Mike Richards made his return to the lineup on Thursday night as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Anaheim Ducks at Staples Center in the most recent installment of the “Freeway Faceoff“. Without the play of 4 specific individuals – the players highlighted in this first paragraph – there’s no way the Kings win this game (the debut for new coach Darryl Sutter). Jonathan Quick stood on his head, once again, as the team before him managed just 2 goals is regulation, once again. Dustin Brown did what anyone who plays with Anze Kopitar should do – he buried a perfect feed. Kopitar has been making those passes all season but rarely does that puck find the back of the net.
The Kings had a different look, a spark that I haven’t seen in a while, but the result after the first period was one that we’ve become accustomed to, as the teams went into the dressing room scoreless. Different but the same?
Colin Fraser got into a little scrap with Matt Beleskey and landed some shots before Beleskey turned it around and got the best of Fraser.
Oh, and here’s something that I really didn’t realize until last night: Ryan Getzlaf is a complete douchebag! The shot to the back of Dustin Brown as he was going to the bench is a prime example. I though Corey Perry had the dirty little plays covered for the Ducks. Last night proved me wrong <sarcasm> and, as my wife can attest, I’m never wrong </sarcasm>.
It’s funny how a team can look as good as the Kings and only score 2 goals.
Kyle Clifford is starting to look like Kyle Clifford once again, playing with that grit and determination we all became so familiar with last season.
Tonight, we do it all over again with the San Jose Sharks. You can catch the play by play with Bob Miller and Jim Fox starting at 7:30 on Fox Sports West. This is a huge game and yet another opportunity to try and keep pace with the Sharks. It’s still not too late to turn this thing around and win the division!
Oh, for those interested, Lubomir Visnovsky and Niklas Hagman had the goals for the Ducks. For those that are completely clueless, Richards and Brown had the goals for the Kings. ESPN, ever quick on the trigger, credited Drew Doughty with the Richards goal. I’m not sure why they even bother with hockey anymore… Jarret Stoll is starting to find that shootout magic from last season as him and Brown scored in the shootout to capture the extra point for the Kings.
It seems that Jonathan Bernier will get the start tonight. Just after Quick made the final stop of the shootout, the TV feed panned to the Kings bench. Bernier was jumping off to join his mates in the celebration when Sutter grabbed him by the back of the jersey, yanked him back and spoke briefly to him. One would assume Sutter told him, then and there, that he’s getting the start against the Sharks. One would also assume, if Sutter happened to be coaching Martin Havlat and he yanked him like that, Havlat would be out 6-8 weeks with a torn ligament. Just an observation… Anyhow, enjoy the game tonight and GO KINGS!!!
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