No Shortage of Goals in Kings Season Opener

Welcome back to the hockey season Kings fans! We may have had to wait longer than any other fan base to see our team on the ice this October, but we only had to wait for 53 seconds to see them give up a goal. To be fair it was McDavid vs. Roy, a relative rookie for the Kings, but it was a familiar place the Kings found themselves in and one fans were hoping was in the past. What was different, and it was something I absolutely railed against the Kings for last season – was that they didn’t let it get to them. They showed grit, they came together, and they got it back. Dustin Brown got the King’s first goal of the season (so, so happy to be able to type that!!!), and for so many reasons it was just delightful. For one, I’ve found a player who stick handles worse than Jonathan Quick. Smith tried to play the puck far too far out of his crease, Anze Kopitar intercepted, snuck it to Brown across the ice, who snapped it through two Oilers defenders and into the empty net. It wouldn’t be Mike Smith’s only mistake. Alas, Drew Doughty wasn’t immune to making mistakes either; he took the King’s first penalty of the game, but the penalty kill also looks smarter under the King’s new direction of Todd McLellan. Then less than 10 minutes into the game the Kings had scored their second of the evening; if you followed the Kings last season you might be confused too. The King’s scoring? Twice? In a period? Craziness! It was Mike Smith’s second mistake, playing the puck behind the net but Kyle Clifford who capitalized on it. He managed to check Smith into the wall, steal the puck and get it to an open Trevor Lewis who snagged the goal officially. But have you noticed the names that have popped up on the score sheet already? Kopitar. Brown. Clifford. Lewis. All veterans who set a strong example in the opening 20 minutes of what Kings hockey should be. Unfortunately, not all the leaders on the team got that memo, as Carter then tripped Joakim Nygard behind the Kings net, which led to a game-tying goal from James Neal. Not to discredit Neal, he’s an incredible player and he picked a great spot to shoot the puck, but I expected some penalties from the rookies, who are still getting used to the speed of the NHL (Bjornfot I’m looking at you against McDavid, several times), not experienced guys like Carter and Doughty. Speaking of Bjornfot, he got the pairing with Doughty, who’s been singing his protégé’s praises all preseason; that’s going to be fun to watch. But with Quick stopping a few other breakaways and the Kings generally looking hungry, and much less pathetic than last season, seeing Brown and Kopitar band together for another goal was a nice payoff. Their new coaching has opened up new spaces for them on the ice, and Brown’s drop pass to Kopitar was what we’d been wanting their drop passes to be last season. Kopitar’s snipe hitting the sweet spot was the icing on the cake.

The second period started with the Kings 1:53 remaining of a Martinez penalty, one not quite deserved but served none the less. The Kings penalty kill, while it did fail with the Neal goal, is much less scary than last season – you get the impression coughing up goals will be the exception, not the rule. (Huh, it’s almost like they understand hockey again!) Michael Amadio and Lewis tried for a shorthanded goal, and that pay in and of itself may have been worth the penalty. But of course, this good feeling wasn’t meant to last, as about 5 minutes into the third, after not clearing the puck from the defensive zone maybe four times, Zach Kassian got one past Quick to tie the game at 3. (Seriously, the puck should have been out of there a good 30 to 45 seconds before the goal, and there were ample opportunities.) But the Kings played on, even getting their own power play, but there’s no improvement to report there. It still needs a lot of work. As far as second periods go, it was an improvement on last season’s abysmal seconds, so boring and not much to report is actually a good thing. The Brown-Kopitar-Iafallo line continued to impress, making nice, clean, crisp and smart plays. Their chemistry will be something to watch as the season progresses. Wagner’s speed is also impressive and will be much more beautiful when someone teaches him how to finish a play. Speaking of finishing, the Kings needed to do just that; instead, Draisaitl, who was instrumental in the Kassian goal, drew a penalty from Kopitar in the last 3 minutes. Again their penalty kill was more impressive but put to use a little more than I was comfortable with, and again, a veteran player.

The third period made up for an uneventful second, with a series of penalties I still don’t entirely understand. It started 3:26 in with an Amadio goal, a stunning snipe from the slot, and once again the Kings were in the lead. Then all hell broke loose – see if you can follow along. It was difficult. 4:07 McDavid actually takes a penalty, which the Kings do nothing with except take a penalty themselves, 45 seconds in. Brown’s penalty was again questionable but doesn’t excuse the Oilers tying it up LITERALLY 2 SECONDS LATER. So it’s 4-4, the Kings are playing 4-on-4 and will go on the penalty kill in 85 seconds. Except at 5:47, Amadio drew a penalty, for 20 seconds of 4-on-3 for the Kings. Then at 7:14, the Oilers end up with too many men on the ice, 8 seconds later Brown came out of the box giving the Kings a 5-on-3 for 24 seconds, thwarted by Leon Draisaitl’s annoyingly impressive play. Doughty’s shot on the remaining regular power play to give the Kings yet another lead, 5-4 and you’d think that would be the end of it. Nope. The Kings couldn’t score without giving up a goal almost immediately all game, so Nurse scoring less than 2 minutes after Doughty really should have been expected. What wasn’t was the Oilers taking the lead again, especially disappointing after some incredible defense from Roy (who was to blame for a couple of goals this evening) while Quick was pretty far out of position and practically left an open net for a couple of Oilers attempts. But when Walker went to the penalty box with 7:23 to go (enough with the penalties already!), Neal (whom the Oilers got for Lucic, there’s some irony or something there) got the go-ahead goal. And despite an impressive effort – I say impressive, the bar was set pretty low last season – the Kings just couldn’t get it back. Not for lack of trying, which was a refreshing change, however. With Quick pulled twice the Oilers had a chance of an empty net and were held off, one by Kopitar so impressive he drew an Oilers penalty blocking a 3-on-1. With 45 seconds to go, Quick still pulled and an extra attacker, OT was so close. But ultimately, the Kings left pointless. They haven’t won a season opener on the road in regulation in 19 years. But with 5 goals scored, the Kings have something they didn’t have last season. Hope.