Dud: Mikey Anderson, D
It was different from the ordinary standard blue lines shift order to see the Kings have defensemen Joel Edmundson and Brandt Clarke play more minutes in terms of time on the ice this morning than Mikey Anderson. For the second straight game in the West, the Kings gave more time on the ice on the blue line on defense to Clarke with the top-four pairing units this week than Anderson with the top pairing.
I didn't think that the Kings' top defensive pairing of Anderson and Drew Doughty got off to the start they would have wanted in the zone defensively on the blue line for Hiller and staff this morning on the road vs. Philly, taking a couple of bad penalties and misses with the puck.
Today was the second straight game for the Kings where Anderson on the blue line on defense had at least one defensive zone turnover that resulted in either a goal or a high-danger scoring chance for the opposing offensive team in the zone vs. Buffalo and Philadelphia this weekend on Saturday and this past Thursday night.
"We started really well, so it’s a blessing and a curse sometimes, because you think, oh, this is going to be easy, what a good night. Then you get on your heels, they start pushing and of course, they’re going to push. In the end, it was probably better that they scored, got even, because it forced us to get moving a little bit more again, which I thought we responded good at that point. Then, just a really nice play for the overtime goal."Jim Hiller
The Flyers scored the eventual game-tying goal in the final frame in the third period this morning vs. the Kings and Kuemper on a bad defensive-zone turnover behind the net by Anderson on the blue line on defense.