LA Kings: Three questions ahead of Game Two against Avalanche
By Ryan Sikes
2. Can the LA Kings avoid a slow start?
As previously noted, the Avalanche controlled the pace of play in the early goings of Tuesday’s game. A goal felt inevitable with the LA Kings failing to clear pucks out of their own zone while committing turnovers in high-danger areas. After the first ten minutes of play, the Kings found their footing, putting the puck behind Avalanche defenders — playing their style of game, said Mikey Anderson.
At the start, we were on our heels a bit,” the LA Kings rookie defenseman explained. “They came with a big push — we knew they were going to. Once we started getting pucks behind their D, getting on them, getting on the forecheck, trying to establish more of our system the way we want to play, I think we started having a lot more success, and you know offensively, [we] found some more looks. Defensively, we weren’t scrambling as much. So I think once we kind of got our legs going got our forecheck established, we had some things start to go our way a little bit more.”
The Kings played very well in the second half of the first period and the first half of the second period before the penalty box parade continued.