Down with the Ducks

Who won the game? You better believe it was the Kings! 4-3, and avoided giving the dreaded overtime point to those damn Ducks. Bring it on rest of the Western Conference, the Kings are ready for the big time. We’re looking good, and heading into December, are ready to dominate some folks. With the win the Kings held on to 2nd place in the Pacific (and are unlikely to claim 1st from the Sharks) and 5th place in the Western Conference. Games like this make me more of a believer that this is the year for the Kings to FINALLY make the playoffs. God it feels good even saying something like that… it’s been so long. Anyway, onto the game:

After a beautiful pass from Simmonds (sure he didn’t put a goal in the back of the net, but that pass was beautiful), Parse buried his second goal of his career to put the Kings up by one. Next, Justin Williams deflected a Jarret Stoll shot on the Power Play to put the Kings up 2-0. Corey Perry deflected a shot past Quick to make it 2-1 before the intermission. Coming back for the second period, the Kings regained their two goal lead when Randy Jones blasted a shot from the point past an ineffective Jonas Hiller. Unfortunately an ill-timed two-man advantage allowed the Ducks to maintain possession and just as the advantage turned into a 5-4, Ryan Whitney blasted a shot into the back of the net, 3-2 Kings. After intermission, Todd Marchant put the tying goal past a sprawling Quick, and increased the tension significantly in the arena, and in my living room. Fortunately with 2:20 remaining Jack Johnson beautiful shot from the point made it 4-3, and there it stood.

Now to answer the questions we raised:

• Is Kopitar going to show up? – Answer: Not really. He played relatively well, and his line was effective, despite not producing on the score sheet. However, overall the Kings will need more from Kopitar over the course of this season, and they need him to get on track sooner rather than later.
• Will Simmonds stay on fire? – Answer: Hard to say, but I’m going with yes. With that beautiful pass, Simmonds served up a goal on a platter for Parse, who roofed it past Hiller. It was a beauty of a pass, and something that would be wonderful if we can see it a bit more often from Simmonds.
• Will December be… December for the Kings? – Answer: So far… not so much. It’s only one game, so who knows, but a win is a win no matter when it comes, and we’ll take it.

Now. Off to taunt some poor Ducks fans.

Up next: Ottawa Senators