Tuesday night the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Boston Bruins at Staples Center. The Kings were victorious, winning 2-0; taking advantaged of a banged up Bruins team.
The Bruins came into the game tonight missing first line center David Krejci, and star defensemen Zdeno Chara, who are both out with injury. Boston elected to play their backup goaltender Niklas Svedberg, giving the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, Tuukka Rask the night off.
Kings head coach Darryl Sutter changed up the line combinations for the game. Coach Sutter put a tweak on That 70’s Line, changing the line to Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson, and . . . Anze Kopitar. A 7-d, 11 line? Sounds more like a convenient store.
It ended up being a pretty convenient line.
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The change-up worked for the Kings, and the line showed their effectiveness in the first:
With 3:40 left in the first period Kings defensemen Brayden McNabb took a slapshot from the point. The shot was blocked by Simon Gagne. Anze Kopitar was skating by and picked up the puck. Kopitar made a terrific cross-ice pass to Tanner Pearson, who was breaking toward the ‘back-door’ far goal post of the net. Pearson one-timed the shot in before Svedberg could react. 1-0 Kings.
L.A. was out of the gates early, out to finish Boston.
There were no goals during the second period, but by the time the buzzer sounded the after 40-minutes mark, the Kings were outshooting Boston 29-19.
The Kings and Bruins are two very similar teams. Both are built the same way. Both play a physical, defense first, style of hockey. Both teams are tremendously talented, and have ruled their prospective Conferences the past few years, though the Kings don’t typically show their dominance until the end of the season.
Both teams have had to deal with injuries and struggle with personnel this season. Both teams have fallen to the middle of their respective divisions and conferences.
The similarities go on and on and on . . .
In the third period the Bruins fought back, throwing the puck on net at a furious pace. Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick stood tall, and carried L.A. to victory.
Quick made an absolutely nasty save on Torey Krug in the third period to keep the game tied. Krug found the puck at the face-off dot to the left of the net. Krug wound up and fired a one-timer shot at what looked like an empty net . . . but Quick got a piece of the puck with his ribs as he was sliding across the net. The puck hit Quick in the mid-section, then hit the post, staying out of the net.
Twitter blew up with comments on Lord Quick’s save:
holy goalie pic.twitter.com/XRFxvZrk1p
— LA Kings (@LAKings) December 3, 2014
Here’s where Quick was when Krug took that shot. Unreal. pic.twitter.com/K0INByybu9
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) December 3, 2014
Wait how did Quick save that?
— Kings Den (@Kings_Den) December 3, 2014
Oh my lorrrrrrrd, Quick.
— Michael Castillo (@MichaelCastFS) December 3, 2014
. . . And so on.
Dec 2, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Matt Fraser (25) collides with Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (32) and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin (6) during third period action at Staples Center. The Kings won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
The third period belonged to Jonathan Quick.
Boston battled back feverishly, throwing as much at the net as they could. By the end of the game the shots were 35-31 in favor of the Kings. Meaning Los Angeles was outshot 12-6 in the third period. The Bruins pulled close with a number of great scoring chances, including Krug’s. Bruin forwards were crashing the net, Matt Fraser even dove over Quick knocking his mask off and stopping play.
Even under the tumultuous circumstances, Jonny on the spot was there to shut Boston down.
Dec 2, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Matt Fraser (25) collides with Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (32) and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin (6) during third period action at Staples Center. The Kings won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
With 1:22 left in regulation the Bruins pulled goaltender Niklas Svedberg for an extra attacker.
It didn’t work out well.
After the Bruins got the dump-in they wanted the Kings attacked the puck and made the play, keeping the puck away from the dangerous areas of the ice. Anze Kopitar and Matt Greene pinned the puck carrier, Brad Marchand, along the boards. Kopitar was able to steal the puck, and swat it to Tyler Toffoli. From just inside the Kings line Tyler Toffoli flipped the puck out and down along the ice into the empty Boston net. 2-0 Kings.
Quick got his third shutout of the season on the night. It was his first since October 23rd against the Buffalo Sabres.
Quick certainly ruled the ice this night. Lord Quick was praised with the game’s first star honors.
Los Angeles went 0-for-3 on the power-play on the night.
Alec Martinez made a surprise return to the Kings line-up tonight. Martinez missed the last three weeks, and eight games the Kings played after breaking a finger during the Kings second match-up with the Dallas Stars.
The Kings next game is away from home, in Phoenix Arizona against the Coyotes on Thursday, December 4th. Puck-drop is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PST.
Dec 2, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (8) checks Boston Bruins left wing David Pastrnak (88) into the boards during first period action at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports