Good news: we are guaranteed to either (1) make the Stanley Cup Finals or (2) avoid the Ottawa Senators for the rest of 2015-16.
Vote on the performances of the various Los Angeles Kings below:
Worst Hockey Coaches of All Time
The Kings looked like the better team for 45 minutes. Unfortunately, both times in this game that LA took a two-goal lead, they conceded quickly after falling back on their heels, and the second time it happened they forgot to get back on their toes. (Sorry, I’m a little irritated and I don’t know if the foot analogies are really working here.)
Anyway, Jake Muzzin literally had a puck slapped off his stick and in, Ottawa scored on a four-minute PP after Nick Shore’s offensive zone high stick, and the late efforts to pull Quick and get out of their own zone could comprise some sort of dark comedy. And so much went right today; putting aside Kopitar’s contract, Vincent Lecavalier scored his first goal as a King, Milan Lucic made one of the prettiest passes a King has made all season, and Erik Karlsson got picked by Jordan Nolan AND handed Tyler Toffoli a penalty shot. All for naught.
More in the recap, including how Michael Mersch’s absence was clearly the difference.