Waking up with the Kings: March 17

The game tapes may not be archived in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but the Los Angeles Kings’ 1-0 win over a depleted Arizona Coyotes team counted as two points all the same as another calendar day was checked off and another notch registered in the regulation/overtime wins column. In an oft-interrupted parade of B-type chances, neither team accumulated any surplus of clean looks at the net as the Coyotes, harkening back to Coyotes Days of Yore, checked well, played a traditionally close-to-the-vest game and relied on goaltender Mike Smith to make a handful of high-tension if not eye-popping saves on Kings chances that more often than not were coming at him from angles and the perimeter instead of square-on from the highest shooting percentage areas. Andy Andreoff and Jonathan Quick bailed out the club with a big goal and a flawless performance in net – Andreoff nearly had his second NHL goal during a period of sustained pressure in the third – as the equally tight checking Kings relied on another strong defensive and penalty killing performance that, along with the all-around team game, will need to be enhanced when traveling to Anaheim to face the first place Ducks on Wednesday.

It’s no surprise that the Kings’ standout run of penalty killing – they’re now 41 for their last 43 since the second period on February 12 – has coincided with a Jonathan Quick string of excellent starts. Quick was the Kings’ best penalty killer on Monday against a team that entered the night with the second best road power play rate in the league, and his tracking of the puck to deny a deflected Oliver Ekman-Larsson point shot as well as his glove save on a Brandon Gormley attempt while killing a second period penalty stood out as amongst his best stops of the night. He also benefited from the aforementioned tight checking around him; in addition to his goal, Andy Andreoff also used a long reach on a backcheck to get his stick on a puck and end an Arizona three-on-two early in the second period.

Based on performances, the circumstances of the game, and perhaps because of games later this week against Anaheim and Vancouver, last night’s game featured about as evenly allotted minutes as can be found in a Kings game this season. The only player to crack 20 minutes on the ice was Drew Doughty, and his ice time was 1:43 below what his average ice time entering the game was. No player failed to crack the 10-minute plateau, an indication that the depth and role players contributed with a useful performance. Though special teams accounted for 10 of the 60 minutes, for the most part Darryl Sutter rolled lines and wasn’t overly concerned with matching up in such a tight divisional game.

A quick note: There’s a Kings staff meeting today, so this blog will be quieter than usual in the afternoon. I’ll still have reports from TSC before then. Enjoy your Tuesday, Insiders.