LA Kings vs. Avalanche: Cal Petersen didn’t deserve that loss

Cal Petersen made a career-high 44 saves, but it wasn’t enough as the LA Kings were shutout in game one against the Colorado Avalanche.

Placed in the NHL’s COVID protocol earlier this week, Cal Petersen returned for the LA Kings matchup against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, citing a potentially false positive. No offense to Troy Grosenick, as the 31-year-old notched his first win in six years, but Petersen gave the Kings their best chance of topping the Avalanche.

I suppose that would require some scoring, though, right?

Mikko Rantanen‘s goal from the point at the 9:16 mark of the second period proved to be the game-winner, as the Avalanche shutout the Kings. Nathan MacKinnon would add an empty-net goal late in the third period, but Cal Petersen gave LA every chance at winning this game.

Immediately after Rantanen scored, Matt Luff tried to tilt the energy, dropping gloves with Dan Renouf. I liked the effort, but this was a poor showing for the LA Kings, who proved they still have a long way to go before being considered a playoff team in the West.

The Kings were outshot 46-18 and would have been more if not for their season-best 23 blocked shots. Their 2-0 loss on Friday marked the first time the LA Kings have been shutout this season.

Notable postgame quotes

Petersen on being placed into protocol

It was just kind of a bit of surprise. I got notified that I was being put in protocol and just kind of had to wait it out and take it day-by-day and follow the rules of the protocol. I was able to get released back, and I think it kind of was revealed, I think it was a false positive. I’m glad to be back.

McLellan on Petersen’s performance

Let’s face it. He has been through a lot in the last couple of days. He didn’t get the practice time he would have wanted. For him to pitch that type of game for our group was pretty impressive.

McLellan on the Avalanche’s pace of play

Their pace of play with the puck is evident, but their pace of play without the puck, their ability to take lanes away and force you into mistakes was as good as we’ve seen from a team all year.

LA Kings Schedule

These two teams will wrap up their two-game set on Sunday afternoon with puck drop moved up from its original time to 2:30 pm PT. The game will be televised on NBCSN.