There is no better way to start off a brand new year than with a victory. Well…there is one better way. And that’s to win in the fashion that Los Angeles trounced Edmonton on Tuesday evening. Even though Edmonton doesn’t rank very high in the standings, it’s very encouraging to see Los Angeles start off the month like they did. Dustin Brown scored two goals, Anze Kopitar had two assists, and Jonathan Quick shut them out. Just like John Stevens drew it up.
The game got off to an incredibly fast paced start and continued throughout the game. Dustin Brown even got a shot off on the goal within five seconds of puck drop. After a flurry of shots on goal by both teams, Los Angeles finally took the lead with 5 minuted left in the second period. Andy Andreoff broke away from defenders and scored on a wrist shot in transition down the ice, putting Los Angeles up for the rest of the game.
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After that, the game simply got away from Edmonton. Missed shots, missed assignments and sloppy play all led to a bad loss. There were a few shots on Quick that realistically should have gone in, but the Oilers failed to execute. Both of those shots went far wide of the net. Interestingly enough, Edmonton was within striking distance all the way up until the third period. That’s when the Los Angeles offense came to life, scoring 4 more unanswered goals. Trevor Lewis, Dustin Brown, and Adrian Kempe all scored in the third period.
Moments That Mattered
-Drew Doughty took an illegal hit to the head while transitioning down near his own goal. Edmonton’s Patrick Maroon was given a match penalty and immediately ejected from the game. Doughty underwent league concussion protocol, but was able to return in the third period.
-Jonathan Quick had his third shutout of the season, blocking all 32 shots on goal. This was Quick’s 47th career shutout, bumping him up to 28th on the all-time list.
Next: Recap of 2017 Part of the Season
-Dustin Brown scored his 247th career goal, surpassing Wayne Gretzky for seventh all time for the Kings scoring leaders.
-The Kings were also able to stave off three more power plays without giving up a goal. Los Angeles has the best penalty kill percentage in the league, avoiding being scored on in 87.4% of the time. If they keep this up, they could break the single season record of 89.58% set by the 2011-12 Devils.