Dallas Stars Beat Los Angeles Kings In Shootout 5-4

What an intense game it was tonight at Staples Center between the Dallas Stars and L.A. Kings. The Stars jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with goals from Loui Eriksson and Eric Nystrom that were just 50 seconds apart. With the Kings notorious lack of goal scoring lately, this early 2-0 deficit could have been a disaster, but instead it seemed to light a fire under the players and get them producing some offense. The first Kings goal came from Anze Kopitar six minutes into the second period, but was countered by a Stars goal from Alex Goligoski just one minute later. One of the best plays of the night, and quite possibly the best play of his NHL career, came from Trevor Lewis on a breakaway. He made an absolutely beautiful play to beat Kari Lehtonen and earned himself his first goal of the season.

At the start of the third with the Kings down 3-2, they had about 8 minutes of consecutive power play time which led to 2 Kings goals. The first PPG came from Tim Tebow JMFJ, who has been on fire lately…at least when it comes to goal scoring. He’s still a -8 and can’t hold the puck in the zone to save his life, but that’s okay right now because he has 7 goals and 13 assists on the season. The next goal came from Dustin Brown…another BEAUTIFUL play if you ask me. Great pass from Anze Kopitar and a tip in from the Captain to beat Lehtonen. Kings up 4-3.

Towards the end of the period, something no Kings fan ever wants to see occurred: Anze Kopitar face down on the ice after a big (but seemingly legal) hit from Sheldon Souray. Here’s the pic I took from my iPhone after the incident:

Kopi missed the remainder of the game, but fortunately is expected to be okay. No information will be released until tomorrow. This hit from Souray sparked some controversy and led to a fight between Mike Richards and Brendan Morrow. As a result, Richards received a game misconduct and penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct as well as instigating, putting the Stars on a 4 minute power play.

I wish I didn’t have to explain what happens next, but I’ll just go ahead and get it over with. Loui Eriksson scores and ties the game. Then in overtime the Kings score a goal, but it’s waived off because the whistle was blown (for no apparent reason) before the puck crossed the line. I would like to take this time to address the ref # 14. Is there a reason why you are still officiating in the NHL? It’s very obvious to me that you have no idea what the hell you are doing out there. In fact, I would like to take a stab at your job, because I’m pretty sure I have no experience, but could do it a lot better than you did.

But moving on…. After what should have been a Kings goal, Drew Doughty was called for a charging penalty and Sheldon Souray received 2 mins in the box for roughing. In addition, Doughty got thrown out of the game with 20 seconds left and the game went into a shootout. Jarret Stoll nor Dustin Brown nor Trevor Lewis were able to score on Kari Lehtonen, so this made Loui Eriksson’s shootout goal the game winner. As disappointing as it was to lose that game, it was definitely a fun, intense, and exciting one to be at. This is a potential WC matchup if both teams make the playoffs and I’ve got my fingers crossed that this one happens. It would be a bloodbath, but both teams play with so much heart that it would make for an incredible series.

The Kings next game is against the Calgary Flames on Saturday at 7pm. Tune into FSW to catch the action.