LA Kings Pull Rocky Like Comeback Over Flyers, Win Shootout 3-2

By Jeff Duarte
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: November 18, 2015

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a City known for it’s brotherly *cough* love *cough* and it’s important historical value. A former meeting place of America’s founding fathers, as well as the former temporary capital of the country and let’s not forget, the birth home of Extreme Championship Wrestling! (E-C-DUB!, E-C-DUB!). But to truly describe how this road game in this historical City was for the Los Angeles Kings against the hometown Philadelphia Flyers is best summed up in comparison (well parts of it at least) with one of my (many) favorite film series of all time. A film series with a fictional character that was from Philadelphia himself, Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa from the Oscar winning Rocky series!

Unlike Rocky though, who was everyone’s favorite underdog (but who eventually became so rich he purchased and had a fully functional nanny robot! YES A NANNY ROBOT AND IT WAS AWESOME!), the LA Kings were the favorites to win this game as the Flyers have been subpar for some time now, but in a total heel move (which “Philly” fans normally love) that I’m sure will anger the “Philly” fans even more than the Brayden Schenn “no goal” did (spoiler alert), it is THE KINGS that I’m crowning with the Rocky Balboa comparison instead of Philadelphia’s own Flyers as the Kings looked down and out in this game but in true epic Rocky fashion, made a stunning comeback to tie the game, compete and survive a total slug fest (think the montage during the final fight scene in Rocky IV, no not that one, the other one) and win in a shootout to beat the Flyers 3-2! (It’s okay for Rocky to portray the Kings instead of the “Philly” team because it is Hollywood after all, AM I RIGHT???)

The game started off with a fitting tribute to Simon Gagne, who played for both the Flyers and the Kings but with the major difference of Philly fans seeing him in their eyes like this …

… while Kings fans see him like this.

Still it was great to see Gagne get saluted and remembered by his two major fan bases! (And as I say that, a Tampa Bay Lightning fan sheds a tear). I thought it would be cool and funny if Gagne turned on the Flyers organization by ripping open his suit and revealing a Kings jersey underneath but sadly it didn’t happen.

The game got off to a quick (not Jonathan, well not yet at least) start and the “Philly” fans immediately continued their time honored tradition of passionate booing to returning athletes that are no longer apart of their team by booing the return of their prodigal son, Jeff Carter. I always find it amusing how the same player can be hated in one place like Philadelphia and beloved in another like Los Angeles, (and as I say that, a Columbus Blue Jacket fan sheds a tear).

Thing got off to a “Rocky” start for the Kings (see what I did there?) when Doughty took a tripping penalty, which led to the Flyers getting on the board first when Shayne Gostisbehere scored on the power-play at 3:41. This would be the first of many frustrating plays that “Dewy” would have to suffer through in this particular game. Things evened out when former Edmonton Oiler Nick Schultz got an interference penalty and Jamie McBain tied things up 1-1 on the power-play at 15:06. (I have to say, I’m not sure what it is about McBain that works so well with Darryl Sutter‘s system and with his LA Kings’ teammates but whatever it it, IT. JUST. WORKS!)

That was about it for the excitement as the second period turned into a snore fest like the lackluster second act of the Rocky V film. The only key moment in the second period was the above (spoiler alert) mention of former LA King Brayden Schenn’s (no) goal at the 9:28 mark. One of the officials waved off the goal after the puck slipped into the net but after a deep discussion with the other officials (about which Rockey film was the best?), it was then declared a good goal! (Huh?). All this confusion led to the officials having to (wake up) the situation room in Toronto and after some (coffee) heavily analyzed video review, the Toronto team noticed that Schenn had in fact, KICKED the puck into the net so therefore it was a no goal. This made Philadelphia very angry (like more than usual). So angry in fact, that they forgot to boo Jeff Carter for the rest of the period! (GASP!)

In the 3rd period, the King’s got bored (or something) and decided to make things interesting by giving the Flyers as many opportunities as possible to win this game by taking an unsettling amount of penalties. The Flyers saw right through this and countered by high sticking Doughty in the face TWICE! Both high-sticks were uncalled by the referees to further fuel Doughty’s frustration.

