There’s been a theme during the Kings’ three-game losing streak. They have allowed the first goal in each game. In fact, the Kings have a 3-7-0 record this season when allowing the first goal, as opposed to a 10-2-0 record when scoring the first goal. Moreover, it could be said that the Kings sometimes have a confidence crisis when they allow the first goal, which certainly seemed to be the case against Montreal and Chicago. From the start of training camp, Terry Murray has preached the importance of getting the game’s first goal, and the importance only seems to be increasing of late.
MURRAY: “It’s always nice to score early and first. Scoring right away, early in the game, the first half of the first period, is a nice thing for confidence. You can always sense that the players relax a little bit more, and there’s also a buy-in on the other part of the game, the checking part of the game, where you’re going to work hard at that, get the puck in deep and give your offensive game, now, more of an opportunity to work and be successful. So we’re going to have to earn that right, to get our game turned around. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and it’s going to be a lot of hard work. We have to start here tonight.”
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