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Top Line Praise; Kings 3, Wings 2

The Kings win at the Joe Louis! Happy is the day!

That’s right, I’m ecstatic at the Los Angeles Kings win over the Detroit Red Wings. Not only was it IN Detroit, it showed the fans how effective a particular line change can actually be. Anze Kopitar, Wayne Simmonds, and Brad Richardson were impressive on the first line notching multiple points each in this game. On paper there definitely isn’t enough proven experience in regards to defensive responsibility with these three together, but Kopitar stepped up that part of his game while the other two ran around opening up room for him. I noticed every single time when this line was out on the ice and I can’t wait to see it continue to improve.

I can’t lie; the first period performance had me a tiny bit worried that the Kings were going to drop this game when important points were on the line (read: oh no). The Kings needed this win in order to stop the Wings from surpassing them in the standings. After last night’s 3-2 regulation win, the Kings are two points behind the Coyotes who have been in the stratosphere for much of the season, and they’re tied for 6th with Nashville with 61 points. See below post for an in depth look at the standings.

I loved how the Kings were able to start the charge back after the dreadful first period with the ridiculous Valtteri Flippula goal and the equally ridiculous tripping call against Simmonds. Frustrations ran further with Todd Bertuzzi’s goal that saw the Kings no where near being in control of any part of the play. Thankfully, redemption came in the form of three unanswered goals with each closer to sealing the door on the opposition. Peter Harrold‘s surprise goal might have been the highlight for me because he confidently jumped into the play so aggressively when he realized the forwards needed help. This was a great showing by everyone in the lineup (minus the first period) and this is a great start to this five-game road trip. Good times; go Kings; all that good stuff.

There are plenty of other things to highlight from last night, but I need groceries so I will bid you adieu on this sunny SoCal day. Also an update for the people wondering what happened to that guy up in the rafters. Apparently the answer is still unknown. Go to Puck Daddy to get a short explanation of the situation. If you missed the game, this guy caused an entire section of the lower bowl to be vacated. If I was standing around on the concourse because of this guy, I would have just moved off to another lower bowl section. I’m not about to miss a game that I paid over $100 to watch.

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