Saturday the Los Angeles Kings faced the Philadelphia Flyers in an afternoon matinée. The Kings dropped the game at home, letting the Flyers get out to an early lead and losing 2-1.
The Kings came out of the gate slow. They looked almost lazy, and their lethargic play cost them early.
Flyers star center and face of the franchise, Claude Giroux, got Philadelphia out to a lead. Giroux brought the puck into the Kings zone on a pass from Nicklas Grossmann. Giroux stopped and hit Mark Streit breaking into the zone. Streit cut to the outside, went around Drew Doughty, who was caught off-balance, and threw a pass back to Giroux in the slot. Giroux one-timed a shot top-shelf over Jonathan Quick’s blocker.
Puck Prose
Philadelphia’s leading goal scorer, Wayne Simmons added to the lead in the second period. On the power-play Andrew MacDonald moved the puck up to center ice to Sean Couturier. Couturier brought the puck to the Kings line and made a short pass over to Wayne Simmons. Simmons carried the puck, made a nifty toe-drag around Matt Greene and fired a shot on goal; the puck somehow trickled through the legs of Quick and across the goal line. 2-0 Flyers.
Four-minutes and nine seconds into the third period Justin Williams cut the Flyers lead in half. Off a face-off the puck was won back to Alec Martinez. Martinez moved the puck over to Robyn Regehr, who slide down to the top of the circle and put a shot on goal. Jarret Stoll took a whack at the rebound, fighting off a check from a Flyers defensemen. On the second rebound Williams was able to swat a shot past Flyers goaltender Steve Mason.
Late in the third period the Kings had a primo chance to tie the game.
The Flyers R.J. Umberger shot the puck over the glass from the Flyer zone, resulting in a two-minute penalty. So with four minutes left in regulation the Kings had a power-play opportunity, but weren’t able to capitalize.
L.A. pulled Jonathan Quick from the net with 1:14 left in the game, but that only put the Kings at five skaters against five because Jarret Stoll took a penalty for hooking Braydon Coburn.
Despite outshooting the Flyers 38-16, the Kings were not able to generate more than one goal. This has been a recurring problem for the Kings.
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The Kings other familiar problem is getting out to a lack-luster start and trying to recover by pushing hard at the end of the game. Saturday’s game was just another example of this not working.
The was the second, and last time this season the Kings will play the Flyers. Sadly, the Kings lost on both occasions. L.A. lost the first meeting 3-2 in overtime, on a questionable Brayden Schenn goal.
Coming away with 1 point out of the 2 games is certainly a let down for the Kings.
Justin Williams goal starts him on a two-game point streak. Williams has 2 goals and 3 points in his last five games. Williams had a 6-game point-streak from November 15th to November 26th, before it was snapped against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Williams, Stoll, and Dustin Brown have been major producers since head coach Darryl Sutter put them together. Williams now is in a three-way tie, with Tanner Pearson and Drew Doughty, for third in points on the Kings with 13.
The Kings were 0-for-5 on the power-play, the Flyers went 1-for-5 with the man advantage. That small difference, and that one goal made the difference at the game.
The Kings will now embark on a five game road trip. L.A.’s next game is