Sharks Extend Kings Losing Streak
- Updated: January 15, 2018
How the mighty have fallen – from the first in their division the Kings now sit one point ahead of the Sharks for third place only the Sharks have two games in hand. The Kings could leapfrog Calgary into second as they are only one point behind them and have a game in hand, but things do not bode well for the team. A win against the Sharks was necessary today; instead, they have now lost four straight games, six of their last eight, and nine of their last thirteen games. They’ve lost 29 of 40 games against the West and 16 to their own division. The King’s fate is still in their hands (though stick tap to the Avalanche who defeated the Ducks earlier today, that helps thanks) but their hands are going to need to remember how to score goals if they’re going to get anywhere near the Stanley Cup in a few months.
To the game at hand – after the less than optimal game against the Ducks Saturday, John Stevens opted for Darcy Keumper in net. I like Keumper. He’s a solid back up and tends to make the most of the limited time he gets in net, but my one complaint has always been that he gives up big rebounds. Usually, the Kings defense is up to the task of controlling them but today? Not so much. Sure enough, it only took 4:38 for Kurtis MacDermid to lose his man in front of the net; he stood by and watched as the puck slid in the wide open space right next to him. Meanwhile, the Kings were lucky to have attempted even the one shot on goal they had halfway through the first period. Derek Forbert for his part did break up a fast 2-on-1 with a well-placed stick to keep the game at 1-0 but with no pressure and seemingly no effort on the Kings part to wake up and start any, Martin Jones was having an easy afternoon. (He only faced 6 shots. 6.) It was a slow first period where ‘adequate’ is the aptest word to describe both teams. Mitchell slashed his way into the box with 2:01 remaining and that was the most excited fans had all 20 minutes.
The second period was more of the same, so much so I was barely awake for the Sharks second goal. Clearly, neither were the Kings. And considering it was the first thing of any consequence to happen in the second period and it came 8:52 in, perhaps no one on the ice was awake. There were no great chances, no huge hits, there wasn’t even enough effort to draw or call a penalty. The second goal was much like the first, too. The Sharks shot to get the rebound and cleaned it up easily, while the Kings couldn’t get their sticks or bodies in a defensive position. It wasn’t even that they were out of sync; they just weren’t really all there. Kyle Clifford tried to get some excitement back into the game with a fast breakaway, but he’s denied by Jones and ends up knocking the net off its moorings. Ever the gentleman, he tried to place it back while backchecking and skating away. It was the best chance the Kings had and one of the few times the puck even made it into the offensive zone. Meanwhile, Keumper was keeping us on our toes as one shot snuck behind his skates, but he was able to cover before it crossed the line. Leaving the second down 2-0 isn’t ideal but a comeback was possible. If only the Kings would *do something.*
Nope, that wasn’t going to happen. Marian Gaborik had a stunning chance all alone on Jones’s doorstep but took too much time to set up the shot which didn’t end up really going anywhere. The Kings best chance all period came from a great Tyler Toffoli forecheck, but (because apparently, the hockey Gods have a sense of humor) the best player available was Trevor Lewis and he didn’t have a stick. Seriously. With 10:49 remaining the Kings gave up any chance of a comeback by letting in the third goal of the game. Honestly, the game was lost long before then, but a comeback from 2-0 even with the clock winding down seems much more surmountable than aiming for 3 unanswered goals in 10 minutes. They did manage to get one – a power-play goal from Lewis, who can bury pucks when he has a stick! But no one else could seem to get any decent plays going. Toffoli and Adrien Kempe had a nice chance – Kempe’s speed helped him gain the zone and left Toffoli open but again – the Kings weren’t making Jones’s afternoon difficult. Moments later, Kempe and Brent Burns, had coincidental slashing minors which did serve to give the Kings momentum and what looked like a power play, but it was too little too late. They needed those cycles and that pressure for more than the remaining 5 minutes. And they needed to be able to get some offense when Keumper was pulled rather than immediately have to defend against empty net goals. Which the Sharks got with 19.4 seconds remaining. The Kings need to figure out their division or things are going to get very dicey in the next few months.
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