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.

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.

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.