With linemates Carl Grundstrom and Jaret Anderson-Dolan, LA Kings’ Trevor Moore isn’t content to be cute. He and his mates will get aggressive for results.
Following their weekend series in Denver, there was a palpable sense of discouragement surrounding the LA Kings. Even being snowed in and forcing to postpone their Monday night contest vs. St. Louis didn’t do the silver-and-black any favors, except for paving the way for some extra rest.
Just as palpable for the LA Kings, though, was a sense of frustration. While not collecting any points in a back-to-back series is discouraging enough, the frustration only amplified given how badly outplayed the LA Kings were in Denver against a much-deeper Colorado Avalanche squad. So, when they did return home, the LA Kings were determined to get back on track, and not waste any time doing so.
Some good news entering Wednesday’s game against the Blues was that the LA Kings welcomed Jaret Anderson-Dolan back into the lineup after nearly a month-long absence. He was paired on a line with Carl Grundstrom and Trevor Moore, and the trio paid immediate dividends for the LA Kings, teaming up for two of the club’s three first-period goals en route to a convincing 4-1 victory.
One of the goal scorers was the aforementioned Trevor Moore. Following Wednesday’s victory, he spoke with the media about the win, bouncing back after their not-so-memorable weekend and, of course, the chemistry he has with Grunstrom and Anderson-Dolan.
“I think it’s been a point of emphasis for us lately,” Moore said of his line having a quick start. “A couple of good first shifts led to drawing a penalty and then, you know, those guys on the powerplay have been great all year and had success again.”
The LA Kings opened the scoring on the man advantage — courtesy of Drew Doughty at 3:21 of the first — but then, Moore and company took over. After Grundstrom scored a highlight-reel goal to make it 2-0 just 57 seconds after Doughty’s marker, Moore made it 3-0 at the 14:11 mark to give the LA Kings a comfortable lead.
Moore elaborated on the result of his goal.
“I think it was just a lot of good forechecking work by all three of us and then activating the D-man,” the Thousand Oaks native explained. “And then when you get a team out there, a group that’s a little more tired, the advantage goes to the offense.”
In addition to playing well on the forecheck, the trio of Moore, Grundstrom, and Anderson-Dolan was successful at creating turnovers, citing a pivotal reason for the club’s overall success against the Blues. This was a major point of conversation between the three, emphasizing the importance of putting in the proverbial elbow grease to get the job done.
“It’s something we talked about,” Moore began. “Three younger guys, we’re not going to get too cute out there. We’re going to make sure we get the puck in, get on the hunt, as we like to say, and then just go get the puck back. I mean, we all skate well and we’d like to win battles. So, yeah, we’ve just got to keep pushing for that in the future.”
As mentioned, the LA Kings were coming off an underwhelming two-game set against the red-hot Avs. With redemption fresh on their minds on Wednesday night, the LA Kings, sporting their Reverse Retro uniforms, were determined to right the ship. That was especially the case for the aforementioned trio.
“Yeah, I mean, it wasn’t really something that we talked about it; it was more, just, you know, everyone knew in their gut that we had more. We knew that we had not played our best games against Colorado and we wanted to come out here and have a good showing.”
As of Thursday morning, the LA Kings are three points out of a playoff spot, shortening their lead against the Blues, who occupy the fourth and final spot in the West Division. There is still plenty of work to be done but the trio of Moore, Grundstrom, and Anderson-Dolan have plenty to build on entering their crucial weekend series against the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights.
Each member of the trio had a two-point night and will be determined to extend that success this Friday if they hope to slow down a vaunted Vegas attack.