The Kings came into Joe Louis Arena on a small upswing having won their last two games. It seemed as though the Kings had finally broken out of a slump were they had dropped 8 of their previous 9– and played well enough to win in many of those 8.
A sleepy 1st period was followed by an action-packed 2nd. Mike Richards drew first blood on a power play and then the Wings answered back a mere 40 seconds later to tie it up.
A few minutes later, Kyle Clifford slid into Wings goalie Jimmy Howard. Howard took exception to that and roughed up Clifford which resulted in a scrum where Howard and Richards ended up receiving matching minor penalties. During the next stoppage in play, Quick took exception to Howard as they met at center ice on the way to their respective benches:
We were that close to even more Team USA on Team USA violence. Which, had it happened, wouldn’t even have been the most memorable thing that happened in this one.
The most memorable moment came nearly 2 minutes after Jeff Carter’s go ahead power play goal with 2:15 left in the third.
The Red Wings had a 6v4 advantage after pulling the goalie and being on a power play resulting from Dwight King closing his hand on the puck.
The Wings were applying heavy pressure but were having trouble getting shots through…when this happened:
So yeah, they ended up scoring on a shot that didn’t get through and went on to win in a shootout. The puck actually was deflected out of play, bounced off the netting, bounced off Jonathan Quick’s back and into the net. None of the 4 officials on-ice saw the puck go out of play. The goal was not reviewable according to the NHL rulebook:
After the game, Darryl Sutter was able to put things in proper perspective:
Sutter: “What are you going to do at the outdoor game? What if it goes through a cumulus cloud and comes back down?”
— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) January 19, 2014
Odd incidents aside, the Kings still had a pretty mediocre showing in the offensive end and had trouble converting on scoring chances at even strength. It can be pretty difficult to win games scoring just about two goals a night. In order for the Kings to break out of their funk, they are going to need to figure out ways to convert on more of their chances. I think that starts with practicing firing pucks at cumulus clouds and hoping that goals start raining down from the heavens.