LA’s magical mystery tour through the Eastern Conference has come to an end, and now the team returns home for a brief pit stop in SoCal before heading off to San Jose later this week. Monday night’s game in Washington may not have brought coach Jim Hiller’s squad another two points, yet he’s likely still pleased with where his club is at overall.
Despite a 2-1 defeat to the Capitals, it’s been a rather impressive stretch for the Kings. They had picked up points in 10 straight away from Crypto.com Arena, including four victories in a row before stumbling in their most recent contest. Add in the news that Adrian Kempe had re-signed with the organization for another eight years and there was some optimism surrounding the Kings prior to puck drop at Capital One Arena. Even reports on defenseman Drew Doughty’s injury were encouraging, as indications are he’ll only be out a few weeks, and the setback isn’t related to his surgically repaired left ankle.
As for the on-ice action, LA won the special-teams battle and outshot Washington. However, the Kings struggled to find their rhythm until the second period and ultimately didn’t generate enough offense over 60 minutes.
In a hard-fought contest, Washington struck first after a defensive mix-up by the Kings. Former Kings defenseman Matt Roy slipped into the slot unnoticed and redirected a tipped shot past Darcy Kuemper to make it 1–0. Both teams generated chances the rest of the period, but neither could capitalize thanks to strong goaltending at both ends.
Just over a minute into the second period, Alex Ovechkin did what he does best, score; blasting home his 903rd career goal to put the Capitals up 2-0. Like they’ve shown a myriad of times already this season, the Kings weren’t out of it. Already tied with Dallas for the most two-goal comebacks this year, could they do it again?
Midway through the period, they mounted a push. Anze Kopitar buried his third goal of the year, trimming the Capitals lead and tightening the game. The pace picked up from there, with both sides trading quality chances, but the home team managed to keep their slim advantage intact. The final frame had no scoring but plenty of chances, including the Kings pressing late with an extra attacker. In the end, the Capitals structure and goaltending held firm, securing a 2–1 victory.
Key Takeaways:
– In Doughty’s absence Brandt Clarke led all Kings players in ice time with 25 shifts for a Time on Ice of 22:53. A huge percentage of that came in the third period, where LA essentially utilized five defensemen.
– Kopitar received a game used jersey from Ovechkin before leaving town, similar to the gift Sidney Crosby gave him in Pittsburgh last week.
– Speaking of Kopitar, he’s still searching for his first goal 5v5 this season. All three of his goals have come on the power play.
– LA finished the night winning 53% of the faceoffs taken. Kopitar won 68% of his draws (13-for-19).
– Quinton Byfield’s seven shots on goal were the most by any player on either side.
Full game highlights can be viewed here:
Pregame notes and lineups can be found in the article linked below.
Follow @mayorsmanor
MORE LA KINGS NEWS:
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com
Continue reading...