Waking up with the Kings: March 21

-They played with the lead for nearly 40 minutes, relied on excellent goaltending and scored twice in the shootout, but the Kings won last night’s game because they killed all three penalties against the league’s top man advantage. Washington entered last night’s game 10-for-21 in recent power play opportunities and won Tuesday’s game in Anaheim when Alex Ovechkin set up in his office in the left circle and slammed a John Carlson pass home for the game-winner in the third period. Ovechkin missed a heavy amount of opportunities wide on Thursday – he had six missed shots and only three shots on goal – but credit Los Angeles’ work around the net and using sticks and bodies to steer, deflect and entice shots to travel wide while shorthanded. Quick was six-of-six on power play shots on goal, so he did his part.

-And how. Los Angeles wasn’t necessarily the better team in regulation on Thursday , and for the final 40 minutes, Washington worked with a quality amount of zone time and generated the superior chances. Quick’s glove deflection on Dustin Penner from close range in the second period was magic and came shortly after a fine pad stop on Dmitry Orlov. A stop on Troy Brouwer during the overtime penalty kill was followed by a block of a Brower shot and Ovechkin fortunately fanning on an opportunity to the left of the slot. Even with the strong play in front of him and a little bit of late luck, Quick was still the better goalie, even in what was one of Jaroslav Halak’s finest performances against the Kings.

-This was a heavy game, and as one would expect, Los Angeles responded well against a collection of forwards that were at least 6-foot-3 in Ovechkin, Brouwer, Penner, Eric Fehr, Tom Wilson and Jay Beagle. With only two goals scored through regulation, superb goaltending at both ends and 50 hits registered by the Kings, last night’s game is the type of game Los Angeles will have to win when they face a first round opponent that will have the same size and heaviness as Washington.

-Evgeni Kuznetsov hadn’t yet made his mark on the game at the time he stickhandled deep down the right wing into the Kings zone with quick hands in the third period and sneaked a sharp diagonal pass towards the bottom of the left circle to Joel Ward, who chipped the puck past Quick after his first attempt got caught in Drew Doughty’s skate. Kuznetsov, who debuted on March 10, has posted five assists in his first six games, and after spending five seasons in the KHL, it’s not entirely a surprise that he has been able to find his footing rather quickly in North America. His shootout marker was an awfully attractive goal, and it’s unclear whether the Kings have anyone on the roster that can match Kuznetsov purely from a skill standpoint.

-Marian Gaborik’s chemistry with Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams appears to be getting closer to the level where the three players want it to be, and Kopitar’s first period goal was a representation of Williams and Kopitar gaining a better understanding of Gaborik’s speed and skill set. Risking an icing call, Williams launched a puck from his own zone to the far end of the ice in an area where he felt confident Gaborik would win a race to the puck at. Gaborik beat out both the hybrid icing call and John Carlson before feeding a net-crashing Kopitar, who beat Halak inside the near post with a quick snapper. Those types of plays weren’t available on the left side of the ice prior to Gaborik’s arrival.