Dancing in the Reign: Sight-Seeing from the Roady; So far, so good.
Could you ask for a better start to this 5-game road-trip? The two wins Los Angeles has pulled off are only reinforcing the proof that this young team is learning how to win, am I being clear? I mean, WIN. I’m talking coming from 2 goals down on the road in a playoff-position decisive game, and clearly outplaying a struggling team, which plenty of “good” teams commonly fail to do after a monumental victory. What happened Saturday night in Detroit is a rarity these days for the Kings. A 2-goal comeback victory, and on the road?!? What a wonderful performance LA pulled out, in a game that determined who would keep that 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. And Meat Train and Donuts’ homecoming? Completely outplayed Toronto. The 5-3 score does not do it justice. Let’s recap the past two games…
Saturday @ Detroit
Yes, its hard to believe. But the Red Wings, yes, Detroit, is trailing Los Angeles in the Western Conference standings. Take it easy fella, nothing to end your life over. A few notes I had from Saturday night’s affair:
– Kings caught standing around in their own zone allowing Vilterri Filpulla all of the time and space necessary to beat Quick for the first tally as he walked in alone patiently on the helpless goaltender.
– “RICHY HUSTLE” Man, does this guy go hard shift in and shift out. A puck many forwards would’ve allowed Jimmy Howard to cover, Richardson did not. Refusing to give up on the play, the last-second whack at the puck allowed Anze Kopitar to easily finish the job on an open net.
– Congratulations, Peter Harrold, no really. Yes, it was your first goal of the season, but jeez was it a dandy. Starting off from Kopitar’s rush into the zone, then Simmonds patience and puck control to find an open Harrold crashing from the point, it was a beauty. And a shot like this folks, is what they call seeing through the eyes of the puck. From that angle, and where he buried it, Harrold can’t see that opening himself. Yet, he used the “eyes of the puck” to hit the lower corner to sneak the game-tieing goal past Howard.
– Scott Parse’s giver to Brad Richardson for the game winner was a classic example of two players knowing where to be on the ice, and executing on their confidence in each other. Much like an NFL pass, Parse delivered the cross-slot back door feed to Richy before he turned around. Great positioning and a stick on the ice allowed Richardson to react in-time to finish off a superb play.
Tuesday @ Toronto
– No let-down here following that crucial win at Detroit. No one better could’ve tallied the first goal for the Kings than Drew Doughty, the 20-year old wonderboy from London, Ontario. Great puck movement on the pp led to this one-timer top-shelf goal.
– Captain in Canada: Dustin Brown controlled the game for the Kings, assisting on all three 2nd period goals for the Kings, including an impressive turnover caused by heavy forecheck leading to a back-door pass to Jarret Stoll.
– 5 different goal-scorers for the Kings. Nice to see Jack Johnson get on the board with a rifle from the point. A little refreshing to see #3 score after all of the drama surrounding him and Dean Lombardi this past week.
These two victories bump the Kings up to 6th place in the Western Conference with 63 points. Los Angeles continues the trip tomorrow night in Columbus against the Blue Jackets, following with a huge weekend at Boston and at New Jersey.
