It was all deuces for the Kings last night. They earned their second win in a row, totaling five goals from different scorers. It was the second night in a row Kris Versteeg scored the opening goal. It was also the second night the Kings jumped out to a two goal lead early in the first.
There were seriously a lot of two’s in this game. Let’s go through them!
Anze Kopitar
The big centerman was integral to the Kings’ success last night. He totaled two points on the night– the first of which was an unremarkable secondary assist on a ping-ponging puck into the net. But, my oh my the second was a beauty. Kopitar got the puck from Milan Lucic in the slot and made a nifty forehand to backhand transition to beat out the defender. Then, he skated to the side of the net and simply outwaited Antti Niemi before putting up the Kings’ third goal, which helped them regain a two goal lead.
Kris Versteeg
The deadline acquisition paid dividends for the second night in a row when a Rob Scuderi shot tipped off his stick and bounded into the net. It was the second night in a row he scored the first goal for either team, and they were both within the first minute of play.
Dustin Brown
The captain scored in consecutive games (on consecutive nights no less) for the first time in forever. Both of his goals were earned with shots in-tight on the goalie. His backhand goal was certainly more pretty against the Blackhawks, but they both get the job done. Brown is also double digits in goals for the year finally, so yay for that too.
Tyler Toffoli
After an extensive goal drought for the young dynamic forward, Tyler Toffoli scored in consecutive games in addition to Versteeg and Brown. Both of his goals were pure snipes near the right faceoff dot. Both were also with centerman Nick Shore on the ice, but more on that later.
Rob Scuderi
If you ever thought the NHL was fixing games, you might want to look into a game where Rob Scuderi has two assists. One of them was even a primary assist! It also turned out to be a career milestone for the blue line veteran, as he crossed the 100 assist plateau.
Two Times Four
Perhaps most encouraging of all the stats is that this was the second consecutive game in which all four lines contributed a goal. They got there in an unconventional way, too. We’re not used to talking about Dustin Brown playing on the second line with Jeff Carter, nor do we expect Tyler Toffoli on the “fourth” line with centerman Nick Shore. No matter how it came together, this kind of scoring depth is the stuff of dreams for NHL clubs. This is all without Marian Gaborik, too.
Plus 34
That’s the Kings’ goal differential after the two previous nights. This is good for second in the NHL. What’s more – all ten goals were scored at even strength!
Two Points
Assuming the Ducks can earn points in their game to draw even in games played with the Kings, the standings margin will be two points. As things are now, the Kings will very likely have the regulation and overtime wins tiebreaker over either the Ducks or Sharks should a tie result in the division.