Okay, okay, I promised myself I would enjoy the relative magic of last night’s win, so let’s start with some fun age-related facts courtesy of Hockey Reference.
- Since 1987-88, only 18 players have a multi-goal game at an age older than Jarome Iginla’s 39 years, 251 days old. 10 of them are Hall of Famers and 4 more of them almost certainly will be. (full list: Jaromir Jagr, Teemu Selanne, Mark Recchi, Mark Messier, Gary Roberts, Dave Andreychuk, Ray Whitney, Nicklas Lidstrom, Igor Larionov, Daniel Alfredsson, Steve Yzerman, Adam Oates, Steve Thomas, Joe Nieuwendyk, Joe Mullen, Mario Lemieux, Luc Robitaille, Ron Francis.)
- Only Robitaille has done it at an older age for the Kings. He did so twice, one of them being a memorable hat trick against Atlanta in which he set the all time franchise record for goals. Iginla’s only 555 away from that one!
- Iginla’s last multi-goal game at Staples Center was a hat trick on November 21, 2009. That’s seven years and 108 days apart, if you were counting.
- Iginla’s the oldest player to score multiple power play goals in a game since Teemu did it on January 15, 2014.
- Iginla’s the oldest player to score an overtime game-winner since Jagr did it on October 25, 2014./
Look, if legendary players come to your team in the twilight of their careers, you gotta appreciate it…
… even if you then proceed to critique their play.
KINGS WATCH
- And we have to do that, because after a terrific start to the game, Gaborik-Kopitar-Iginla were outplayed at even strength. Jon Rosen’s Waking Up With the Kings feature had some good thoughts on Iginla’s continued mission to get comfortable and get Kopitar going. [LAKI]
- LA has one 5v5 goal in their last four games. Combined. They’ve scored more 5v5 goals on their own goalie in that span. [LA Times]
- Jake Muzzin, your last-place finisher in yesterday’s Player Ranker (really?), was fined today for embellishment of a “high stick” last Saturday. I’ve seen the he-flinched-because-a-stick-was-coming-at-his-face defense, but I think there was a bit too much delay involved to use that reasoning. SHAME. [NHL]
- The good news for Muzzin: he was a Jeopardy clue tonight./
@LAKings @BaileyLAKings Jake Muzzin is a clue on “Jeopardy!” today (early notice for those who are waiting to see): pic.twitter.com/ny9hYbzmys
— Mike Matthews (@MikeMatthews9) March 11, 2017
WATCH THIS
Anze Kopitar’s acting has improved.
Enter to win a custom #LAKings @CambriaQuartz table AND get the chance to meet Kopitar!
➡️ https://t.co/papZMr9lLK pic.twitter.com/x9xc6c70mJ— #LAKings (@LAKings) March 10, 2017
GAME TO WATCH
It has to be Ducks-Blues, which is tied heading into the third. Come on, Anaheim!