Los Angeles Kings Deliver 5-0 Shutout to Colorado Avalanche
The Los Angeles Kings defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-0 in the first game at Staples Center since the All Star game.
The Kings have extended their winning streak to 4 games, while the Avalanche have prolonged their losing skid to 9. Los Angeles now holds the top wildcard seed in the Western Conference.
The scratches tonight for the Kings were Tom Gilbert and Andy Andreoff, as well as Paul LaDue, who was recently called up due to the Matt Greene injury.
The scratches for the Avalanche were Fedor Tyutin and Semyon Varlamov, who were both out with groin injuries, as well as Andreas Martinsen.
Varlamov underwent hip surgery, so he’s effectively done for the season. The Avalanche started Spencer Martin in net, while the Kings went with Peter Budaj.
Colorado has been floundering this season, and it was a discouraging beginning of the game for them.
Just 47 seconds after the puck dropped, Marian Gaborik put the Kings ahead with a goal proceeded with heavy traffic in front of the net. Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar got the assists.
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It’s never a good sign when a game already seems out of reach less than a minute into the game, but Colorado tried to generate some momentum.
At 1:57 into the period, John Mitchell sought to energize the Avalanche by fighting Brayden McNabb. Both were given 5 minute majors, while Mitchell was also handed a 2 minute instigator penalty as well as a 10 minute game misconduct.
At 4:20, Gaborik was sent to the penalty box for slashing Tyson Barrie. The Kings successfully killed off that penalty.
Nathan MacKinnon got whistled for slashing Brown at 7:07. Just seconds later, Jeff Carter scored on the powerplay with assists from Jake Muzzin and Drew Doughty.
Carter struck again at 17:42 with his second goal of the game, extending the lead after Devin Setoguchi chipped a pass to him in front of the net.
No scoring occurred in the 2nd period, although the Kings already looked like they were in firm command of this game.
Derek Forbort was sent to the sin bin at 4:11 for holding Matt Duchene. Before that penalty expired, Kopitar was called for hooking Barrie, giving the Avalanche a brief 5-on-3 opportunity. The Kings withstood the penalties, though, and kept Colorado scoreless.
The 3rd period commenced with the main suspense being whether or not Budaj would maintain his shutout. At 2:10 into the 3rd, Joe Colborne was called for tripping McNabb.
Just a second after that penalty expired, Brown got a goal at 4:11 on a redirection from a shot by Kevin Gravel. Nic Dowd got the other assist.
In an instant cruelly reflective of the Colorado season, Dwight King flung a puck from behind the net that deflected off the skate of Eric Gelinas and into the net at 10:46.
The Avalanche had an opportunity late in the game to get on the scoreboard when Setoguchi was sent off for tripping Blake Comeau at 16:13. The Kings killed off the man advantage, though.
Carter had a chance in the waning seconds to complete a hat-trick, but he was turned aside by Martin right before the clock expired.
Budaj held onto his shutout, saving all 22 shots against him. It was his 6th shutout of the season, which is tied with Braden Holtby for the most in the NHL.
The Kings fired 40 shots on goal against Martin, while Martin managed to save only 35 of those attempts.
Los Angeles went 1 of 3 on their power play opportunities, while the Avalanche couldn’t get any power play goals on their 4 separate chances on the man advantage.
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The Kings will go on the road to play the Philadelphia Flyers on February 4. The Avalanche will return to Denver to play the Winnipeg Jets on February 4.