Waking up with the Kings: December 2

Gila River Arena, the NHL’s Mystery Spot, was again the site of a Picasso painting as the Kings and Coyotes combined to play three chaotically sloppy but somewhat compelling three periods of hockey in their first meeting of the year. Four goals will often win you a hockey game, and on Thursday those four goals came from Dwight King, Jordan Nolan, Jordan Nolan again, and Trevor Lewis as the Kings withstood a goal 15 seconds in, a game-tying Tobias Rieder breakaway goal nine seconds after Nolan’s would-be game-winner, an unproductive night on special teams and an off-kilter first period in net by Peter Budaj to ultimately win a divisional game. There were few extended stretches of sustained momentum from either team, other than the Coyotes’ start to the second period and the Kings’ conclusion to the second. The game-winner was ultimately scored as the Kings’ forecheck disrupted a zone exit as Lewis tied up Max Domi, allowing Anze Kopitar, who had already responsibly dropped back to the red line, jumped back into the play and stepped in front of Domi’s flailing stick attempt to clear the puck. He worked the puck in front towards Gaborik, whose redirection was stopped by Mike Smith before Lewis picked a low corner in burying the rebound.

This was an important performance and win for Jeff Zatkoff, who apparently needed to gain back his coach’s trust. Darryl Sutter had several choice observations on Zatkoff’s departure from the Ottawa game (they’ve already been circulated on this site; check here or here if you want to rehash them), and how it affected his goaltending rotation, if 22 consecutive Budaj appearances can be considered a “rotation.” Zatkoff, in his first appearance since November 11, faced 14 shots in the second period and stopped them all, including several high-danger opportunities from Tobias Rieder. He also weathered 6-foot-6 Martin Hanzal blasting into him two minutes and 50 seconds into entering the game (and also benefited from Jordan Martinook breaking his stick on a low-slot look with a wide-open net to work with). Zatkoff stopped 25 of 26 shots to earn his first win as a King, disrupting some unfortunate early-season momentum. The variables are different, but there were a few parallels to be drawn between Zatkoff’s November and the end of the Ben Scrivens tenure with the club, and it’s good that Zatkoff’s performance Thursday helped off-set that trajectory. If you recall in the first half of the 2013-14 season, Scrivens did not start a game that he had been tabbed to start (and had led the team out for warm-ups for) against the Islanders in early December, a last-minute goalie switch that clearly perturbed Sutter and the coaching staff. As well as he had played to that point, Scrivens then started only three of the next 17 games – losing all three – before he was traded to Edmonton. These are clearly different circumstances, but since that Ottawa game, when Zatkoff left after two periods due to injury (which is somewhat dicey to pin as blame on a player), Sutter had made it clear that Zatkoff’s inability to remain in the game did not sit well with him. Zatkoff played very well in relief against Arizona, and he needed that win.

This could just be due to the natural fluctuations in scoring that come and go over the season, but the Kings could stand to improve their opening periods. They’ve allowed goals on the first shots against for three straight games, and over that span have been outscored 6-1 in the opening 20 minutes. Los Angeles has actually strung together several strong second periods in a row – previously, the middle frame had been their weakest link – but after Thursday’s game, they’ve been outscored 18-13 in first periods through 24 games. They were not particularly threatening during their three first period power plays, including a 53-second 5-on-3 stretch in which they weren’t able to generate their mini two-on-one plays around the net. The two shots on goal registered during their five-on-three came from Drew Doughty, one from 48 feet and the other from 41, according to the play-by-play log.