Like an upper-cut from Apollo Creed that knocked Rocky down, the Kings finally channeled their inner Rocky Balboa by springing back to their feet and hitting Philadelphia with everything they had! (According to the Kings’ color analyst Jim Fox, this included the metaphorical kitchen sink as well!) Struggling to hold on to the lead and victory, the Flyers attempted everything they could to survive but remember, I am comparing this to a Rocky film, with the LA Kings as Rocky so just when things had started to look grim for the them and many would have counted them out for the count, the Kings connected with one last comeback haymaker of a right hook to knock “Philly” down on their butts when Milan Lucic scored with 0:56 seconds left in the game to tie it 2-2! (ROCKY! ROCKY! ROCKY!) The entire sequence started with the frustrated Doughty, who finally got some measure of revenge by making a nifty fake out lob pass to “Kopi,” who passed it to Jake Muzzin, who shot the puck into traffic (not the 110), which bounced off Tyler Toffoli‘s body and right to Lucic’s stick for the goal! (DEWY! DEWY! DEWY!)

Remember when I mentioned the montage during the final fight scene in Rocky IV? (No not that one, the other one). Well that perfectly described the 3 0n 3 overtime that followed (well the Philadelphia fans don’t change allegiances like the Russian fans do in the film but you get the idea) or in other words … FORGET EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THIS GAME BEFORE THE OVERTIME STARTED BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE THE REAL GAME BEGAN!!!

Okay here goes nothing. <Takes a deep breath ….. >

Overtime starts for the LA Kings with Kopitar, Tanner Pearson and Alec Martinez. “Kopi” loses the face off and the Flyers take advantage of the wide open ice and try to attack the Kings’ defensive zone but the King’s defend very well and counter-attack with Pearson taking a shot on Flyers goalie Steve Mason. The Kings make a line change on the fly to Carter, Toffoli and Doughty but Jakub Voracek skates through everyone and forces Quick (not the … actually yes it is Jonathan Quick!) to make the save. Not to be deterred, Doughty recovered the puck and decides that whatever Voracek can do, he can do as well so he tries to skate past the Flyer defenders (somewhat) and gets a shot on Mason that is saved. “Philly’s” Sean Couturier counter-punched with a dangerous looking shot that Quick reflectively saved with his right pad. After a line change, a hungry looking Marian Gaborik took the puck into enemy territory but ended up losing it. Captain Dustin Brown picked it up along the boards and perfectly protects the puck with all his strength before making a Wayne Gretzky like pass right back to a WIDE OPEN GABORIK! He fakes. He switches to his backhand and he … OMG, WHAT A SAVE BY MASON! (UGH! I JUMP OFF MY SEAT AND SHAKE AN ANGRY FIST AT THE HOCKEY GODS WHILE ASKING “WHYYYYY???”) Brown recovered the puck and gave it back to “Gabo” but this time he shoots it wide. The Flyers counter-attacked with only a … BREAKAWAY BY THEIR CAPTAIN CLAUDE GIROUX! SPEEDING DOWN TOWARDS THE NET AND WITH THE ENTIRE “PHILLY” ARENA HOLDING THEIR BREATH, GIROUX FAILS COMPLETELY WHEN JONATHAN QUICK EXPERTLY JOHNNY BOWER POKE CHECKS THE PUCK OUT OF HARM’S WAY BEFORE GIROUX COULD RAZZLE DAZZLE IT INTO THE NET! (WHICH MAKES ME INSTANTLY BOW TO THE HOCKEY GODS AND ASK FOR THEIR KIND FORGIVENESS!) Brown and Gaborik attempt another attack which Mason also saved that led to nothing but a … SECOND BREAKAWAY FOR THE FLYERS, BUT NOW BY MIKE DEL ZOTTO! RACING BACK TO HELP HIS GOALTENDER, MARTINEZ CATCHES UP TO “MDZ” AND TRIES TO STOP HIM BUT HE STILL GETS A SHOT ON NET WHICH QUICK STOPPED AS WELL! (QUICKIE! QUICKIE! QUICKIE!) AFTER THE KINGS CLEARED THE ZONE AND MAKE A NECESSARY LINE CHANGE, THE FLYERS COME BACK BUT SHOOT THE PUCK INTO THE CROWD TO FINALLY CALL A STOP IN THE PLAY!

