Rookie Kings Lead LA Over St. Louis
- Updated: November 20, 2018
(Los Angeles Kings’ rookie goaltender Calvin Petersen, left, holds his commemorative game puck after recording his first NHL shutout, while fellow LA rookie Matt Luff, right, shows off the puck he scored for his first NHL goal, after Monday’s 2-0 Kings victory over the St. Louis Blues at the Enterprise Center. Photos courtesy of the Los Angeles Kings.)
The pictures above say it all. It was a big night for a pair of Los Angeles Kings’ rookies, as two young newcomers led LA to a 2-0 shutout victory over the St. Louis Blues before a crowd of 16,860 at the Enterprise Center.
24-year-old Calvin Petersen, who started the season fourth in LA’s goaltender depth chart, picked up his first NHL shutout Monday in only his third start. Petersen stopped all 29 shots that he faced, many of which forced the young netminder to make huge highlight reel saves, as the Blues fired away at the rookie from seemingly every direction at once. Here is a montage of Petersen twice robbing Tyler Bozak, and also denying Vince Dunn:
21-year-old Matt Luff, playing in only his sixth NHL game scored his first NHL goal, the game-winner at that. Luff’s goal came on a beautiful 2-on-1 with linemate Adrian Kempe, who fed the rookie a perfect pass, and Luff buried it in the back of the net. It won’t matter if Luff plays another 20 years in the league, he will never find himself more wide open to receive a pass than he was on that play, as the Blues had left him all alone in the neutral zone. Here is the replay:
After the game, Luff described that goal:
“Kempe grabbed the puck, and I was just screaming for it, and Kempe is a good passer and he put it right on my stick. And you know what? The rest was, I kind of blacked out, but you know. It wasn’t the perfect shot, but you know what? I’m just happy it went in,” Luff said.
On that goal, Carl Hagelin assisted to pick up his first point in only his third game since coming to the Kings last week. Anže Kopitar added an empty-net goal in the final minute of the contest to seal LA’s victory.
With the win, the Kings finished their three-game road trip 2-1, and improved their abysmal record to 7-12-1 for 15 points after 20 games, leaving them still as the worst team in the league through the first quarter of the season. LA is dead last or tied for last in the NHL in seemingly every statistic known to mankind: wins (7), losses (12), regulation or overtime wins (6 ROWs), standings points (15), winning percentage (.375), goals scored (40), goals per game (2.0), goal differential (-20), power-play conversion (13.3%), and power play goals on the road (0).
Yes, folks, you read that last one correctly, the Kings have still not scored a power-play goal on the road, not even on this latest road trip in which they played two of the league’s worst teams in the Blues and Chicago Blackhawks. However, LA has managed to give up four short-handed goals this season to tie for second-to-last in the league. That is how inept the Kings are on the power play, as they have relinquished four goals to opponents while still drawing a blank on the road. Pathetic.
Oh, and in addition, LA is tied for second-to-last in shots per game with only 27.9. Overall, the Kings have basically stunk up the ice this season, and have only looked decent when playing against teams equally as terrible. But hey, for one night, Monday, the Kings gave their fans a rare opportunity to smile.
The Kings return home to host the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday. Until then, Go Kings Go!!
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