LA Kings: Three takeaways from Thursday’s win over the Avalanche
After three frustrating, one-goal losses to begin the season, the LA Kings have found their way into the win column in 2021.
Though they fell behind 2-0 to the Colorado Avalanche, the Kings came back to tie it with a pair of power play goals in the second period. Adrian Kempe then put home a beautiful pass from Anze Kopitar to give LA a late lead in the third, and Blake Lizotte added an empty netter to secure the 4-2 victory at Staples Center on Thursday night.
Here are three other takeaways from the Kings’ first victory of the season.
Takeaway #1: Jonathan Quick flashes vintage form
Jonathan Quick may have turned 35 on Thursday, but at times throughout the night, he made a few saves that reminded Kings fans of his younger self.
Colorado was really controlling the game late in the first period and early on in the second. Already down 2-0, the game really could have gotten away from LA at that point. But Quick made some huge saves to keep the Kings in the game and give them a chance to come back.
It may just be one game, but against one of the most talented offensive teams in the NHL, Quick showed he’s still capable of coming through with some huge saves when his team needs him to. It was one of the better performances the Kings have seen from him over the last few years. If Quick can get back to playing like this consistently, it would go a long way for them.
It was no coincidence that the Kings were able to get their first win of the year in Drew Doughty’s best game of the season.
Takeaway #2: Drew Doughty steps up
Quick wasn’t the only veteran Kings veteran who turned back the clock on Thursday.
As early as it may be in the season, the play of Drew Doughty was already ringing some alarm bells. His play on Thursday may have some in the organization sleeping a little easier for at least one night, though.
With LA facing a crucial 5-on-3 power play down 2-0 in the second period, Doughty got them back into the game with a perfect one-timer.
Doughty brings the #LAKings back into the game. Still 2-1 Avs pic.twitter.com/SWxaGCDmMw
— Rink Royalty (@RinkRoyalty) January 22, 2021
Todd McLellan certainly seemed happy with Doughty’s performance, given that he had Doughty on the ice for more than half the game, finishing with 30:31 of ice time. Partway through the game, McLellan broke up Doughty’s pairing with Olli Maatta and put him with Mikey Anderson, and it seems like a pretty safe bet that pair will be staying together for Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. Anderson also had a strong game and was rewarded with a career-high 25:12 of ice time.
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While McLellan ended up leaning heavily on Anderson and Doughty and Anderson in this one, Maatta ended up playing only 11:04, the lowest amongst LA defensemen. Maatta hasn’t been impressive so far, and it looks like he may already be in McLellan’s doghouse, so that’s a situation worth keeping an eye on.
Doughty, though, looked more assertive with the puck and was making smarter plays with it on Thursday. The Kings can only hope this is a sign of things to come for their $88-million man.
After being moved up to the top line, Adrian Kempe responded with the game-winning goal on Thursday.
Takeaway #3: Adrian Kempe responds to promotion
Adrian Kempe was given a big opportunity on Thursday, getting promoted to the Kings’ top line with Kopitar and Alex Iafallo. He took advantage and played a strong game, leading the team with five shots on goal and finishing off a beautiful pass from Kopitar for the game-winning goal late in the third period.
Kopitar to Kempe gives the #LAKings the lead! pic.twitter.com/Lkb7rsPJj7
— Rink Royalty (@RinkRoyalty) January 22, 2021
This is a very important season for Kempe if he wants to convince the Kings he should be part of their core moving forward. LA’s first-round pick in 2014, Kempe has the tools to be an impact player but has been plagued by inconsistency over his first few years in the league.
The Kings need to figure out what they have in Kempe. They should be giving him every opportunity to show what he can do this year, which is why the promotion to Kopitar’s line made sense.
His coach had praise for him after Thursday’s performance.
McLellan on Kempe -- Lots of offensive ability. His shot is improved, he worked on it during the summer. He should be able to give us good, hard, fast minutes for lots of years. I also see a guy who has matured a lot in my time here.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) January 22, 2021
While the Kings’ top line of Kopitar, Iafallo and Dustin Brown has stayed together for most of the last few seasons, don’t be shocked if we see a lot more of Kempe with Kopitar moving forward.