The Los Angeles Kings played a good road game, but after getting a crucial game-tying goal in the latter half of the third, they immediately threw that hard-earned point away. It’s a delayed recap (thanks, Super Bowl weekend!), so we’re switching up the format a bit.
8: Start with number eight, as Drew Doughty had an excellent game from a possession standpoint. He was on the ice for 32 shot attempts for and 18 against, a +14 differential. Rudy Kelly mentioned in the comments after the Chicago game that the games that are most emblematic of Doughty’s style are the ones where he makes a few highly visible mistakes and dominates otherwise, and this was one of those nights; his turnover to Gregory Campbell nearly cost LA the lead and he was on the ice for two Boston goals, but he had the assist on Nolan’s goal and threatened in the offensive zone pretty often.
7: Brad Marchand led all skaters with seven shots on goal. Two of them went in; one a heavily screened shot on Jonathan Quick, and a late empty-netter in which he softly backhanded the puck down the ice and tied up Jeff Carter before he could knock it away. Marchand also has seven goals in eight career games against LA, including this rather memorable goal from last season.
6: Chris Kelly‘s game-winner with a little under six minutes to go also put him at six goals on the season, though it wasn’t clear that he had scored in the first place. Video review showed that Carl Soderberg‘s shot was tipped by Kelly and rocketed back out from the underside of the net. The refs missed it initially, but video review gave Boston their 2-1 lead.
5: LA is stuck on five road wins in twenty-one road games. The only teams this year with fewer road wins: Edmonton and Buffalo. Oof. LA has more road games to catch up on than any other team, too, so they need to start getting results away from home.
4: LA’s fourth line may not have had the best game overall, but they were the only line to get on the scoresheet. Jordan Nolan flung a harmless-looking wrist shot which fooled Tuukka Rask and went in off the iron to tie the game with about seven minutes to go. It’s Nolan’s second goal and second point of the season. Nick Shore played twelve minutes and was foiled on a breakaway by Rask, while Justin Williams and Trevor Lewis rotated on the other wing. Williams and Lewis both saw their excellent possession numbers take a hit as a result.
3: There were three combined goals given up by Rask and Quick, and both goalies played really well overall. In the end, Quick just got outdueled. No consolation for him at game’s end, though (via Steph at Boston.com):
2: The Kings finished with two fewer shots than Boston. Any frustration with the team can’t really be for the way they played, except for the way they faltered at various points of period number two. Boston had a terrific month to entrench themselves in a playoff spot, while LA has to do the same in February.
1: A moment of levity came at the end of the first period, when Marchand fired a puck off the post and in, one full second after the buzzer sounded. It was incredibly clear on the broadcast that the goal was late, but Marchand performed a full celebration, pointing and yelling at teammates and waving his hand in the air. Of course, he got his two goals, so we couldn’t make fun of him for too long.
0: There are zero games remaining in January. Finally. (And if you wondering: February has been a terrific month for the Kings in the post-lockout era.)