Everyone always talks about back-to-back games. No one ever talks about the third game in four days, though. Maybe it’s harder to notice. But there’s no question that the Kings, who used up their second wind in holding Pittsburgh off the scoresheet on Friday, suffered yesterday. This third-in-four thing hasn’t worked too well for the Kings. They’ve played a third game in four days on four other occasions, and you probably remember every game:
October 30: Chicago 3, Kings 0 (second straight shutout)
November 1: Anaheim 4, Kings 0 (third straight shutout)
November 11: Ottawa 2, Kings 1 (two late goals against)
November 20: Kings 3, Anaheim 2 (Ducks score two, outshoot LA 17-3 in third)
So it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the Kings faltered.
KINGS NEWS
- What was a surprise: Marian Gaborik was scratched. The initial thought was that it was a day off for a guy coming back from a two-month layoff, but Darryl Sutter had choice words for #12. [LA Kings Insider]
- Dustin Brown also was out yesterday, but due to a non-serious injury. Speaking of Brown: is he safe in June: Pierre LeBrun has some Kings-related thoughts on the expansion draft. [ESPN]
- Our Player Ranker wasn’t working yesterday, but it is now! Votevotevote! [JftC]/
LEAGUE AND WORLD NEWS
- We got an instance of “Crosby’s so good, why make stuff up?” on Friday. Here’s another one. [Pension Plan Puppets]
- If it makes you feel better, Milan Lucic is not up to snuff with Connor McDavid. [Oilers Nation]
- SB Nation may have implied that the Blue Jackets aren’t as good as their record. SBN’s Blue Jackets blog begs to differ. [The Cannon]/
WATCH THIS
Eric Burger, who makes Kings GIFs on Twitter, provided some context to Tuukka Rask pulling down the net yesterday to stall after a late icing call.
(1/2) The net was pushed partially off by Andreoff who was pushed into the net… pic.twitter.com/00LHtbBiZz
— Eric Burger (@Kingsgifs) December 18, 2016
(2/2) Than after the whistle Rask pulled the net down the rest of the way. Here is the full Streamable with audio: https://t.co/RqrXclx6vK pic.twitter.com/gYakbWnnhK
— Eric Burger (@Kingsgifs) December 18, 2016
GAME TO WATCH
Carolina-Detroit, which is today’s free NHL.com streaming game of the day, is currently being delayed due to a cooling failure. Right now they’re killing time, and it’s wildly entertaining. Stream it here.
If it doesn’t happen, watch Arizona-Calgary, I don’t care.