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TRH RECAP 22: 1994 IN A ROW

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KINGS 5, LIGHTNING 2
BEN SCRIVENS 191:19

 

Greeting Kings Fans!

It’s fallen on my shoulders to right the recap again and, as usual, I’m reluctant.  So I’ve asked my good friend 1994 to help me out.

1994

The last time the Kings and Lightning played each other it was a 5-1 blowout by the Lightning and Kings fans everywhere felt like their hopes and dreams of an exciting season that ended in glory had just been cruelly and savagely kneecapped.

Even though that loss only dropped the Kings to 4-3 the Kings had only won a single game in regulation (against the lowly Panthers) and Quick was looking uncharacteristically vulnerable. It was early but I was beginning to wonder if maybe the Kings hadn’t made another in a long line of goaltending mistakes. Could it be that this years Kings would be a loser?

Fortunately for me and Kings fans around the globe the team started winning, the goals started coming and Quick started looking like the Quick from 2012 and my faith in him was fully renewed.

Then Jeff Carter got injured and it was like the Northridge Earthquake in my heart.

NorthridgeSMap

Talking to The Royal Half was brutal. He was so torn up.

But Tyler Toffoli was called up! And suddenly our emotions were flipping all over the place!

And then Quick got hurt….   and it was like I suddenly lost something that I loved but never really knew how much.

kurt1_1024

Darkness.  I didn’t want to watch the Kings anymore.

Until Quick came back I didn’t dare hope that the Kings could compete.  I thought for sure they would slip to the bottom of the standings in the hyper competitive Pacific Division. Or at best linger around 8th or 9th place.

But to my surprise…   Ben Scrivens arrived and quickly became a hero.

The Kings were not only sticking around… they were dominating. By the time the rematch with the Lightning rolled around, Ben Scrivens was riding an incredible shutout streak that threatened to rival even Jon Quick’s franchise record. The Professor was taking everybody to school!

Which brings us to tonight’s game.

 

Anze Kopitar is having himself a great little season and he opened up the scoring in the 1st period.

KopitarTBL1

Hey Ben Bishop. Welcome to paradise.

Before I could finish vining my twitter snapchat tumblr post Matt Frattin made it 2-0!

My poor neighbors and cats must have thought I was mental what with all the yelling.

Justin Williams has been sneaky good according to the Fancy Stat crowd but he’s also been putting up the points this season. And he was credited with an amazing goal where the puck bounced, flipped and traveled the most amazing and unexpected path into the back of the net.

Okay, I know it’s from a 1992 episode…
but what is an early 90s-themed recap without a Seinfeld episode?

 

 

WilliamsTBL1

3-0 Kings? WHAT A DAY!

But then Jake Muzzin tried to kill Martin St. Louis.

 

AND THEN DWIGHT KING SCORED A SHORTHANDED GOAL!!! HIS 7th GOAL AND 2nd SHORT HANDED GOAL OF THE SEASON!

Make no mistake people. This is Dwight King’s world. We’re just living in it.

Dwight King gif

Just hold on and enjoy the ride.

Sadly a double minor penalty is a hard thing to kill and Tampa managed to bust up Scrivens shutout streak.

I can only imagine that Sutter will be having a little chat with Jake Muzzin about that little gaffe.

And then miracle of miracles… Dustin Brown scored.

At that point 9 guys had point and I just assumed everyone would get at least one.

The Manchester Kids each played more than 10 minutes and you really get the sense that these twenty-somethings really like hanging out together and are more than just teammates.

But there is something a little odd about rooting for guys named Tanner, Tyler and Linden. Names sure have changed since I was a kid.

In the third period the Lightning scored again and I began to feel an impending sense of dread. It was like these two Lightning goals were the dead parents on my Party of Five goals evening.

I began to feel ill. I considered going to the ER.

I’ve been a Kings fan for too long to think that a 5-2 lead in the third period is any kind of guarantee of a victory so I spent the rest of the game feverishly glancing at the clock desperately counting the minutes until the Kings win was secured. Every time there was a stoppage in play I felt like I would explode!

Now COME ON THATS SPEED AND THE CRITIC IN ONE CLIP! Damn I’m good!
(yes that specific episode aired in 1995)

Finally… the Lightning crashed.

So where are we now Kings fans? We’re 1/4 of the way through the season. The Kings are one point out of first place in the entire National Hockey League.

I find I’m so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it’s the excitement only a Kings fan can feel, a Kings fan at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope they can make it across the season. I hope to see the playoffs, and the handshake lines. I hope the Pacific Division Banner is as wonderful as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

Get busy winnin’ or get busy dyin’

The only thing Jesse Cohen loves more than the LA Kings is talking to strangers about the LA Kings. You can follow Jesse Cohen on Twitter @KingsMenPodcast.
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