The Flyers win the ensuing face-off but Lucic gets the puck out the Kings’ zone and makes a solo attempt towards the “Philly” goal before coughing up the puck into nothing but a … TWO ON ONE FLYERS ATTACK! GOSTISBEHERE RECEIVES THE PUCK AND IS ALL ALONE ON QUICK! HE SHOOTS … HE … WHAT A SAVE BY QUICK!!! (FORGET ROCKY! WHETHER QUICK KNEW HE HAD THE PUCK OR NOT ON THAT SAVE DOESN’T MATTER BECAUSE HE IS IN FULL JEDI MODE RIGHT NOW AND NOTHING IS GETTING PAST HIM!) THE KINGS COME BACK WHEN KOPITAR SETS UP DOUGHTY FOR A SLAPSHOT (NOT PAUL NEWMAN) FROM HELL BUT MASON MAKES THE SAVE. This leads to nothing but a … THREE ON ONE ATTACK BY PHILADELPHIA (I LOOK UP TO THE HOCKEY GODS AND ASK “ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW???”) FORMER POPULAR LA KINGS PLAYER WAYNE SIMMONDS SETS UP A PASS TO A RUSHING IN AND WIDE OPEN (TO KINDA BORROW FROM MY COLLEAGUE AND OUR REGULAR GAME RECAP BLACK BELT ARTIST EMILY RADENBACH BY CALLING THIS PLAYER) “SOME FLYER GUY” WHERE JONATHAN QUICK MAKES NOT ONE BUT TWO “CLUTCH” SAVES TO KEEP THE KINGS IN THIS (BLOOD PRESSURE RISING) GAME! (WHEN EVERYTHING IS ON THE LINE, THAT IS WHAT QUICK DOES BEST AGAIN AND AGAIN! (AND AS I SAY THAT, HENRIK LUNDQVIST SHEDS A TEAR!) THE KINGS ARE THEN ABLE TO KEEP THE FLYERS AT BAY FOR THE REMAINING FEW SECONDS OF THIS GAME AND THE 3 ON 3 OVERTIME FINALLY ENDS (AND I AM SO AMPED RIGHT NOW I AM ALMOST TEMPTED TO THROW THIS TELEVISION AND LAPTOP OUT THE NEAREST WINDOW TO FINALLY END MY SUFFERING AND RID OF ME FROM THIS LIFE LONG HEART ATTACK INDUCING CURSE OF A SPORT!!!)

Okay I’m back, where was I again? Oh yes, the overtime period had completed and we are off to the shoot-out (sigh). Sam Gagner of the Flyers starts things off but Quick is still in full “Jedi mode” so Gagner is denied. Carter tries to score for the Kings but he is denied by Mason. The Flyers came back with Captain Giroux but Quick still said “No” to him, (but he did it with his mind as the puck seemed to slowly get past Quick’s body after making the initial save but made a dead stop before crossing the red line when Quick “Jedi mind tricked” it to think that this wasn’t the net it was looking for!). Kopitar then went for the Kings and he snipes it past Mason’s right shoulder and banks it right “in the well” to give the Kings a 3-2 lead.

It is now all up to Quick to make the save and win the game for the Kings or for the Flyers’ Jakub Voracek to score and tie things back up. The former instead of the latter happened when Quick made one of his trademarked vintage splits (or splats) pad saves and wins the game for the Kings! (QUICKIE!!! QUICKIE!!! QUICKIE!!!)

Jeff Carter then skates to the center of the rink and with a microphone in his hand, he makes a life altering speech about how if he can change, and “Philly” fans can change, then everybody can change. EVERYBODY CAN CHANGE!!!

Okay, that didn’t actually happen (which would’ve made my Rocky comparisons more compatible, well unlike when I added some Star Wars references for Quick,) but be as it may, like Rocky, the LA Kings didn’t give up and after a “war in the ring” they had their arms raised in victory in the end … of this regular season game … on their first eastern swing road trip. The Kings next play on Friday against the Mike Babcock-less Detroit Red Wings.

Ok, I’m out of here … no wait. I mentioned this on twitter and I feel it needs to be addressed here as well. For those of you who don’t consider Jonathan Quick “elite,” then I highly recommend that you take those “blinders” off and have your eyes wide open when you re-watch him single handedly keep the Kings in this game during the 3 0n 3 overtime period and shootout. This viewing goes along with his other overtime performances in the 2012 AND 2014 Stanley Cup Finals (give me those numbers people and tell me that they’re average!). Overtime games that he won over “elite” goaltenders like Martian Brodeur and Lundqvist. If he’s somehow and strangely still not “elite” in your eyes after all that than you can seriously keep the word. I want no part of it. What I see is someone better than “elite.” I see someone who is “Clutch” and “Clutchness” is what wins Championships (plural) my friends. You’re welcome.

Okay, now I’m out of here. GO KINGS GO!!!

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!