Waking up with the Kings: April 3

The schedule clearly publicized a Wednesday, April 2 game against the Phoenix Coyotes, tickets were printed with “PHOENIX COYOTES” represented in all capital letters, and a team wearing white jerseys with swaths of brick red on the socks, pants and shoulders took warm-ups. It’s still unclear who the Kings were playing last night, because the visitors never showed up. For a team playing its most important game of the season and looking to rebound after taking only one point from consecutive losses to Minnesota and Winnipeg, the Coyotes, who looked nothing like the team that had beaten the Kings three straight times and won the season series, only intermittently and irregularly competed and won battles during the second night of a back-to-back set. Los Angeles set the tone by scoring an early goal that allowed them to play with the lead for all but one minute and 20 seconds, though after an even first period that didn’t really see either team establish itself as the aggressors, the Kings raised their performance in the second and third periods and steered the game towards the rout that it became. That L.A. had surrendered third period leads in games against Phoenix and Minnesota last month appeared to influence their third period performance as they scored twice, outshot the visitors 10-5 and operated with a significant zone time advantage.

The Kings’ defensive performance was commendable and led to counterstrike chances via breakaways and odd-man rushes in transition. Drew Doughty’s hit to separate Shane Doan from the puck late in the second period allowed Jeff Carter to deftly advance past the Phoenix defense while receiving a pass, though Carter’s backhand attempt was denied by Thomas Greiss. Anze Kopitar snuffed out a Phoenix attempt by stripping the puck from a Coyotes forward in the first period – I can’t recall the puck advancer, but it was Kopitar singularly denying a developing scoring opportunity and pushing the puck up the ice in the opposite direction – and through an effective forecheck, Carter was able to create a turnover and dish the puck across the slot to Tanner Pearson, who went down to one knee to finish off a wobbling puck for an impressive first goal. There was also Alec Martinez’s impressive open ice hit that sent Oliver Ekman-Larsson to the ice on a Phoenix power play zone entry that went nowhere. By allowing only 17 shots on goal, blocking 13 shots and influencing 13 shots to travel wide, the Kings constructed a mostly flawless defensive performance, capped off by timely Jonathan Quick saves when necessary.

If there were any congratulations, or handshakes, or smiles in the locker room after the Kings clinched a playoff berth, I didn’t see any. Perhaps the players took note of etching an “x” beside the team’s name in the standings while behind closed doors, but whatever ephemeral satisfaction was expressed players in reaching the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, it was not for the media to see. The team was more focused in getting out of Staples Center quickly to travel to San Jose in what appears to be a first round playoff preview. Should the team advance out of the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year, I’d imagine a livelier scene. The “bar” and expectations are raised in 2013-14 when compared to 2010, when the Kings clinched a playoff berth for the first time in eight seasons.