Last night, the Los Angeles Kings took the ice (I wish I could stop this sentence here) for the 2015-2016 home opener against the rival San Jose Sharks. Many fans came into the game feeling they needed a hero and something to be positive about after a very tumultuous off season. It worked, as most fans left the game feeling positive the Kings could not play a worse game this year.
Things looked to be starting on a positive note as Nick Shore tipped a Dustin Brown shot for the Kings’ first shot and only goal of the game.
The opening lineup featured Schultz over McNabb as Greene surprised by making it into the game rather than being scratched due to injury as expected. This dismayed many, but fortunately Schultz was ready to play the part of hero. He definitely came into this game like it was his last and looked generally poor as the Sharks used speed to make him look silly on the ice. Thanks to Jeff Schultz, we probably won’t see Brayden McNabb scratched next game. What a hero!
Not to be outdone, our captain was ready to step up and be a hero as well. We can only assume that Logan Couture has an invasive brain tumor, as Dustin Brown attempted emergency surgery through the nose with his first period hit to the head on Couture that went unpenalized.
here’s another look at Brown on Couture (real time slowed down so we can get a better look at it)…yikes pic.twitter.com/DVfViC6YXS
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 8, 2015
Thanks to this, Dustin Brown could be looking at a suspension of at least a few games. Many of us were worried that Sutter would never let Jordan Weal play a game. Now Dustin Brown has made that seem all but a certainty. Thanks Dustin, you’re our hero!
The Sharks would ultimately score five unanswered goals after the Kings registered the first tally. This also included Joonas Donskai’s first NHL goal. Congrats Joonas! Things got generally more chippy as the game wore on and the third was heavy penalized, including a fight between Andreoff and Barclay Goodrow, who looked wholly uninterested in the fight.
The third period also featured more heroes, as Logan Couture managed to antagonize the Kings the rest of the game after Brown’s hit on him in the first period. He laid a hip check on Milan Lucic as he exited the penalty box, which surprisingly angered Lucic. Lucic charged across the ice as Couture beckoned him with a laugh and smile. Lucic was assessed a match penalty for his confrontation with Couture in front of the Sharks’ bench, and with a looming suspension, it seems that Weal’s entry into the lineup is all but certain. Maybe we’ll even see Mersch too! You’re our hero too, Milan.
Heroes always get rewarded too, as Sutter seemed to want to reward Nick Shore by never forcing him to take the ice in the game again. He probably literally served every penalty in the NHL in the third period. We’ll close with this homage to our third American Hero.
“In 2015 a crack faceoff unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime he didn’t commit…” pic.twitter.com/HYOhaecPoh
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 8, 2015
The Kings face off against the Coyotes at home on Friday, and it’s really only uphill from here.