Waking up with the Kings: March 25

Whether you want to call it resiliency, resolve, or some other positive-sounding intangible temperament, the Los Angeles Kings showed it in two separate situations in their 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night. Leading 1-0 midway through the second period and dominating the possession and run of play, an Alec Martinez power play goal was nullified by a dodgy crosschecking call levied against Jeff Carter by referee Frederick L’Ecuyer, and a Justin Williams slash put Los Angeles down two men for 30 seconds. Philadelphia didn’t get a shot on goal during the two-man advantage – credit Robyn Regehr for an important block during the sequence – and 56 seconds after the Kings killed the penalties off, Justin Williams chipped the rebound of a Regehr shot past Ray Emery to allow Los Angeles to take a two-goal lead into the third period after registering 19 shots on goal during the middle frame. After the Flyers tied the game with a pair of goals off deflections in the first 10 minutes of the third period, Dwight King re-established the lead as Slava Voynov made a heads up play to strip Kimmo Timonen of the puck in the Los Angeles zone before beating several backcheckers up the ice to set up a two-on-one. The Kings ably snuffed out bouts of adversity in opening this quick east coast swing with a win in a challenging road environment.

Was there any motivation by ex-Flyers and ex-Kings in facing their former teams? The statistics would indicate that there was. Jeff Carter and Mike Richards combined to attempt 17 shots – with Carter hitting the net seven times on nine attempts – while Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds finished tied with a game-high six hits. Justin Williams, who was drafted in the first round by the Flyers in 2000 and spent four years with the club, also found the back of the net. Having scored in both returns to Columbus and opening the scoring last night off a fine Alec Martinez feed, Carter has goals in all three visits to his former stomping grounds. Williams’ quote about returning to Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes is applicable here. “It’s kind of like seeing an ex-girlfriend three years down the road, since we don’t come here very often,” he said in October. “You come here, you’re happy to see ‘em, you want to show ‘em you’ve still got it. But, ultimately, you’re happy with the way things worked out for you, you know?”

Other related tidbits:

-When has anyone ever seen a player hit all three posts on one shot before? What unfortunate puck luck for Vinny Lecavalier. As good as the Kings looked through most of the first 40 minutes, keep in mind that Lecavalier somehow was unable to bury the puck with the Flyers trailing by a goal in the second period, and that Braydon Coburn hit the crossbar midway through the third with the home team buzzing.

-Though he has nine points in the last 11 games – and had a power play goal taken away from him because of a judgment call – Alec Martinez is exhibiting a well-rounded game. Two of his game-high six blocks came during a first period penalty kill that kept the game scoreless.

-Good on Brayden Schenn for acknowledging Jim Fox following Philadelphia’s morning skate. Showing a nice touch of class, Schenn congratulated Fox on his Legends Night honor from earlier this month. It means a lot to the broadcasters when a player speaks highly of their work, and it exhibited some levelheaded maturity when a 22-year-old who played only nine regular season games in a Kings uniform offered a complement to one of his former broadcasters.