Went To A Fight And A Hockey Game Broke Out

 A couple of years ago I went to a Kings Canucks game where there were 109 minutes of penalties. The head coach of the Canucks at the time was John Tortorella, current head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. So it really wasn’t a surprise that the Jackets came to fight last night.

It should have been an easy game. Lumbus came into it with only 3 wins and 10 losses. The Kings had a power play 27 seconds in. Yet it was obvious early on that the Kings chemistry was off, since the power play looked more like a penalty kill. 6:05 into the first Erhoff found his way into the box for a real penalty kill, which lasted a mere 16 seconds before Cam Atkinson beat Jonathan Quick. From then on it seemed like the game became a series of fights with some periodic hockey in between. Kyle Clifford began the festivities with 8:24 remaining in the first period, when Nick Foligno stripped him of his stick in the offensive zone and Clifford took offense. They dropped gloves center ice, skating around each other before throwing a few punches and spending the next five minutes in the penalty box.

The only bright spot in an otherwise sloppy period, where the Kings seemed to be out of sync, was a Kings power play very much in sync, that took mere 15 seconds to result in a goal. Jaime McBain cleared the zone, snuck a pass to Dustin Brown who slid the puck to Alec Martinez, jazz hands himself, who did what he’s done so beautifully many times before, slapped the puck from the slot straight (into the post and) past their goalie. We were then treated to half a goalie fight – Quick got into the action, slashing Scott Hartnell in retaliation for his slash and rough. (Don’t mess with the goalie guys. Never mess with the goalie.) Of course the resulting power play didn’t bear fruit, and with 1:47 remaining Columbus was up again, thanks to Brandon Dubinsky.

Andreoff, never one to miss the fighting party, had his turn 3:15 into the second period. He and Gregory Campbell got coincidental minors for roughing each other. They were out of the box less than 30 seconds before they got into it again, this time getting the full five for fighting. (I want to like Andreoff, I really do, but he seems to want to prove he deserves his spot on the roster by fighting instead of making useful plays.) Muzzin threw his hat (or elbow, as it may be) into the ring at 6:43, where he and Matt Calvert got into it in front of the Lumbus bench. Both got a roughing minor, Muzzin the extra two minutes for elbowing. Next came Jordan Nolan and Kevin Connauton at 9:39, Nolan this time getting the extra two for slashing. The crowd turned against the refs at this point, but the Jackets strategy seemed to be working. The Kings were off their game. Anze Kopitar teamed up with each other for an almost great breakaway, but like Doughty’s shot that hit the post later, to no avail. (Seriously how did that hit the post?!)

Columbus was held to no shots on goal the entire second period, the first time for them in franchise history, which shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone watching, since the entire period was a parade into the penalty box. Was there pizza in there? Cake? Tequila? The Kings have held their opponents to no shots on goal in a period twice before. (Once, against the Ducks in the quest for the Cup in 2014.) They’ve lost all three games. Columbus seemingly took offense to that statistic, and having successfully thrown the Kings off their game and dragging them into their head games, and came out strong in the third. They’d outshot the Kings 17-5 during the final period before it had reached it halfway mark, successfully putting one of those shots behind Quick. Former King Jack Johnson picked up the first assist – but considering he was traded for Jeff Carter in 2012, I’d say we won the trade.

Never a team to lay down and die, the Kings pulled Quick with a little over two minutes to go. It paid off – Carter with a beautiful snipe brought the Kings to within 1, but with an offside call and the final faceoff being outside the Lumbus zone with 5.8 seconds to go, it was not to be. Nor should it have been – the Kings were sloppy, lacked chemistry, and turned the puck over far too many times. They have the tendency to play down to teams who don’t have the best track record – last night was no exception. They play the Florida Panthers (wave to their Captain, ex-King Willie Mitchel) tomorrow afternoon; another one of the Kings downfalls, afternoon games. Go Kings Go!