Regardless of the direction of play for most of the game, or the Kings’ push during key stretches, or a very strong second period, the downfall of Los Angeles’ 4-1 loss to San Jose on Wednesday was the result of the sloppy beginning and end to a first period in which the visitors ruthlessly turned turnovers into odd-man rushes and goals. Whether from breakdowns or lapses in focus, the final minute of the period sealed the game for San Jose. The first goal, which came early in the period, was the result of Los Angeles’ failure to register a shot or work the puck deep after Anze Kopitar dropped the puck to Derek Forbort on a rush in which players were caught in the offensive zone, leading to a crisply executed two-on-one rush the other way. There were multiple breakdowns on the second goal, which might have been the ugliest goal against of the season. Forbort got caught chasing Joel Ward behind the net and wasn’t able to deny a pass towards a high-danger area. Jordan Nolan appeared to overthink either playing the puck or remaining near the blue line, and wasn’t able to get his stick on a puck that he had at least a 50% chance of winning. Drew Doughty was elbowed in the face and after looking for a call, wasn’t able to deny a puck directed towards Logan Couture in front of the net. Nick Shore lost Couture around the net. On the third goal, another neutral zone turnover led to a two-on-one rush in which Ryan Carpenter slickly played the puck off the boards to himself to get past Tyler Toffoli, and a subtle Mikkel Boedker touch back to Carpenter took Jake Muzzin out of the equation. All lines except for the Nic Dowd line were scored against last night, so the absorption of the loss is spread pretty evenly. At the other end of the ice, Martin Jones put in a typically solid performance against his former mates and is forging a reputation for regicide.
Marian Gaborik’s play took a significant step forward between his first and second games back. He was dangerous on the rush through the first two periods, and made a deft play along the boards to play the puck up to himself in the first period to set up a three-on-two rush. Earlier in the period he had maneuvered past David Schlemko to create an angled rush that didn’t result in his best shot, but he followed through on the play and pushed a rebound just wide. He also earned nearly a minute and a half of power play time, so he’s trending well in the right direction. The team wanted to get him up to speed before placing him back alongside high-skill players in more of a scoring role, and after last night’s performance, he’s on his way back towards that slot. It will take time; though he appeared in the playoffs and showed well at the World Cup, last night’s game was his second regular season game in nine and a half months.
Tonight’s game should be an interesting one, and by “interesting,” I mean “probably not extraordinarily interesting, because the Coyotes are the opponent.” Based on conversations with those within and outside of the organization, Arizona is once again relying heavily on a style of play that stacks multiple players up at their blue line, taking away the red line and fluid zone entries, and forcing teams to play a dump-and-retrieve style against mobile defensemen and the league’s most adept goalie at playing the puck in Mike Smith. Because of their size and north-south play, Los Angeles is a team that one would think could handle playing a dump-and-chase-type game, but on the other hand, the Kings are a high-shot volume, low-shooting percentage team that is going to go through periods of struggling to score. On paper, this appears to be an evening in which Los Angeles out-shoots and out-chances an opponent in a game ultimately decided by one goal.
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