For the second time in 4 games, the LA Kings fall in a shootout

For the second time in four games, the LA Kings have fallen in a shootout. This time, the Kings lost to the division rival Vancouver Canucks after forward J.T. Miller flipped a back-hander past Joonas Korpisalo. Despite the loss for LA, they extended their point streak now to nine games, dating all the way back to Fenruary 28th when the Kings edged out the Winnipeg Jets 6-5 in a shootout.

In the fourth game of the seven game homestand for LA, the Canucks made their way to the Crypo.com Arena to take on the LA Kings at 7:00 PM PST, or 10:00 PM EST. Entering the game, the Canucks held a  29-33-5 record, while the Kings held a 40-20-9 record.

On paper, it looked like the Kings were the better team due to the Canucks being in the bottom three of the Pacific Division and the Kings being in the top two in the division. And by all facets, Los Angeles is a better team, and lost in a heartbreaking way. Although, even in the loss, the Kings gained a point in the standings.

Now, let’s dive into how the game unfolded into a 3-2 shootout.

First Period: LAK 1, VAN 1

Vancouver right winger Brock Boeser opened up the scoreboard with a little over nine minutes left in the first period. He was a couple strides in from the blueline when he fired a wrister on Joonas Korpisalo and managed to score on the far side of the net.

Then, in the closing minutes of the period, Quinn Hughes fanned on a slapshot and the puck slid right onto Gabriel Vilardi’s stick. He carries the puck down past the blueline, waits for help to join him, and as Alex Edler is skating on-sides, he receives the puck and fires it past Thatcher Demko.

Both teams are tied at one goal heading into the second period.

Second Period: LAK 2, VAN 1

Offense for both teams fell flat in the opening minutes of the second period, which was odd for the Kings because in the last two games LA exploded for four goals in the middle 20 minutes of the game. But, that was not the case in this game. Offense slowed down, and defense stepped up as there was a lot of time passing without any shots on goal.

But, with just under four minutes left in the period, Carl Grundstrom received a pass from Rasmus Kupari and directed it into the back of the net without using his stick. The puck bounced off Grundstrom’s foot and found its way in the net without getting called back due to a distinct illegal kicking motion.

So, the Kings headed into the third period with a one goal lead.

Third Period: LAK 2, VAN 2

The Kings came out on fire as they peppered Thatcher Demko with seven shots on goal in roughly the first two minutes. However, Demko stood on his head and saved them all. After that, the offense slowed down for both sides until LA’s Mikey Anderson got called for tripping against Vancouver’s Brock Boeser.

Just a few seconds later, Elias Petterson received a pass from Quinn Hughes, skated inside the right circle, and fired it past Joonas Korpisalo to tie the game up at two apiece. In a game where the Kings were in the lead for the majority of the game, it now sits tied in the final period.

Unfortunately, no goals made it past either netminder for the remainder of the period, so the game was headed into overtime.

Overtime: LAK 2, VAN 2

Los Angeles failed to record a shot on goal for the entire five minute overtime. But, Vancouver managed to get three with Anthony Beauvillier, Elias Petterson, and J.T. Miller. However, Joonas Korpisalo got his hands on all three of them and forced the game into a shootout.

Shootout: VAN 3, LAK 2

Gabriel Vilardi opened up the shootout for the Kings and missed the shot wide of the net. Andrei Kuzmenko followed that up with a goal against Korpisalo. Trevor Moore tried to match it, but also got denied by Thatcher Demko. Then, J.T. Miller scored on a backhand against Korpisalo to end the game and send the Kings home.

Next up for Los Angeles are the Calgary Flames who come to town tomorrow night at 7:30 PST.

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