Next Power Play Wins

Is it December? Is there something in the air? Because the LA Kings have had some weird games as of late. Coming off of a 4-3 win in Arizona they Kings were back at Staples Center (does 1 game count as a road trip?) for 3 games, 2 of which were to be played in the afternoon, and as Kings fans know, that can’t be good.

As per usual for afternoon games the Kings hadn’t woken up yet despite attempting to play the first period. The Habs had the first 5 shots on goal and it was almost 8 minutes before the Kings had any. Unlike the last three games the opposing team didn’t score on their first shot. Progress! No, they scored on their third, 2:30 in. Max Pacioretty got his first on the game (he would end the game with 2 goals and 1 assist) when Derek Forbert blanked on coverage. Alec Martinez was the first to the penalty box – the first of many – at 3:12. Thankfully this penalty kill at least resulted in no shots on goal for the Habs, though plenty of blocked shots in true LA Kings fashion. Tyler Toffoli and Marian Gaborik appeared to be the only Kings awake, as even Tanner Pearson, Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar were slow to get to the puck. The Kings passes were always one step ahead of the players they were intended for. Peter Nudaj was looking a little slow too, though he did have a few nice moments the Kings desperately needed. Doughty was next to the penalty box at 13:37, and while that was actually a penalty well killed the power play the Kings found themselves on almost immediately following saw more shorthanded shots than Kings shots on goal. The finest moment was Kopitar jumping to bat an almost clear puck out of the air, but the Habs defense didn’t let any shots through. The period ended on a split penalty for the Canadiens (one of my least favorite things, as it tends to waste too much of the penalty time resetting.)

The second period is when things got weird. Good weird for the most part, as Jeff Carter started us off in style. 56 seconds in he scored on a shot from Doughty and Kopitar that left Price stunned. 2:16 later Nick Shore, discontent it seemed to only be tied with the Canadiens, brought the Kings into the lead when he took Kyle Clifford’s rebound at the front of the net and snapped it past Price. 2:02 later while the Kings were on the penalty kill (Toffoli in the box again? weird), Pacioretty got his second through traffic that appeared to slide right underneath Budaj’s legs. The Kings almost immediately went back on the power play when Andrei Markov held Carter (I know, I know, we all want to hold Jeff Carter, but on the ice that’s not allowed.) a very loud ping was the closest the Kings got to taking the lead again on that one, but their next power play at 10:11 only took 12 seconds to convert. (Gorgeous sequence to set up the power play too – four or five forechecks back and forth, Brown about to have the next one when Alex Galchenyuk slashed the stick out of his hands right in front of the ref.) Dave Joseph, the Kings announcer, didn’t even get through announcing the full penalty. This was Doughty from Carter and Kopitar (now there’s a goal with some star power behind it!), and it was a gorgeous straight shot from the slot. Of course the game being played as it was, at 10:40 the Kings took their post goal penalty (groan) and 1:10 later  Pacioretty slipped to puck to Radulov for the tying goal. (Is it too much to ask to keep a lead for more than say 90 seconds? Apparently.) Lewis, determined to make up for his penalty that led to the Canadien’s third goal, made a stunning play filled with patience to get Price to bite left while he skated around and shot left. The Kings ended the 2nd with 2/3 of the period’s goals, and up by 1.

Of course it didn’t take long – 2:03 to be exact – for the Canadien’s to equalize. Again. The first Canadien’s goal not to have Pacioretty involved was a rebound even I could have cleaned up. The Kings blocked shots increased significantly after that – blocking 17 compared to the Habs 8. They could have done without the 11 giveaways to 5, but their 6 takeaways to Habs 1 showed some goo discipline and skill. Unsurprisingly they also outhit the Habs 42-29. When the game dwindled down to the closing minutes, play having been relatively even at either end and not much in the neutral zone, overtime seemed inevitable. The Kings going into this game were 6-1 in OT, the only loss coming in a shootout, so it seemed best to end it before it could get that far. But the Kings had reverted back to their first period sloppiness, slow to pick up passes and unable to keep the Habs at bay. A penalty with 1:23 remaining was a soft call on Martinez, but none-the-less left a shootout inevitable if the Kings were going to be able to win. (Especially since one of the Habs took Doughty’s stick while he was trying to dent the PK. He was less than thrilled to say the least.) Yet that wasn’t going to happen either – Budaj let in the first two but managed to stop Pacioretty for seemingly the first time. At the other end Price stopped Gaborik, but Kopitar and Carter got past him to force a fourth round. It wasn’t to be – Pearson missed and Byron didn’t. One point was well-earned – getting 4 past Carey Price is a feat indeed – but the second should have been. The Kings play Thursday against Carolina at home.