After the playoff style of hockey was accentuated in a 2-1 loss to Anaheim on Saturday in a strong possession game decided by a deflection off a defender’s skate, Monday’s game between Los Angeles and Phoenix didn’t represent as crisp of a performance as will be necessary for playoff success. It’s not entirely unexpected, as Phoenix has improved its offensive credentials in 2013-14 and certainly has players capable of forcing opponents into mistakes. But the play of both teams in their defensive ends certainly left room for improvement, and Los Angeles wasn’t as strong along the boards and in attempts to leave the zone with the puck as they generally are. There were mistakes in the first period as little backhand touches by forwards deep in their own zone led to turnovers and extended Phoenix’s zone time, and two power plays allowed in both the opening and closing 20 minutes allowed the visitors to build momentum. While it still would have likely surpassed the average offensive output of Kings games this year, last night’s game takes a different trajectory if Drew Doughty is able to bury a loose puck into an open net three and a half minutes into the game. It was unclear if the puck rolled awkwardly on him, or if one of his hands came off his stick, but that’s a Grade-A attempt you reasonably expect Doughty to bury.
Tanner Pearson has set career highs in ice time in three of his last four games, and it’s very encouraging to see him earn a growing opportunity on this team during a tense part of the season. He was quick to create a turnover when Michael Stone was unable to knock down a Tyler Toffoli outlet pass at the blue line in the first period, and he used a good burst of speed to keep a backchecking Jeff Halpern at arm’s length when he entered the offensive zone on a two-on-two. After he beat Mike Smith with a glove-side snipe a minute into the team’s split-squad game back in September, Pearson deftly shot off the rush and beat Smith on the high blocker side with a hard snapshot. If the Kings hold their third period lead, that’s the game’s key turning point.
I’m not at all comfortable with my ability to critique goaltending, and instead of focusing on catchphrases such as “seeing the shots well” and “getting into a rhythm” and the such, I’ll just say that we’ve all seen better performances in net by Jonathan Quick. There’s really no need to dissect this; he’s due for a slip up every now and then like any professional athlete. Monday’s performance was only the second time since his groin injury in which he allowed at least four goals in a game. I’m not even sure if there’s a reason to write this in the postgame column; he’s the most sure bet to be the team’s best performer come playoff time. That said, the Keith Yandle game-tying goal was an ugly one. A small sample size says that he should be better against Washington on Thursday. In performances following games in which he allowed at least four goals, he is 3-1-0 with a .944 save percentage this season.
The second period was one of the Kings’ best periods of the season. Using an effective forecheck during five-on-five play, Phoenix had difficulty advancing the puck out of their zone, through the neutral zone and carrying it into the Los Angeles’ end. The Kings drew two penalties, scored twice – including once on the power play – and dominated offensive zone time to the tune of a 15-3 shots on goal advantage.
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