Ryan Smyth, Josh Green (former Kings first round pick and, incidentally, the player responsible for the first goal of the game) and former Kings prospect, Colten Teubert (acquired in the Dustin Penner deal at the trade deadline last season) were in the lineup for the Edmonton Oilers. That’s a lot of subplots! Anyhow, our old friends and goalie Devan Dubnyk (5-10-0) took on Jonathan Quick , a last minute announcement because “this isn’t baseball” and his Los Angeles Kings on the second of back-to-back nights for the Kings. I don’t know how they do it. I get tired after a nap! As much as Darryl Sutter may have disagreed with the start time, really it was perfect timing because the puck dropped just after time expired on the NFC Divisional playoff game – capping a nice, full day of sports. I wouldn’t be able to get away with it if my wife was home…
Justin Williams finally got the Kings on the board in the third period on a nice tip on a shot from Slava Voynov. On that play, Anze Kopitar picked up his 400th NHL point. Congrats to Kopi! I can’t think of a more deserving player.
The Kings got a power play at a key time in the third, with about 4 minutes left. Alas, the Kompon power play reared its ugly head and produced absolutely nothing and we headed into overtime. Good and bad. Well, mostly good because the Oilers are so far down in the standings at this point that the 1 point they were assured doesn’t help them out much. On the flip side, the Kings need all the points they can get and it meant the team had earned a point in 12 of the 13 games Sutter has coached. That’s a pretty good run.
In the overtime, Williams took a penalty and Taylor Hall, he of big teeth and fivehead, got a nice feed from Shawn Horcoff and buried it. It was a nice goal that didn’t need to happen but did nevertheless. My opinion is the same as that of Jim Fox. The ref probably should have taken both players off but we, as Kings fans, know not to expect a fair shake when it comes to referees. So, as for this game, 1 point will have to do.
Notes:
Next up is the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday on Fox Sports West. As I type, the Canucks are losing to the Anaheim Ducks so the Canucks should be nice and pissed off. That should make for a good game.
Quick had 31 saves which, for most teams, seals a win. The Kings meager less-than-two-goals per game sealed the loss.
The Kings had 14 shots through 2 periods. That’s not gonna cut it…
The Kings penalty killing is 3rd best in the league. I’d trade a little of that to move up on the power play.
The Kings had scored 3 or more goals in the 3 games coming into this one. When scoring 3 or more, the Kings were 12-0-1.
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