LA Kings: Three takeaways and the standouts versus Minnesota Wild

The LA Kings are getting secondary scoring through two games

Takeaway #2: Protecting the crease is a team effort.

For long stretches of this game, LA Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick was under siege. The Wild scored 21 seconds into the game by crashing the net, and it was a formula they would stick with throughout the game. The Fox Sports West broadcast reported with six minutes left in the third period, Minnesota held a 12-1 advantage for the game in high danger chances.

Minnesota was able to crash the net as they did by establishing a tenacious forecheck – although the Kings did have success breaking that mostly in the second period using some speed of their own. One could make an educated guess here and say Coach McLellan will be talking about “moving your feet” at the next practice.

Takeaway #3: Secondary scoring is finally here.

For the past few years, the LA Kings have relied heavily on Anze Kopitar and the first line to provide the scoring. This became especially evident when Jeff Carter was injured and the offensive drought that followed. That was then, and this is now, however, and it appears Kopitar may finally have some help carrying the offensive load.

On Saturday night, Carter continued his resurgence, picking up two assists while taking four shots on goal. Free-agent pickup Andreas Athanasiou also picked up his second goal of the season. Highly-touted rookie Gabe Vilardi also picked up his first of what the Kings hope are many goals this season. The Kings will need to continue getting offensive contributions up and down the lineup, but Saturday night looked like a good sign of things to come.