Waking up with the Kings: January 15

Riding a wave of top players, the Los Angeles Kings scored early but fell behind to a committed Winnipeg team in the third period before tying the game late on a bang-bang play by Dustin Brown, setting the stage for a lightning quick Jeff Carter release off important feeds from Anze Kopitar and Jake Muzzin in a 3-2 overtime win Saturday night at Staples Center. Kopitar logged three assists – one of which was a deft kick of the puck to Muzzin in overtime – and won 16 of 25 faceoffs in 22:43 of ice time. Marian Gaborik forged forward with a goal and six shots on net in his best performance of the year, Drew Doughty poured eight shots on goal and Carter ended the game with a debilitating top shelf, far-post snipe after Muzzin had found a seam near the boards in gaining the offensive zone after receiving Kopitar’s pass. Teams are more concerned with the tactical and systems detail of their opponents than any expected emotional surge, but the Jets had held a closed door meeting after a loss in Arizona the night before, and it wasn’t difficult to foresee the visitors exhibiting a strong pulse in all their efforts. Winnipeg generated more scoring chances than the typical opponent generates at Staples Center and threatened on all three of their power plays, scoring twice. Credit Los Angeles for rebounding well after falling behind and withstanding the Jets’ furious third period forecheck, and for willing itself into a positive result during heavy pressure that led to Brown’s quick hands goal.

Both teams relied on strong goaltending – the Jets also banked on L.A. failing to call “bank” on several post-bound pucks – and Peter Budaj made his most important save of the night when he stopped Blake Wheeler on a breakaway with an arm save when Winnipeg held a one-goal lead in the third period. Budaj also had an important shorthanded save on Wheeler, who is among the more terrifying and underrated players in the Western Conference, during an outnumbered three-on-one rush bid. First period saves on Mathieu Perreault, Bryan Little and Mark Scheifele also made the goaltender’s personal highlight reel. While the official LAKI count gave the Kings a clear scoring chance advantage, the number of high-quality chances were roughly even, and may have favored the Jets. Los Angeles special teams, after standout performances against Dallas (2/3 PP / 1/1 PK) and St. Louis (1/5 PP / 3/3 PK), did not have an effective night against Winnipeg, allowing two goals in three shorthanded situations and failing to score on four opportunities while with the man advantage.

The game served as another reminder that apart from one or two teams at the very top of the league, and two teams or so at the very bottom of the league, there isn’t much to differentiate between a robust middle class. The Jets have a well chiseled identity as a stronger, heavier team that also has impressive skill and speed in its top two lines, even with the absence of Patrik Laine. With middle-of-the-pack goaltending, they’re a playoff team. The Kings, meanwhile, moved to 6-4-1 in the 11 games Tyler Toffoli has missed and showed that while they’re not always going to bury the puck, and may still deal with some underperforming personnel at various ends of the lineup, they still play the same way and produce more or less the same effort on virtually all nights, with rare outliers here and there. They’re 3-2-0 on their seven-game home stand with important games against quality Tampa Bay and San Jose teams next on the docket. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in their world if either or both of those games go to overtime, where they’re 9-1 this season and 21-4 in the 25 games decided in the extra session since the switch to three-on-three play.