Angeles Analysis – Round 1, Game 4

Math is an interesting thing.

Only in the Stanley Cup Playoffs does 1 minus 6 minus 6 plus 4 equal zero. That would have failed your first-grade math class, but in the NHL it adds up perfectly.

The Kings spoke at length between Games 3 and 4 about how they were looking at a pair of six-goal defeats by the second term not the first. They were just losses are far as the team was concerned, at least that’s what they said after the game and in the days that followed. Going out and executing as if that was the case is another thing entirely, but the Kings showed in Game 4 that their talk wasn’t cheap. They went out, they bounced back and they got the job done with a massive home victory, one that evens their series at two games apiece and creates a best-of-three, beginning tomorrow in Edmonton. Not as much chatter about 8-2 is there? It’s all about 2-2.

After the win, Todd McLellan was measured. Naturally, the Kings were substantially better in several areas, but he put it in a way that said that, to a man, the Kings were five percent better across the board. Every player was five percent better. And perhaps that’s all the margin was. But, on a night when the Kings needed their biggest victory of the season, they got exactly the performance they needed in front of an impassionate crowd at Crypto.com Arena.

That performance started from the net out. Jonathan Quick stopped each of the 31 shots he faced, 29 with all of his equipment intact and two minus a glove. Regardless of how he got to pucks, regardless of how they stayed out of the net, Quick was immense from his early save on a Zach Kassian breakaway right down to a Ryan McLeod deflection with five seconds left in regulation. On a night when a guy who has “been there and done that” was needed most, Jonathan Quick was all of that and more.

In terms of heroes, well I bet you didn’t have Troy Stecher and Carl Grundstrom on your bingo card. The Kings got three of their four goals last night from players who did not play in Game 3, as Grundstrom missed out with an injury and Stecher entered the series on the outside of the rotation looking in.

Looking at Grundstrom, he was a game-time decision but took warmups and was healthy enough to play, skating on the second line for the first time, alongside Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore. Those two individuals have been the story of the series for the Kings, and they were in some ways again last night, as they combined for the game’s first goal. Grundstrom also assisted on that play, however, and when the game needed an insurance goal late in the third period, it was Grundstrom who capitalized with his first career postseason goal. With an added empty-net tally, he picked up the first multi-goal game since Jeff Carter in the 2014 Western Conference Finals.

“Pretty darn good night for him, he’s been a really good player for us down the stretch, a trusting player, reliable,” McLellan said of Grundstrom. “He plays heavy and he plays hard. I was really excited for him and it was great to see. He has a pretty unique smile so it was great to see it.”

Stecher was the more interesting addition to the lineup, with Grundstrom’s return pending health, not a coaches decision. After conceding 14 goals across Games 2 and 3 combined, the Kings felt they needed more of a veteran presence in the lineup, so in stepped Stecher. That’s not any sort of indictment on Jordan Spence, who came out, because he was certainly not the biggest problem in the defeats. But Stecher brings with him experience, he brings with him solidity in his own defensive zone and in Game 4, he brought with him an important first-period goal.

“We thought we needed a little bit more stability back there, somebody that’s played in these situations before and obviously he gave us a really good night,” McLellan said. “He scored a big goal, made plays at key moments, calm plays.”

Stecher’s integration re-worked each of the team’s three defensive pairings. Stecher skated alongside Alex Edler, a pairing the Vancouver Canucks used as their shutdown duo for the better part of four seasons. We saw that familiarity last night. That shuffled Matt Roy alongside Mikey Anderson, with the former bringing his usual display of steadiness, while the latter was noticeably physical and assertive in his game, producing one of his best performances in a Kings jersey. That put the offensive gifted Sean Durzi with defensively sound Olli Maatta, on a pairing that saw both players at nearly 20 minutes or above. Without Drew Doughty this season, the Kings have relied on a group of six on more nights than not to handle tougher minutes against high-level opposition. Last night, we saw that at its best.

Now, the math shifts from addition and subtraction to a single number.

“We’ve just got to win one, that’s all we’ve got to do. Our math doesn’t go past one.”

Todd McLellan was asked about the concept of a best-of-three series, with the final three games deciding which team advances, but he pointed back to what he has for the majority of the season. For the LA Kings, it’s always been just about the next game and that next game is isolated.

He’s been asked this question before this season, but asked it again, regarding whether or not Game 4 momentum carries into Game 5, he stopped that narrative in its tracks, as he’s done all season long when it comes to game-over-game momentum.

“No momentum, it starts again every night, as we’re getting on the plane, it’s over now,” he said. “If momentum carried over, we would have gotten drilled [last] night, they had all of it. So no momentum.”

It all starts anew tomorrow. Game 5 is a unique beast, as the Kings head back to Edmonton for what’s sure to take over that city once again.

As the series shifts back to Alberta, the teams prepare to play Game 5 tomorrow.

UPDATE – A short team skate for the Kings today at Toyota Sports Performance Center, before the team departed for Edmonton. Not a ton to report from that skate, to merit a specific practice report, with the team on and off in succinct fashion in advance of the flight. We will, however, have interviews with Game 4 inserts Troy Stecher and Carl Grundstrom to share later on today, with Ontario Reign contributor Jared Shafran also preparing a story regarding information that was just recently announced, with T.J. Tynan winning the AHL’s Most Valuable Player Award for the second consecutive season. More to follow, Insiders!