Live Blog: Los Angeles vs Colorado

Colorado Avalanche 3, Los Angeles Kings 2
Final

Attendance: 11,722

Live Radio Feed (USA only)

LAK starters: G Ben Scrivens, D Keaton Ellerby, D Drew Doughty, LW Matt Frattin, C Mike Richards, RW Jeff Carter
COL starters: G J.S. Giguere, D Erik Johnson, D Jan Hejda, LW Alex Tanguay, C Paul Stastny, RW Gabriel Landeskog

Referees: Mike Hasenfratz, Dennis LaRue
Linesmen: Kiel Murchison, Jay Sharrers

FIRST PERIOD
0:00 – And we’re underway…
0:25 – Early L.A. power play. Gabriel Landeskog is whistled for hooking.
1:15 – Dustin Brown takes the ice for his first shift of the preseason.
2:30 – Good pressure by L.A. after the power play ended. Doughty found a seam deep in the Colorado zone along the left wing but had his short-side attempt denied by Giguere. Good touches by Frattin as well. He found Ellerby, who activated but shot wide on a quality opportunity.
3:59 – Matt Greene whistled for interference.
9:30 – Good pressure by the Kings grinders. Carcillo gets in on the forecheck and makes a hit behind the net to free the puck loose. He found Martinez open at the left point, and Giguere had to extend his left leg to kick aside the hard low shot. Fraser jumped on the rebound and forced Giguere to make another save.
11:25 – Colorado defenseman Andre Benoit, who scored against L.A. eight days ago, jumped in the rush and took a feed at the tops of the circles. Scrivens was forced to make a tough blocker save on Benoit’s B-plus scoring chance.
13:50 – Strong sequence of Ben Scrivens saves. We’ll see you on the plane to Minnesota next week, Ben.
16:35 – Another big Jordan Nolan hit draws a penalty on the opposition. Six minutes of penalties, to be exact. Two on Bordeleau; four on McLeod. Big hits in every game this preseason by Nolan.

And it leads to…
16:38 – LOS ANGELES GOAL. Mike Richards PPG (Anze Kopitar). 1-0 LAK. Kopitar won the draw back to Richards at the point. He blasts a slap shot past Giguere three seconds into the 5-on-3. It was announced as a Doughty goal, but…no. Richards all the way.

19:30 – More key Scrivens saves from in close.
20:00 – Period over.

SECOND PERIOD
0:00 – Pitter patter, let’s get at ‘er…
0:14 – LOS ANGELES GOAL. Mike Richards PPG (Matt Frattin, Jarret Stoll). 2-0 LAK. Great job by Frattin finding Richards unmarked at the tops of the circles. His wrister goes post-in past Giguere. The Kings have scored three goals on power plays drawn by huge Jordan Nolan hits over the last four periods and 14 seconds.

4:10 – Dieter Ruehle plays the Green Acres theme song. Aahhh, memories of The Forum.
5:30 – Ellerby whistled for hooking after three successive Colorado shots and some sustained pressure.
7:00 – Another strong Ben Scrivens save, this time a slide to his left to take a quality chance away from Stastny.
8:11 – COLORADO GOAL. Ryan O’Reilly (Steve Downie, Matt Duchene). 2-1 LAK. O’Reilly buries a rebound on the backhand following a Scrivens save on a Downie shot from close range. Not a huge surprise, but O’Reilly and Duchene have looked very good versus L.A. this preseason.
12:10 – Mathieu Garon spells Ben Scrivens. Scrivens stopped 17/18 in 32:10 of action.
12:58 – COLORADO GOAL. Gabriel Landeskog (Alex Tanguay, Andre Benoit. 2-2. Garon made the initial save, but Landeskog pounces on a rebound in the crease.
15:09 – Ellerby whistled for holding.
16:06 – COLORADO GOAL. Gabriel Landeskog (Andre Benoit, Paul Stastny). 3-2 COL. Benoit’s power play blast was stopped by Garon, but Landeskog, minus his helmet, pounces on the rebound. Decent hit by Landeskog on Brown in a battle for the puck several moments before.
18:04 – Strong Garon save on a deflected puck during a delayed penalty. Kyle Clifford whistled for charging.
19:42 – Erik Johnson whistled for goaltender interference, which Negated a Colorado goal. Play stopped as the Colorado skater touched the puck to put a rebound past Garon. Five seconds into the third period, the Kings will have 1:38 of power play time.
20:00 – Period over.

THIRD PERIOD
0:00 – Kings power play in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…3:25 – Good Frattin hit on Hejda in front of the L.A. bench.
5:40 – Strong sprawling Garon save on Nathan MacKinnon, the first overall pick of the 2013 draft.
8:00 – Matt Duchene turned on his jets to beat Willie Mitchell to a loose puck before backhanding a shot above the net on a breakaway. Impressive speed by Duchene.
9:26 – Patrick Bordeleau assessed a 10-minute misconduct following a minor scrum near the Colorado net.
14:54 – Willie Mitchell turned awkwardly while defending in his own zone and gingerly skated to his bench. He’s testing his ailment while skating during the TV timeout.
18:25 – Mitchell took two shifts and appears to be battling through it. I’m heading downstairs… Blog will be updated later tonight.

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