Kings vs Rangers Game 1: Mr. Game All of Them

I’m still surprised and delighted by the fact that I can say that the Kings are in the Stanley Cup Final. How fun.

Also fun, was last night’s Game 1 against the New York Rangers. The game started out a little sloppy. I threw my hands up in exasperation many, many times. Time one being the Drew Doughty gaffe that led to a NYR goal. The second time being Slava Voynov’s skate doing what Voynov’s skate does best: scoring goals for teams that aren’t the Kings.

Being down 2 goals in the first? I’ve seen this story before, and the ending is pretty alright. And lo, the Kings would get one back from none other than…Kyle Clifford? In a weird line mix, Clifford sees ice time with Jeff Carter who shoots and hustles and does work in front of and around Lundqvist, only to pass it to Clifford who pops it in at a weird angle, top shelf. Yeah. That’s a thing that happened.

We’ve said it before, we LOVE how hard Clifford works, so we were both super pleased to see him rewarded with his first postseason goal since 2011.

Drew Doughty’s misstep allowed that Pouliot breakaway, but in the 2nd period, he more than made up for it. A very patient Justin Williams feeds the puck to Doughty, who slides it oh so casually through his legs and advances towards Lundqvist. It’s just so pretty. A fast shot right under Lundqvist’s armpit, and the game is tied just like that.

Please note his very familiar glass pounding celebration. He didn’t fall down this time though, so improvement!

The 3rd period was all Kings with the pressure, 20 shots to the Rangers 3. Lundqvist showed why he’s called the King though, and stopped every single one. There was some fast and furious skating at the end of the third, but no one was able to get one past either goalie.

Ah overtime. How I have and definitely have not missed you. I didn’t have to suffer it for too long though because 5 minutes into OT, Girardi whiffs on a clear and the puck lands on Justin Williams’ stick.

Mr. Game 7 is the hero again, but really it should be Mr. Whenever the Hell I Feel Like It. A dominant third followed by the OT game winner meant those glorious streams fell down from the Staples Center ceiling. Three more wins.