-for-46. Ironically enough they were also 2-for-46 on the power play at this point in the game.

I don’t know what Sutter said to the team in between periods, but when the Kings came out in the third period, they were a completely different team. They actually scored on the power play. I know! And it was Kopitar! 7th goal of the season, the Kings had 1:32 of a power play going into the second but Kopitar only needed 27 seconds. A stunning wrister sailed straight past Freddie Anderson, thanks to the puck movement of Doughty and Jake Muzzin. Life, sweet life, breathing itself back into the Kings game. 2-1 is a vastly different game to 2-0, as proven 90 seconds later when the Kings scored again! Tyler Toffoli smartly got the puck to Martinez and Tanner Pearson at the front of the net, who batted it past Anderson to tie the game. The next 18 minutes were a fast paced showcase of the best of both teams. Quick was on fire. The Kings had their fair share of chances they just couldn’t finish off, much to their chagrin. They still couldn’t win a face-off to save their lives, but they were outhitting the Leafs 35-22. Each chance was looking better and better, at both ends, so when the whistle to end regulation blew, it was a hard-earned point for either team. 5 extra minutes of 3-on-3 hockey couldn’t decide it either, despite some grade-A chances. It was a display of spectacular goaltending, including a Quick save he flicked back to Carter surprising two of the three Leafs, leaving them behind on the play and giving the Kings a 3-on-1 they just couldn’t quite capitalize on. (Thank Doughty stopping a similar attempt down in the Kings zone.) Finally, a shootout was required to award that extra point. Quick was flawless on his end, stopping Austen Matthews, Marner and Nylander. Anderson wasn’t as sharp on his end, stopping Carter and Pearson, but he was unable to blank Kopitar’s shot (and perhaps even had his pads helped the puck go in, but we’ll take it!) It officially puts the Kings back in the playoff race, but the Blues have 2 games in hand and are only 1 point behind, so don’t get your hopes up yet. There’s still plenty of games to go before this race is decided.