Zamboni Takes Center Ice for Fan in Kings’ 1-0 Loss to Ducks
- Updated: February 20, 2017
What’s a Los Angeles Kings fan to do?
I know what – build a Zamboni machine out of Legos! (Pardon the product placement, but we get no kickbacks here.)
73 pieces, instructions and a dream…
So here is the scenario: the Kings have dropped its last 4 of 5 games, included the last two after its bye week, to two teams the Kings should have beaten. Going into Sunday’s game versus cross-town rivals the Anaheim Ducks, my wife and I would need a backup. Actually my wife’s idea, the construction of the Zamboni, all 73 pieces from Oyo Sports Toys, would take place during the game in order to bring more fan spirit to a team that would definitely need it.
By games end though, the Kings would be shutout 1-0, falling to 28-26-4 with 60 points in the Pacific Division and two points behind the Calgary Flames in the playoff race … and my wife and I would have a completely constructed a Zamboni. Well, at least there would be someone who experienced some success tonight.
Besides the Ducks.
The Ducks, with 72 points, now sit tied for second in the Pacific with the Edmonton Oilers, five points behind the league-leading San Jose Sharks. The Kings next face the Colorado Avalanche at 6 p.m., Tuesday, February 21 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
So the game? A lot of intensity, as there normally is when these two rivals meet up. The Honda Center was buzzing.
Got the steering wheel in place…
For the Zamboni, my wife and I started with a vast array of pieces and one handy-dandy set of directions.
The game was fairly close with both teams exchanging chances, with a final tally of shots 29-24 in the Ducks’ favor. The Ducks hit a couple of posts and missed one gigantic open net in the third, and the Kings missed on only a couple of high percentage shots, the most notably a open right-side of a net by newcomer Adrian Kempe towards the end of the game.
The construction of the Zamboni was coming along slowly since:
- We were having to also multitask watching the action.
- It was our first foray into “lego-land.”
Almost done…
The Ducks goal came in the second period early. At 1:19, Brayden McNabb muffed his handling of the puck in the offensive boards, giving it up to Ryan Getzlaf who slid a pass over to Josh Manson who easily fired it by a sluggish-looking Peter Budaj.
For most of the game, goalie Budaj was strong in net and took full advantage of the thickness and unyielding quality of the posts. Ducks goaltender John Gibson stopped all 24 Kings shots and recorded his fifth shutout of the season.
We sort of guessed we may have our challenges when TV announcer Jimmy Fox made it obviously clear: “Listen to this one: you can’t win without scoring.” That is something the Kings have discovered a few times this season.
Said Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, “We threw a lot of pucks at the net that either got covered by the goalie, or the rebound goes to them.” Said coach Darryl Sutter of the importance of these games at this juncture of the season, “Every division game to me is important.”
Success!
Said Jennifer Ellis, fan and builder of her first Zamboni, “It was a fun way to keep my mind off of a painful game.”
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