Dancing in the Reign: Mental toughness leads to SO victory; Shot in the arm for road-trip.

Tonight’s victory, much like Saturday’s, showed signs that this team is learning how to win close, hard-fought games. I was impressed with the Kings consistent intensity; both mentally and physically, as they were able to come back twice in the game. What does this all come down to? Maturity. This young roster, many of whom played together last season, looks as though they now know what it takes to play a full, solid 60 minutes. Twice they surrendered a goal less than two minutes into a period, but neither time did they let it set the tone for the rest of the frame. Both teams played a pretty even-keel type of game with a fast pace and excellent play on both ends of the ice.

Notes on the game:
- Great defensive game for the Kings tonight. First goal was an unfortunate bounce as O’Donnell made an attempt to break up a back-door pass. On Buffalo’s second goal, many would argue Thomas Vanek found himself alone in front of the net via interference, which left Doughty down and out of the play.
- Good, but not a great game by Quicker. Third goal was a bit soft. Craig Rivet took a shot (a nice one, at that) from a terrible angle and Jon wasn’t able to square his body in-time to position himself for Rivet’s blast. Bottom line, an NHL goaltender needs to be able to stop attempts from angles like that, no matter how good the shot.
- Second time this week Jonny Quick has beaten a fellow Team USA Olympian goaltender in a shootout.
- Ryan Smyth goes hard to the net (beautiful) once again for the game tying goal in the 3rd period. His presence with this offense allows his line-mates to throw the puck on net with a little more confidence knowing #94 is there.
- Alexander Frolov. I’m sick of you.

Five-game Roady:
The Kings will be in Detroit Saturday night to kick off a five game road trip that will continue with Toronto, Columbus, Boston, and New Jersey. Look out for a preview of this crucial stretch of games tomorrow night.