Kings won’t Reign, they’ve got the Blues

Somehow this 4 point game between the Kings and the Blues became one of the most important of the season. The Kings played themselves into a corner standings wise which makes no sense if you saw the performance they gave the past few games. Stepping up in big games is the Kings MO, however, so maybe it’s better they have a tough schedule coming up. (On the other hand, it probably won’t matter… Because they didn’t tonight.) They came out gunning in the first, cycling down low, making big hits, getting the puck to the net, and just playing solid hockey. They had a good forecheck, they had good energy, hell they were even winning face offs! They got the first power play of the evening, but alas it seemed while everything else in their game had progressed, that stretch of 4 power play goals in 2 games had to digress, so it was one of *those* power plays. And they hadn’t figured out rebounds yet, why was a pity since Jake Allen was giving up lots of big, fat ones. Still, things were looking good for the Kings, who to their credit hadn’t done anything stupid like give up a soft goal in the opening or closing minutes of the period (Marian Gaborik was back to his old self almost giving the Blues one at the end of the first but Jonathan Quick was on it.)

They didn’t start the period by giving up a goal, but Gaborik did head to the box for slashing 52 seconds in so the Kings power play was tested early. Thankfully that’s always been one of the strongest parts of the Kings game and tonight was no different. It was so good there were more shorthanded chances than Blues chances, but the Kings couldn’t buy a goal. They had 7 shots in 77 seconds, perhaps the best 77 seconds of Kings hockey we’ve seen in months, inability to score notwithstanding. For some reason Bortuzzo took out his own teammate, sending Jaskin back to the locker room with the help of a trainer. Even more bewildering the Blues used it to surge, putting a lot of pressure down in the Kings zone, finally resulting in a goal . Quick made a fantastic first save, ended up spiraling and the puck slipped out from underneath his pad – Perron in the better, inside position getting to it first givng the Blues the lead 13:37 in. A Paul Stastney penalty didn’t generate many good chances for a Kings  comeback, or really any. By the end of the period I was left screaming “pick up a damn rebound” so many times I may have lost what’s left of my voice. (Likely this was a combination of the Kings inability to get into position in front of the net effectively or the Blues ability to tie up their stick effectively.) The Kings had 21 shots on goal in the 2nd, a feat some teams wouldn’t accomplish in a while game, yet nothing to show for it.

So it would come down to the 3rd period. So perhaps not the most appropriate time to stop playing, eh Kings? Quick the notable exception, the Kings were sloppy. The had little to no puck control, they slid back to losing face offs, and the chemistry was gone. (Of course Sutter playing round robin with the line combos didn’t help.) Quick slid so far out of his crease he was in the side boards, yet somehow it was Jeff Carter who was sent to the box for holding 46 seconds into the frame; sure enough the Blues scored 24 seconds later. Quick was down doing the splits and Paajarvi snaps the puck in over his head. Moments later it was clear he was over it; he started to throw punches after the whistle which thankfully didn’t lead to penalties but unfortunately didn’t lead to any real fighting either. (One day I really want to see Quick just go for it and the refs let him.) The Kings weren’t playing well enough to garner any momentum, and a Gaborik penalty didn’t help. Sadly enough neither did a Blues penalty; the Kings just weren’t clicking, and they were playing like they’ve already booked the spa week in April. When Drew Doughty took a penalty for delay of game; well that just sums up the third period right there. The Kings finally got one rebound past Allen thanks to Anze Kopitar winning a face-off and Dustin Brown just persisting. With 2:55 remaining, however, it was too little too late. They pulled Quick again but couldn’t get any good cycling going, no good setups, nothing really of anything. An empty net sealed it with 6.5 seconds remaining, but if the Kings can’t get more than 1 goal of 39 shots, then…

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