It was a game of poor line changes, great goaltending, fast pace, and Jeff Carter. In the end, the Kings put it all out there in their final game before Christmas. And even though their overtime win streak came to an end after Esa Lindell finished off a sweet saucer pass from Jamie Benn, the point they earned was a nice reward.
Rank ‘em:
Darryl Sutter’s decision to go to his backup, even with Peter Budaj in fine form, was a good one. Jeff Zatkoff was victimized by a couple of odd-man rushes where the line changes were ill-timed, and the only other goal came off a rebound where the first save deserved a clear. The PK stayed hot, and so did Carter, who has five goals in his last three games. There are very good signs as the Kings enter a stretch of four days with… no games?! Say it ain’t so!
Enjoy the time off, everyone, and just like the Kings, we’ll be back on it next week. You still get a recap of this one though! Stay tuned.