Kings Blanked by Powerhouse Penguins

The Los Angeles Kings were shutout 3-0 on Thursday night against the Eastern Conference powerhouse Pittsburgh Penguins.  It was a clash of top offense against top defense; on this night offense prevailed.

Chris Kunitz led the way getting a point on each of the Penguins three goals.

In the first period officials made a terrible call on Drew Doughty for interference when he threw a clean hip check on Patric Hornqvist as he entered the Kings zone after just touching the puck.  Nevertheless, Doughty had to serve two minutes, and as a result the Kings were put into a 5-on-3 situation.  With five seconds left on the two-man advantage, Evgeni Malkin faked a slapshot and made a great shot-pass to Chris Kunitz who was standing three-feet away from the crease, wide open, and Kunitz redirected the puck right in.  1-0 Penguins.

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Not five minutes later, with just under five minutes left in the first period, the Kings were unable to get the puck out on the breakout.  Jeff Carter and Matt Greene got pinned along the boards by the hash-marks.  It was a cluttered mess of a play: Kunitz came flying in and picked up the loose puck, Matt Greene tripped over Patric Hornqvist’s stick after slashing it out of his hands.  As Greene tried to recover, Kunitz was left free swinging into the corner moving quickly towards the net.  Kunitz threw a pass across the zone to Kris Letang at the low point.  Letang tried to make a pass to the center of the ice.  Kings forward Dwight King dropped to one knee to block the pass, but instead the puck hit King’s skate and redirected toward the net.  Jones was in position to make the original save and couldn’t recover as the deflected puck slide between his legs.  2-0 Penguins.

There was no scoring in the second period.

Halfway through the third period Kunitz got his second of the night.  The Penguins were working the cycle, keeping the puck in the Kings zone.  Sidney Crosby got the puck at the goal line, charged toward the net and attempted to jam the puck in the far side.  Jones made the initial save, but the rebound went right to Kunitz.  Kunitz fired a shot high, from a sharp angle along the goal line, beating Jones over his shoulder.

The Kings put up a valiant effort, outshooting the Penguins 36 to 23, putting up 16 shots in the third period alone.  Unfortunately there were no rewards for effort in this game.

The Kings powerplay is struggling again, going 0-for-3 in the game.  It’s not surprising with top forwards Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik out.

Penguins goalie Marc Andre-Fleury had a great game.  Fleury also had Justin Williams number, stopping Williams on a number of chances.  Williams had 2 shots, that were two good scoring chances, one coming on the powerplay, but obviously he didn’t have any luck on either of them.

Williams has struggled this season, scoring 1 goal and 1 assist in 10 games.  Williams is coming off a Conn Smythe performance from the playoffs scoring 9 goals and 25 points in 26 games during the Kings 2014 Stanley Cup run.  In the 2013-2014 regular season Williams scored 19 goals and 43 points in 82 games.  Williams is going to have to pick it up if he wants to live up to those numbers.

As Williams frustration boiled over, he got into a tussle mixing it up with Evgeni Malkin.  It didn’t turn out well.

Captain Dustin Brown has also struggled to start the season.  Brown started on the Kings first line for their first two games, after which Brown was moved down to the third line, to play alongside Williams.  Brown’s 1 goal is his only point in 10 games; he’s also a -2 in plus/minus.  Brown’s point production has steadily decreased over the last 3 seasons, from 57 points in 2010-2011, to 54, 29, to last year’s 27.  The 29 points is understandable because that’s from the shortened 2012-2013 season, that was 48 games long due to the 2013 NHL lockout.  Still, Brown needs to right the ship and get back on track again.

No one can question Brown’s leadership or effort, but he has to direct his energy in the right place: focus on crashing the net, winning battles on the boards in order to get the puck to line-mate scorers, and shooting more.

Martin Jones had his work cut out for him.  Jones didn’t have a bad game, despite a .870 save percentage after stopping 20 of 23 shots.  On the Penguins first two goals Jones didn’t have a chance.  It was just a bad night that was not to be for the Kings.  As the saying goes, when it rains it pours, so there must have been thunder storms in Pittsburgh last night.

The Kings next game is tomorrow in Detroit.  The Red Wings are 5-2-2, coming off a 4-2 win against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.  The Kings will look to get their first win of the road trip, turning the take to a positive look on travel when the puck drops at 4:30.

Mar 27, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) shoots a back-handed shot against Los Angeles Kings goalie Martin Jones (31) during the second period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports