Los Angeles Kings Shutout 5-0 by the Tampa Bay Lightning
By Ian Smith
The Los Angeles Kings were shutout 5-0 by the Tampa Bay Lightning just a couple days after losing by that same margin to the Washington Capitals.
One positive from this game for the Kings was that Darryl Sutter moved into sole possession of 2nd place on the franchise list for games coached, but that really might be it.
The scratches for the Kings were Devin Setoguchi and Kevin Gravel. The scratches for the Lightning were Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat, and Michael Bournival. Palat was out with a lower body injury, and Bournival was out with an upper body injury.
The Kings ended up getting 19 out of their 28 shots on goal in the first period alone, in a game that didn’t really get out of hand until the 2nd period.
Victor Hedman was called for hooking Tyler Toffoli at 4:15 into the 1st period. The Kings got 1 shot on goal against Ben Bishop on the ensuing power play, but couldn’t score.
Soon after that penalty expired, a pair of penalties were handed out that resulted in a 4-on-4. Drew Doughty was whistled for hooking Tyler Johnson, and Johnson was in turn given a minor for embellishment.
The Lightning took an early lead on an unassisted goal from Jonathan Drouin at 7:46 which set the tone for the rest of a one-sided game.
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At 9:41, the Lightning went on the power play when Marian Gaborik was called for slashing Johnson. The Kings killed off the penalty without allowing any shots on Peter Budaj.
At the beginning of the 2nd period, another pair of penalties were handed out to both teams. Andy Andreoff was called for roughing Andrej Sustr, and Sustr was penalized for interfering with Kyle Clifford.
Then the game proceeded to get out of reach for the Kings. Nikita Kucherov scored on a breakaway at 6:55 on assists from Vladislav Namestnikov and Sustr.
The lead was extended at 11:02 when Gabriel Dumont got a goal on assists from J.T. Brown and Victor Hedman.
For good measure, the Lightning added yet another score in that disastrous period for the Kings. Kucherov struck again at 18:18, with another assist from Namestnikov but this time from Luke Witkowski as well.
The home crowd in Tampa Bay was waiting to see if Bishop would maintain his shutout for one more period, and he didn’t disappoint.
At 6:44 into the 3rd period, Toffoli was called for goaltender interference. The Lightning couldn’t score on the power play, but at that point the penalty more represented another 2 minutes where the Kings would most likely go scoreless, which they did.
Braydon Coburn was whistled at 10:04 for hooking Andreoff. The Kings got 1 shot on Bishop during the man advantage, but Bishop remained unblemished.
About a minute after exiting the sin bin, Coburn put the Lightning up 5-0 on assists from Drouin and Joel Vermin at 13:08.
The Kings have now allowed 10 goals the past 2 games and scored 0 goals. Interestingly, they haven’t scored a goal in regulation since the 3rd period of their game against the Colorado Avalanche on February 1.
The Kings outshot the Lightning 28-21. Both teams went 0 for 2 on their power play chances. The Lightning also committed 11 giveaways while the Kings committed just 3. It was Bishop’s first shutout of the season.
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The Kings will stay in the Sunshine State and play the Florida Panthers on February 9. The Lightning will travel to Minnesota to play the Wild on February 10.