by Diane Phan
Well that was a delightful game to say the least. Lots of things went right for the Los Angeles Kings last night, let’s talk about it!
Cool Things:
That power play
After a long stretch of time where the Kings struggled to even get a shot on the power play, it seems to be picking up considerably. The Kings scored on 2 of the 4 power play opportunities they had, and while the Doughty goal was nice, the 5 man effort with the slick passing for Kopitar’s goal was just beautiful.
That back and forth
During that power play goal, Gaborik has a fantastic cross ice feed to Kopitar for the one-timer. I guess I’m still remembering the sad days from the beginning of the season where they couldn’t get the puck tape to tape, but this crisp passing is something that I’m basking in.
That kind of passing was instrumental in the first goal of the game: Jeff Carter quickly and cleanly passes it to an oncoming Tanner Pearson who lasers it right to the back of the net.
That speed
Speed is not something I generally equate with the Kings, but this new iteration sure does have it. Gaborik’s speed really opens up the ice for everyone else to make plays. Toffoli and Pearson are fantastically speedy up the wings and getting great looks. And as always, Jeff Carter will turn on the jets for a 2 on 1 and beat the goaltender.
Basically the Kings were great!
Less Cool Things:
Everything about the Phoenix Coyotes.
The Coyotes are supposed to be battling with the Dallas Stars for that final wild card spot, so you would think that this would be a hard fought and exciting game. You would be wrong.
While the 1st period was pretty physical (of the 67 total hits, 29 occurred during the 1st), the rest of it was kind of a snoozer when it came to the way the Coyotes were playing. By pretty much every standard, the Kings just dominated and outplayed the Coyotes, plain and simple.
It really was a fantastic team effort by the Kings last night. It was another shutout for Jonathan Quick which is good for a new club record of 12 shutouts in a season. Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson, Alec Martinez and Anze Kopitar played strong games, and for that, tallied 2 points apiece.
Most significant of all though was that the Kings secured a playoff spot. Now, it’s just a waiting game to see which poor California team has to face the Kings in the first round.
