Superiority in offensive zone time articulated

By the metrics, the Kings’ possession efforts were on point Saturday in a game in which shot attempts at even strength favored Los Angeles, 64-22. There were long periods of sustained pressure in the offensive zone, even if there wasn’t a bevy of Grade-A scoring chances or a lopsided result.

To catalyze their possession dominance in the 3-1 win over the Avalanche, the Kings were adept at advancing the puck through the neutral zone and gaining clean entries into Colorado’s end.

“I thought the Carter line led that, for sure,” Darryl Sutter said.

The numbers back him up. Though linemates Dwight King and Tyler Toffoli didn’t quite hit the same efficiency, Carter was flawless with seven zone entries, all of which were controlled.

With the extra work in Colorado’s end, it sapped the Avalanche defensemen of energy and led to pucks snapped off the glass and into the neutral zone to facilitate line changes.

“The third period especially, there were a couple times when we really just sat at the blue the whole time, and when they did get a handle on it, just chip it, you break ‘em out and change and do the same thing over again,” Matt Greene said. “The forwards did a really good job, especially in the third, of establishing that low pressure and hanging onto pucks.”

It’s not as if this is some bizarre, out-of-left field variable. The possession-reliant Kings lead the league with a 55.1% Corsi-for rating at even strength this season, and the Avalanche rank 29th at 43.4%. Los Angeles has been out-shot three times in the last 16 games.

But last night, the Kings were able to move the puck well and establish the offensive zone time despite the absence of one of their best puck-movers.

“That’s what our game has always been – about possession and trying to play in the other team’s zone,” Sutter said. “It’s not easy. Hey, you know what? When skating Sekera, he gave us a little bit of more ability on the back end. No we don’t have him, so it’s not easy.”

Alec Martinez, on whether the advancement through the neutral zone was particularly strong:
I don’t know. I think that we played a pretty good team game, but I think that we had some things that we can definitely clean up. When we’re on our game, we’re getting pucks deep and not trying to make some of those fancy plays in the neutral zone. That’s one think, you can’t create turnovers and create opportunities for the other team like that, especially a team like Colorado who thrives off transition as a fast team that’s got the firepower that they do. That’s the same for Vancouver and everyone on this road trip.

Martinez, on whether this road trip is “special”:
We know the task at hand. I think having been through similar situations, we can draw on that a little bit, on that experience. But at the end of the day you can’t look at the whole mountain to climb. You’ve got to just take it one game at a time. That’s what we’ll do.

Martinez, on how the team has established its late-season mentality:
I don’t know, I think it’s just a testament to the character and leadership that we have in the room. I know we’ve got a group of guys where a lot of us have been together for a long time. Like I said, we can draw on that experience of having gone through it before. We’ve just got good leadership and character in here.

Martinez, on whether he looks at the standings:
No. I mean, I take that back because they’re everywhere. They’re posted everywhere. I’m conscious of where we are, but in a situation like this, I think we’ve just got to win hockey games, and that’ll take care of itself. I guess there’s obviously an awareness, but I’m not necessarily scoreboard watching, I guess. I’m just trying to focus on our own stuff.

Martinez, on trying to find an edge against teams the Kings have already played four times:
Well, this is crunch time. If you’re having a hard time getting up for a game or finding an edge, then you have a problem. We’ve got to win these hockey games, regardless of the opponent, regardless of how many times we’ve played them this year. This is the way the schedule works out. It’s the same thing every year, you play teams the same amount of times. We’ve got to win hockey games.

Matt Greene, on the offensive zone time on Saturday:
That’s where we want to be is at the other team’s blue line and letting our forwards do a lot of the work. I think that’s when we’re successful, is when our team establishes the cycle game and you get a lot of offense from those types of games.

Greene, on whether this is “just another road trip”:
No, it’s really important. This is our season right here – just getting into the playoffs and making sure that we extend our playing time, so this is huge. What’s happened in the past really doesn’t matter. You’ve got to get these points right now and be ready to go.

Greene, on whether he looks at the standings:
Yeah, you look at them every day. You’ve got to know where you stand, especially right now. Things are always changing, whether you’re playing or not, so you’ve got to make sure you’re keeping pace and all the scenarios that are going on, you’ve got to be aware of what’s going on around the league.