Waking up with the Kings: November 18

Darryl Sutter noted on Thursday that the team needed goals, not just scoring chances. “You’ve got to go past saying, ‘I’ve got the chances,’ or ‘I’ve got the shots,’ or ‘I’m getting them,’” he said. “You’ve got to say, ‘me and the goalie, the puck’s got to go behind the goalie.’ (His best line was actually one sentence earlier, when he said, “When you’re that far in, you’ve got guys who’ve got to start [scoring],” with the brackets used to replace an un-transcribe-able clicking sound.) So when Jonas Gustavsson slid to his left to deny Alec Martinez’s high-grade chance early in the first period, there might have been a few scoring-related grumbles. Those were quickly forgotten when, one minute later, Derek Forbort directed a hard, low snapper – the ideal shot to generate a deflection or place a rebound near the goal – that sliced through traffic and beat Gustavsson inside the post. Less than three minutes after that, Tyler Toffoli created some space in the low slot and snapped Jeff Carter’s feed from the half-wall past a vulnerable Gustavsson to double the lead. Four goals were scored in all, including a big third period insurance goal, as Los Angeles not only racked up the scoring chances – there were more outnumbered rush chances and missed coverages through two periods than one might see over a two or three-game span – but also cold, hard offense. Credit Gustavsson for making several very good saves; L.A. could’ve had more than four.

With injuries to Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik – two-thirds of the combination that was likely to open the season as the team’s “top line” – credit the Jeff Carter line for etching out one of its top performances of the last several seasons. Both Carter and Toffoli scored, and Tanner Pearson was robbed by a great Gustavsson glove save in the third period, though Carter’s shorthanded marker was a representation of excellent hustle after the center won a contested draw and hustled down the ice with Toffoli to bury a hard wristshot for the game-winner. Carter’s ability to shoot off the rush is one of his best assets, but there are so many things that he does well apart from when the puck is on his stick. When I was away this past weekend, I watched the entirety of the Winnipeg game on television – the first full, live Kings game I had watched on TV since Game 5 against Phoenix in 2012 (!) – and one of the takeaways from the unfamiliar vantage point was how good Carter was without the puck. Because of his wingspan, skating and intuitive routes, he was turning 30/70 pucks into 50/50 pucks.

What would Waking up with the Kings be these days without a Brown-Dowd-Setoguchi line update? They weren’t at their best on Thursday, but still came up with a big third period insurance goal; likewise, they actually appeared fine on Tuesday, yet were on the ice for all four of Colorado’s goals. It’s been stated here before, but it’s still worth repeating, because the team is about to get some injured forwards back: one of the bigger questions heading into the season surrounded the level of secondary scoring the team would receive. In the absence of Milan Lucic, a team that hasn’t been one of the league’s premier offensive clubs would have to see several players take steps forward in their production. That hasn’t happened yet with several players, but it has happened with that group, as Dustin Brown, Nic Dowd and Devin Setoguchi have combined to form an effective third line through strong forechecking and chemistry as a five-man unit with their defensive groups. That production is important, because over the last two years, the team hasn’t received regular production from its third or fourth lines. As long as the team can lay in the weeds and remain in the mix as it receives its injured players back, they’ll be in good shape, ultimately, to make something from the line’s production.