Kings at Ducks: Let’s Just Skip Third Periods From Now On

By NyLaKy

Kings: 2, Ducks: 3 (OT)

Oh, Kings. Must you do this every time?

For the third straight game, the Kings took a 1–0 lead into the third period, where they’ve only managed to come away with half the points (3 of 6). Tonight, it took a late Justin Williams goal to even get that much.

Coming in to tonight’s final regular season matchup with the Ducks, the storyline was mostly about how hilarious it was that Bruce Boudreau, the coach of the first place team in the west, was openly hoping that the struggling Kings do not make the playoffs. Some fancied the comments a public lack of confidence, others a mind game. But the reality is, these Ducks are not quite the same Ducks that the Kings eliminated in last year’s playoffs. After tonight, four of the five games have gone into extra time, and the one game won in regulation was another third period comeback. The games are tight (and boring), but the Kings do not thus far look like the better team.

Tonight, with their playoff lives in the balance, they really needed to be, but weren’t.

Ryan Kesler had a grade-A chance literally five seconds into the game, somehow skating completely uncontested in on Quick, but missed the net. It wouldn’t be the last uncontested scoring chance he or his team would get.

Dustin Brown lit up Corey Perry with a clean hit, everyone lost their minds, including the refs who weirdly gave Brown a penalty for falling to the ice when being jumped.

Jeff Carter scored immediately on the ensuing power play, because he seems to be the only King who can these days.

And the Kings 1–0 lead would hold through two periods despite them not playing all too well. It was a sloppy game, nobody could connect passes, the offensive zone time was minimal, and they seemed to be a team who has learned nothing from the past week (or year), expecting their long-lost prowess of sitting on small leads to hold up. It didn’t.

Less than one minute into the third period, Ryan Getzlaf was allowed to skate basically wherever he wanted, including straight in on Quick before dishing it out to Patrick Maroon, who had an easy tap in. Seven minutes later, a similar net crashing play lead to a Jacob Silfverberg goal that caused Jonathan Quick to lose his damn mind, because that’s what he does.

The Kings marginally picked up their play, eventually tying the game when Justin Williams scored off of a nice play by Jake Muzzin, salvaging a much needed point, and leading us to believe that in extra time, anything can happen!

Just kidding, we all knew how this game would end for the team with a 3-(now)14 record in the extra time.

Ryan Kesler, literally brought to Anaheim to help them beat the Kings, continues to hold up his end of the bargain, with five goals, two assists, for seven points in the five games this season.

And a cool 45 seconds into the overtime, he skated around like he owned the place, caused Gaborik and Doughty (with some help from a Ducks player) to crash into each other, leaving him a clear lane down the center of the slot, and he didn’t miss.

The Ducks took four of five games from the Kings in the season series, and should the Kings miss the playoffs, they’d have a strong case for being the responsible party.

Too bad for them, the Kings are going to make it, and are going to remind the Ducks what third period comebacks really look like.