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Off-Day Watch 10/29: Season Reboot

Posted on by Sarah Avampato

The great thing about driving alone and listening to last night’s Kings’ game is that there was no one in the seat next to me to judge me for yelling TREVOR! very loudly when Trevor Lewis gave the Kings the lead during last night’s game. I did have to curb my impulse to honk my horn in celebration when the Kings won, though — driving through Middle of Nowhere, Wisconsin is probably not the best place to get rowdy.

But it’s also probably good that I wasn’t watching, because those last ten seconds? Full of terror! I watched the game highlights when I got to a stopping place — don’t worry, mom, I wasn’t fiddling with my phone while I was driving — and even though I knew they won, the Rangers’ push during the closing seconds of the game was, uh, real scary. Jack Campbell had to make one sprawling Quick-like save that left him so out of position for anything that came next that it had me afraid that I’d somehow hallucinated the ending of the game. (I’ve been alone in a car a lot lately. It’s possible.)

Of course, the real story of the game, aside from my fears of having made up an entire ending to a game, is the return of Dustin Brown, and of course he did what he’s long been known to do — shovel in some loose change on the doorstep on a power play. Why no one else on the Kings has been able to take advantage of those opportunities, I have no idea, but there was Brown, calmly tapping in a puck that eluded Henrik Lundqvist.

And there was Ilya Kovalchuk, celebrating a goal scored via the shot that earned him a ticket back to the NHL. We’ve seen his hands and his control of the puck already this season, but that laser beam of a shot: that’s what the Kings are paying for. (Kovalchuk, incidentally, now leads the Kings in points, tied with Drew Doughty with eight points.)

Are the Kings back? Well — they still went down 2-0 and nearly had to go into overtime against a team that is not very good. But for the first time perhaps all season, this Kings squad showed that they can battle back from a deficit and that they’re there to compete.

The team has the next several days off, not taking the ice again until a Thursday night tilt against the visiting Flyers. Let’s hope they can hold onto this momentum for a few days.

Kings Things

It had to be Alec, didn’t it?

Ontario Reign defenseman Chaz Reddekopp talks about the impact cancer has had on his family; his dad passed away from brain cancer when Chaz was two years old. The Reign’s Hockey Fights Cancer night is this Saturday.

Akil Thomas had one goal and three assists in the Niagara IceDogs’ 7-1 rout of the Flint Firebirds.

Prospect Rasmus Kupari will play for Finland at the upcoming Four Nations tournament:

Ah, heck with actual content; it’s Kings Halloween Party time:

Mike Amadio and Adrian Kempe: Bob Ross and a Painting

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🎨🏞

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Tyler and Cat Toffoli: Their Own Actual Dog

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Dodger dog Toffolis 💙🐶

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Jonny and Lauren Brodzinski: Dwight and Angela from the Office

Find any other costumes? Let us know!

Former Kings Things

Hey! Nick Shore scored a goal!

Elsewhere in the World

The Pittsburgh Penguins will be holding a blood drive and will be taking donations to help the victims and families of the victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting. [Pensburgh]

The Blackhawks, not expected to be any good this season, are actually looking … sort of … okay? Here’s 10 things we’ve already learned about the team. [Second City Hockey]

The Philadelphia Flyers, struggling out of the gate this season and losing three straight games, are looking to their AHL team for help. [Courier Post]

The Minnesota Whitecaps swept the Buffalo Beauts this weekend, leaving the Whitecaps as the only remaining undefeated team in the NWHL. [NWHL]

The Coyotes are playing some good defense right now: They’ve allowed just 15 goals over nine games. [NHL]

The Carolina Hurricanes are fun, sure, but they’re also doing something real special on the ice, too. [The Athletic]

Your Evening Entertainment

Only two games to choose from on tonight’s schedule. The better bet for your entertainment is the 4:00 PM Pacific tilt between the Calgary Flames and the Toronto Maple Leafs, largely just to see what the Leafs are going to do next. Normally we’d say something about Austin Matthews here, but:

The Leafs have cooled off the tiniest bit since their five-game win streak, but they still sit atop their division and their 41 goals currently lead the league. The game airs on the NHL Network.

Talking Points