For the first time in Los Angeles Kings history, the team has won six straight at home in the Staples Center.
Sunday afternoon the Kings came back from a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets.
In the first period Columbus got on a power-play after Kings defensemen Drew Doughty took a penalty for interfering with Columbus forward – and recent Kings departure – Adam Cracknell. Cracknell was claimed by the Blue Jackets when he was placed on waivers a day before the regular season opened. The Blue Jackets capitalized on the man advantage with 5:21 left in the first period. Tim Erixon got his first goal of the season, on a rebound slapshot with assists from Scott Hartnell, and Ryan Johansen.
It was the first time during the six game home stand that the Kings conceded the lead, falling behind to their opponent.
The second and third periods were all Kings.
3:04 into the second period the Kings got the chance to repay the favor on the power-play. Doughty passed the puck to Jeff Carter from point to point. Carter passed the puck to the Tyler Toffoli at the dot of the circle. Carter then cut from the point towards the front of the net. Toffoli started cutting towards the net with the puck at the same time. Toffoli attempted to make a cross-crease pass to Anze Kopitar. Toffoli’s pass when through Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s legs, leaving the net open. Kopitar whiffed on the pass, but Carter was there to slap the puck into the empty net. 1-1 tie.
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Things calmed down for a while. Then there was a flurry: three goals from 3:30 to the end of the second period. First Tyler Toffoli got his second point of the night. A deflected shot ended up on the stick of Jeff Carter. Carter was poised, faked a shot, and made a pass to Toffoli who snapped it in from the side of the net.
Two-minutes later, with 1:30 left in the second period, Kings forward Justin Williams brought the puck into the Blue Jackets zone. Williams fired a shot that Bobrovsky fought off with his blocker. The puck when up into the air, had five-seconds of hang-time, and came down near Dwight King. King took a swat at the puck with his stick, but he missed. King stayed with it, beating Blue Jackets Scott Hartnell, and fired a shot as soon as the puck hit the ice; the quickly played unconventional shot beat Bobrovsky up high. 3-1 Kings.
In the last minute of the period Blue Jackets Mark Letestu took a pass from Corey Tropp, crossed the blue-line and fired a bullet that beat Jonathan Quick top corner. It was an impressive shot. 3-2 Kings.
In the third period Tanner Pearson scored twice in the third period to secure the Kings victory.
On Pearson’s first goal he showed off his speed. After Toffoli flipped a long pass from deep in the Kings zone, Pearson raced past all the Blue Jacket defenders, beat them to the puck, and fired a top corner shot from a sharp angle that rang off the post and went in.
That was a thing of beauty. The Hockey “Hail Mary”.
Pearson’s second goal came after the Kings had the Blue Jackets hemmed in their zone. Toffoli and Carter were working around the Blue Jackets net. Toffoli got a shot off, and Pearson came chraging into the front and banged the rebound home.
That 70’s Line was dominant again. The three players from the Kings second line lead the teams with 10 points. Tyler Toffoli, Jeff Carter, and Tanner Pearson received 1st, 2nd, and 3rd star of the game honors, in that respective order.
Carter and Toffoli had 1 goal and 3 assists, each. Tanner Pearson scored 2 goals.
Feb 6, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings defenseman Robyn Regehyr (44) battles for the puck with Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski (21) and right wing Nathan Horton (8) in the second period at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Each goaltender made 22 saves. Jonathan Quick prevailed stopping 22 of 24 shots on goal, for a .917 save percentage. Bobrovsky was able to snag 22 shots, but faced 27, allowing 5 goals for a .815 save percentage. The two keepers are familiar rivals from the 2014 Sochi Olympics, when Quick playing for Team USA faced Bobrovsky and Team Russia. Quick prevailed in that game as well, with a little help from shootout specialist T.J. Sochi (the then bestowed nickname of St. Louis Blues player T.J. Oshie).
The Kings home win came at a cost. The bad news on the night came with the injury to star centermen Anze Kopitar. Kopitar had 10:39 of playing time over the first period and a half. Kopitar left with thirteen minutes remaining in the second period and did not return. The injury is being described as an upper-body injury.
Bringing the puck into the zone Kopitar skated wide along the boards, then took the puck behind the Blue Jackets net. As Kopitar was coming around the net Columbus defensemen Tim Erixon cut him off and put a good hip on hip check to Kopitar. Kopitar was sandwiched between Erixon and Columbus defensemen James Wisniewski. Erixon caught Kopitar in his lower core, hip and right leg; but it was a clean hit.
When asked about Kopitar’s injury in his post-game interview head coach Darryl Sutter said simply, “He’s all right.”
Alrighty then.
Hopefully that means Kopitar will travel with the team as they embark on their first extended road trip of the season. The Kings next game is in Philadelphia, against the Flyers on Tuesday, October 28th at 4:00 p.m. PST.