Waking up with the Kings: March 11

-The Kings’ 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday night didn’t exactly veer off towards an unexpected scenario. Playing the second game of a back-to-back set, the Kings jumped out in front early by scoring on two of their first shots and forced a team icing eight rookies to (unsuccessfully) fight from behind for 55 minutes and 55 seconds. Last night’s game gravitated closer to the three earlier Los Angeles-Calgary games this season, and away from the possession-dominant, shot-generating expositions seen in Winnipeg and Edmonton. It may be easy to say this from the outside, but of the three Western Canadian Pacific Division teams, Calgary’s season has easily been the most satiating. Edmonton has been lost in the wilderness for years and will end the season farther away from their goal than where they began it. Having won five consecutive Northwest Division championships and having opened the 2013 portion of the current season admirably, Vancouver has become a dumpster fully engulfed in flames in 2014 and appears to be on the verge of the early stages of a long, committed rebuild. But the Flames have consistently operated with a raised work ethic under Bob Hartley, have relied upon a 19-year old Sean Monahan to lead the team in goals, and appear to be on schedule of what was perhaps the league’s most overdue rebuild. Credit is due towards a young team that faced a significant skill disadvantage in last night’s game and turned a 3-0 deficit into a one-goal game late in the third period.

-It took nearly two months, but the Kings are now getting rewarded by deflections, tips, bounces and some added grease around the opponents’ nets. The three goals that were scored on Monday – Justin Williams on a redirection, and Trevor Lewis and Anze Kopitar on deflections – are the exact types of goals that had evaporated from the offense during the team’s mid-winter funk. Los Angeles’ zone time advantage wasn’t as profound as it was in wins at Winnipeg and Edmonton, and perhaps good fortunes shined on a team that extended its winning streak to eight games. But as noted yesterday, the longer time a team spends in the opposing zone, and the more it spends possessing the puck, there is a greater probability that goals will be scored off deflections, redirections, or even on intended passes that bank off defenders, as was the case on Sunday in Edmonton.

-Tanner Pearson played a strong game against the Montreal Canadiens, sat for a pair of games, and returned Monday night in Calgary with one of his best performances as a King. Demonstrating Dean Lombardi’s assessment that the Kings rookies “make plays,” Pearson showed significant jump and when assigned a penalty killing shift at the tail end of back-to-back Kings minors and very nearly set up fellow rookie Tyler Toffoli for a shorthanded goal. Toffoli did an excellent job of driving to the net on the play and used his strength and balance to fend of backchecking Calgary captain Mark Giordano while snapping a quality shot off Pearson’s pass towards Joni Ortio. The performance of Pearson, Trevor Lewis, and Kyle Clifford – the latter two of whom forged strong road trips – helped to spread the minutes around on the second night of a back to back. Whereas the usage of Los Angeles forwards ranged between 11:28 (Pearson) and 17:51 (Kopitar), Calgary did not bank on the same fortune. Due to Markus Granlund getting injured on his first shift, three Flames forwards logged at least 20 minutes, with all forwards’ usage (minus Granlund) ranging from 7:06 (Hanowski) to 24:28 (Backlund).