Lucic’s Return Sweetened By Kings Win

I’ve been waiting for the rerun of Milan Lucic in much the same way a jilted ex waits for revenge. “Hey, we could give him everything except $42-million,” Darryl Sutter said. “We could give him climate, give him the centermen, give him everything. But at the end of the day, I’m happy for Looch. He’s 28 years old. You’ve got 42 million reasons to move, that’s pretty good.” Is it too corny to say revenge is a dish served cold considering we’re playing the game on ice?

Last practice Sutter threw out a challenge to Toffoli, saying “I just think Tyler can be better around the net.” Somehow I don’t think sitting on the opposing goaltender’s head was quite what Sutter meant (and I’m pretty sure any goal would have been waved off for goaltender interference) but That 70’s Line was crashing the net and getting chances. Theirs would come later; Derek Forbert’s first goal of the season had to come first, and it was a perfectly placed slap shot that barreled past heavy traffic to pass Jonas Gustavsson. Before I even had a chance to tweet the success the Kings were on a power play, thanks to ex-King Andre Sekera (whom I also have slightly bitter feelings towards, but only because I enjoyed watching him play here. Oh and we paid a lot for him only to see him break our hearts too. What do the Oilers have that we don’t I ask you? Is Connor McDavid really that good? I mean yes, yes he is… But still.) It would have been quite fitting for the Kings to score on that power play, but alas their power play woes continue to follow them. It was the momentum and play of said power play that led to the goal, however, as Sekera had only exited the box 4 seconds before Toffoli scored his goal. A perfect pass from Jeff Carter allowed Toffoli, open at the front of the net, to slip a snapshot past Gustavsson for the Kings second goal of the period. Carter, notorious Oiler-killer, ended the game with 28 points in 22 games against, and Toffoli 15 in 14 games. The play for the first period hit its peak there, as the plays that followed didn’t seem to stress the Oilers quite as much. Jordan Nolan had just about the cleanest breakaway I’ve ever seen and couldn’t handle the puck when it mattered. Toffoli had a similar breakaway but ran out of room before he could take the shot. Then down at the other end Peter Budaj decidedly owed Gilbert a drink for a fantastic block that certainly would have been a goal without him, as Budaj was scrambling on the ice looking the other direction.

The second period threatened to go downhill the way many of the Kings second periods have in the past, and if not for Carter and Toffoli teaming up for their second of the evening, it would have. Early in the Oilers tallied their first, a shot from the point it appeared Forbert deflected in himself (the shot certainly changed direction in front of Budaj.) Their second didn’t take too long either, and was in no way a surprise considering the Oilers had all of the momentum and puck possession for the period. Things looked even bleaker as Jordan Nolan took a penalty at 8:58, a mere 26 seconds after the second Oilers goal. Never fear, however, Carter and Toffoli were on it, as Toffoli took control of a loose puck in the neutral zone, slickly snuck it past his Oiler defenseman and Carter took it from there. Nothing but net. Gorgeous. The Kings spent the rest of the period on the attack, Dowd, Drew Doughty, and Carter in particular making some stunning plays. Nolan took the attack part literally, when he got into it with Patrick Marron, however the ‘fight’ was more like awkward slow dancing at a high school prom. A power play with 1:23 remaining in the period didn’t serve to do much, unfortunately, but the Kings had the lead going into the third and the Oilers couldn’t generate enough good chances on the Kings. The Kings, however, were attacking the zone, making three or four similar plays in a row that didn’t get past Gustavsson but put the Oilers on edge. Finally, one from Derek Forbert left the puck open on the rebound and Devin Setoguchi slipped past Gustavsson, backhanding it from behind him into the net. Dowd got his 7th assist of the season on that goal, putting him first amongst Kings forwards in that category, 2nd in the team only to Alec Martinez’s 8. The night ended thusly, 4 Kings goals to 2 Oilers, despite an empty Oilers net for 2:19.

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