The Kings were outshot by the Lightning 8-7 in a scoreless, physical first period. The Lightning clearly came out with the instruction to hit, and hit early and often, and that’s what they did. The big incident came 8:20 into the game, when Steve Downie hit Wayne Simmonds from behind in the neutral zone but avoided a penalty. Michal Handzus came in and leveled Downie from behind. Handzus got a charging penalty, while Simmonds and Ryan Malone got roughing penalties.
Three minutes later, Raitis Ivanans and Zenon Konopka had a clutch-and-hold fight. Late in the period, Simmonds went off for roughing after he dumped Kurtis Foster to the ice after Simmonds got his helmet knocked off. The Kings will start the second period with a 57-second power play.
Rob Scuderi went to the locker room in the later part of the period. He appeared to be hobbled by hits on two different occasions.
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