Waking up with the Kings: April 4

Last night’s 2-1 San Jose victory was an appropriate prelude to a playoff series. Though both teams had little to play for – SportsClubStats.com placed a 95% chance that the two teams would meet in the first round prior to the opening puck drop – Thursday’s night’s tense, emotional overload served as the preview of what should develop into the best first round series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They Kings didn’t win on Thursday. They lost on a Logan Couture wraparound game-winner that followed a rebuffed Anze Kopitar clearing attempt off the right wing boards and Martin Jones mishandling a skittering puck in an attempt to cover up. Other than a seven or eight minute stretch of the second period, Los Angeles’ performance was superior to that of San Jose’s. Their start was excellent, and the third period featured a heavy forecheck that led to excellent possession numbers and a significant advantage in zone time. One major aspect that the Kings will need to improve when they travel to the SAP Center for the almost certain first round series is limiting the Sharks’ surges of momentum. The Shark Tank is a notoriously difficult building to play in, San Jose is a highly skilled team that also thrives on both its forecheck and its effective possession game, and should Los Angeles be able to limit those heavy momentum swings, they will come away with wins in the challenging environment. A good sign: San Jose is known for its strong home starts, though the Kings have outscored the Sharks 2-0 on the road in the first period this season with away goals in the first five minutes in two of the three games.

With Doughty out, the five remaining defensemen were very good. Robyn Regehr was in seek-and-destroy mode and contributed with one of his best games of the season. Matt Greene was effective in his return to the lineup, and his five attempted shots and zero shots on goal should be overlooked because that’s not really the featured part of his skill set. Slava Voynov held down the fort on the right side of the ice with a versatile 27:44 effort and like Alec Martinez was a plus-10 in net 5-on-5 shot attempts. Jake Muzzin’s game was as complete as it has been at any point this season, and his block on Logan Couture’s shot during a developing high-quality opportunity in the second period was an important defensive play. Alec Martinez attempted 13 shots at the net and assisted on Jordan Nolan’s goal.

Dustin Brown logged 14 shifts on Thursday; amongst the forwards, only Jordan Nolan drew fewer. His offensive zone penalty was a borderline call that isn’t likely to be whistled come playoff-time, but it was an offensive zone penalty, and the Sharks, who possess the league’s top faceoff percentage, scored four seconds after Joe Thornton’s ensuing faceoff win. The Kings shuffled their lines as the game progressed – Brown was eventually skating opposite Jordan Nolan on a line centered by Trevor Lewis – and it will be interesting to see what happens with the lines now that Dwight King has resumed skating and Linden Vey has rejoined the team.