Waking up with the Kings: May 6

Have the first two games represented a reversal in the run of play from what we saw in the teams’ regular season series? In five games against each other in 2013-14, the Kings scored seven non-shootout goals on 186 shots (3.8% shooting percentage), while the Ducks scored 12 times on 114 shots (10.5%). Anaheim led the NHL with a 10.24% regular season shooting percentage, while Los Angeles ranked 28th at 7.63%. The Kings outshot the Ducks by at least six shots in every game this season, yet here we are, with a two-nothing Los Angeles series lead in which they’ve opportunistically scored five non-empty net goals on 52 shots as Anaheim has scored three times on 72 shots. A small sample size, yes, but the Ducks have generally been the better puck possession team through the first two games of the season as the Kings have found ways to score important goals. Also: Jonathan Quick has been excellent.

Yes, Quick has been very good, but other than the awful end boards carom that turned into a double pad stack save on Devante Smith-Pelly, how many of Anaheim’s 37 shots came off of Grade A-type opportunities or pristine second chances? For the Ducks, Game 2 was fairly similar to Kings games in January in which the team failed to score regularly despite holding significant zone time advantages and posting inflated shot on goal totals. The Kings were fine in their own zone, relied on great goaltending, and Jeff Schultz admirably filled in for Robyn Regehr with 19:58 of ice time that included an even rating and a key third period clearing of a puck away from the crease after an awkward rebound. Corey Perry was held scoreless for the second consecutive game, though, to his credit, he did spray water inside Jeff Carter’s glove during a timeout.

Since he joined the Kings, had Marian Gaborik reached his top speed in scoring a goal? He appeared to be at about 85% speed when scoring off the backhand on a long rush in Game 3 against San Jose, but his goal 34 seconds into Game 2 featured a jet-propelled Gaborik easily getting behind the Anaheim defense and scoring on a mini-breakaway after he reached his top speed in flying through the neutral zone. There was nothing Ben Lovejoy could do but turn around and watch as Gaborik flew into open space in a three-on-two that developed quickly and featured Anze Kopitar hitting his left winger in stride and at top speed.

Darryl Sutter rolled four lines and assigned ice time relatively evenly despite the extra day between Games 2 and 3. Drew Doughty’s 26:25 of ice time was 55 seconds below his playoff average entering Game 2, while for the most part, ice times assigned on Monday were close to each player’s playoff averages. Several anomalies: Gaborik’s 13:46 was 3:11 under his postseason average entering Game 2, while fellow left wing Dwight King’s 17:08 of ice time was 2:18 more than his postseason average. Kopitar was also four minutes under his postseason average. With most of these players not expected to take the ice on Tuesday, we’ll see if several top players’ reduced Game 2 minutes helps in the recovery from the various dings and bruises associated playing 90-plus games into a season.