Game 61: Avalanche 4, Kings 1 (FINAL)

Tonight’s senior referee, Dennis LaRue, is the same as last night in Phoenix. Chances are, he won’t get a hug from Darryl Sutter after last night’s call on Kyle Clifford. Can the Kings bounce back? All the action is on NBC Sports Network and on 1150-AM and affiliates, with all the game updates here as well…

THIRD PERIOD
In goal: It’s still Bernier vs. Varlamov.
Avalanche 4, Kings 1: The Kings got on the scoreboard at the 4:35 mark of the third period. Mike Richards won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Drew Doughty, who steadied the puck and drifted toward the middle of the blue line. Doughty then fired a shot through traffic that beat Varlamov. Doughty initially got credit for the goal. During the third period, it was changed to Brown, but after the game it was changed back to Doughty.

SECOND PERIOD
In goal: Jonathan Bernier has replaced Jonathan Quick for the Kings, against Semyon Varlamov.
Avalanche 4, Kings 0: Bernier fared well at the start of the period, but it didn’t spark the Kings much, as the Avalanche took a four-goal lead with 7:15 remaining in the period. The Avalanche crashed the net, and Paul Stastny scored on a rebound with assists to Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene.
End of period: The Kings outshot the Avalanche 14-11 in the period. The Kings went 0-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. Early in the period, Varlamov made an excellent glove save on Dwight King. Later, Varlamov stopped Anze Kopitar’s shorthanded chance. Otherwise, the Kings offered little.

FIRST PERIOD
Officials: Dennis LaRue, Brian Pochmara (referees); Don Henderson, Mark Wheler (linesmen).
Lineup: Davis Drewiske, Dustin Penner and Kevin Westgarth are the Kings’ healthy scratches. The Kings are using lines of Richards-Kopitar-Williams, King-Stoll-Brown, Richardson-Loktionov-Lewis, Clifford-Fraser-Nolan.
In goal: It’s the Kings’ Jonathan Quick against the Avalanche’s Semyon Varlamov.
Avalanche 1, Kings 0: Colorado took the lead 7:04 into the game. The Avalanche controlled the puck in the corner before Mark Olver found a bit of open space in the left circle. Olver took a short pass from David Jones and ripped a shot that beat Quick short-side, over the shoulder. Daniel Winnik also got an assist.
Avalanche 2, Kings 0: Paul Stastny gave the Avalanche a two-goal lead with 6:54 remaining in the period, after a bad turnover. Kyle Clifford held the puck deep in the Kings’ zone and tried to push it behind the net, but put it directly onto the stick of Stastny, who cut to the front of the net and scored on a wraparound for an unassisted goal.
Avalanche 3, Kings 0: Colorado took a three-goal lead with 2:38 remaining in the period. Off a defensive-zone faceoff win, the Avalanche started a 3-on-2 break. Ryan O’Reilly took the puck wide left and shot, and Jay McClement got a deflection as the puck glided past Quick. Chuck Kobasew also got an assist.
End of period: The Avalanche outshot the Kings 11-10 in the period. The Kings went 0-for-1 on the power play and did not face a penalty kill. The Kings have now been outscored 7-1 in the last three periods (not including last night’s shootout).

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