Like I said, don’t let that win over the Oilers fool you. This team still isn’t, you know, good.
Fun fact, per Natural Stat Trick, in the last period—you know, the one where the Kings should be pressing to try to get on the scoreboard—the Kings had zero high dangers chances.
Also, you can’t entirely pin this on special teams—the penalty kill actually did a good job at shutting down the Sharks’ power play—but the Kings had exactly zero power plays and took a lazy too many men penalty of their own with just over two minutes left. There’s somewhat of an art to drawing penalties, and you can argue all you want whether or not the officials missed some calls, but when it comes down to it, the Kings didn’t get any time with the man advantage, which—theoretically, if they’d managed to actually get set up in the zone (wild, I know)—could have made a difference.
Kings Things
A live game blog from our northern California frenemies. [Fear the Fin]
A more in-depth look at the game, and Erik Karlsson in particular. [Fear the Fin]
Post-game notes and quotes from Willie Desjardins, Drew Doughty, and Jack Campbell. [Kings Insider]
A look at the performances of Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Rasmus Kupari, and Markus Phillips at World Juniors. [The Athletic]
Elsewhere
The Rangers are struggling. It’s time for some fan favorites to be shipped off at the trade deadline. [New York Post]
On a struggling Riveters team, Amanda Kessel continues to show why she’s an elite player. [The Ice Garden]
The Pittsburgh Penguins held a reunion for their 2009 Stanley Cup winning team. (Hi, Rob Scuderi!) [PensBurgh]
The Ottawa Senators should have no choice but to trade Matt Duchene. [Yahoo Sports]
In perhaps the most unlikely market, Alabama has embraced hockey. [ESPN]
The inaugural Minnesota Cup was held this past weekend, featuring women’s teams from the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, and St. Cloud State. [The Athletic]
Hockey is growing in Latin America, including efforts to grow the sport in Puerto Rico. [Hockey in Society]
Ben Bishop is looking forward to another homecoming in St. Louis. [Dallas Stars]
PK Subban had a message for a young fan who has been taunted because of his race at his hockey games. [The Star]
After junior hockey players in South Dakota were involved in a serious car accident on the way to a road game, questions emerge about transportation safety in junior leagues. [The Athletic]
The truck driver involved in the Humboldt Broncos crash has pleaded guilty to all charges. [ESPN]
A classic grilled cheese recipe from Claude Giroux. [NHL]
Jujhar Khaira was projected as a physical, bottom-six player, but he’s looking alright playing alongside Connor McDavid. [The Athletic]
Evening Entertainment
Man, I don’t know, watch the Philadelphia Flyers/Washington Capitals game to see if Gritty tries to consume Alex Ovechkin or something. (4:30 pm Pacific, NBCSN.)