Los Angeles Kings Fall to Boston 3-1 to Add to Roadside Woes
By Bryan Nelson
Last night, the Los Angeles Kings traveled to Boston, hot off their win against Chicago just a couple of nights before. Sadly, that win didn’t give them a large enough boost to go out and take down the Bruins, now giving them another loss on the season, and loss when they need wins the most.
First Period:
Without a doubt, Rask was absolutely on top of his game. In the first period, he made a beautiful save off a tough Drew Doughty shot in which he was being screened, and yet still managed to make a save. Rask was all over the crease tonight, and he refused to let anything get by him.
The Bruins also outshot the Kings with 10 shots to the Kings 6.
End of First, 0-0 Bruins.
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Second Period:
Less than three minutes remaining in the second period, Brad Marchand comes up big for the Bruins and puts the Bruins up 1-0. The goal was assisted by Zdeno Chara (10) and Gregory Campbell (3). It was Marchand’s fourteenth goal on the season.
The Kings were outshot by the Bruins again 13-10.
Third Period:
Tyler Toffoli had a beautiful chance in the third period but the post got in his way, leaving the Bruins with their lead. But with seven minutes left, Jordan Nolan comes up big for the Kings by getting a goal and tying up the game. The game is now tied, and it seems like their may be hope for the Kings to come out of this victorious.
No later than 1:33 after Nolan’s goal, Chris Kelly makes a go at Quick and puts one past him to put the Bruins up by one. Five minutes later, Brad Marchand comes in again to score on the empty net to bring in his fifteenth goal of the season.
The Kings always appear to bring their best in third period situations. Not only did they outshoot the Bruins 15 shots to 10, but they also scored in that period also. Which leads one to ask that if they Kings score when they outshoot their opponent, why don’t they just play like it’s the third period every period?
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In Conclusion:
Both teams did a good job staying out of the penalty box. Neither team could afford getting too many penalties, and they both came out with only one penalty each, with both coming in the second period.
Jonathan Quick, while he may have lost, did not play an awful game. Marchand is a tough guy to face, along with Chris Kelly, but while it is important to get better and not let those kinds of goals happen again, you can always blame the defense. Which is definitely a reason why the Bruins were able to get to the net the way they did in the first place. It does seem like the Kings are missing something from their defensive lines.
Tuukka Rask is an elite goaltender that is just a really tough guy to beat. Last night, he had a nice SV% of .968 and allowed only one goal on 32 shots.
Speaking of shots, that’s definitely a department the Kings could work on. They need to get in more shots on net if they want to score goals. It really shows on the scoring sheet. When they outshot the Bruins in the third period, they scored. When the Bruins were outshooting them in the first and second periods, they were being dominated, and Jonathan Quick needs better support than that.
The Kings are now 26-16-12. They face the Washington Capitals in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, February 3rd at 7:00 PM.