TRH RECAP 73: BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY
KINGS 4, RANGERS 2
The Los Angeles Kings didn’t have to venture very far for the back-half of their back-to-back on this CRUCIAL road trip. In a prime-time game in the Big Apple, I cannot have been the only one who thought Henrik Lundqvist would be back to face the Kings, but he’s still injured, so … rejoice!
And rejoice we did. Cam Talbot, who some believe to be as interesting a story as Ondrej Pavelec and Andrew “The Hamburglar” Hammond (and by association, Curtis Lazar), showed-up in the crease to take on the defending Stanley Cup champions.
@JVNSiegel how about Cam Talbot as well?
— Kathryn Jean (@msconduct) March 20, 2015
It did not go well for him.
THE GAME
In what felt like a very King-like goal to give up in such a big game, Mats Zuccarello found himself with the puck and fired it past Jon Quick, the comedian-goalie, for his 13th of the season.
Whether or not his actions were directly related to his rage after seeing a gnome score a goal, Robyn Regehr … well, he … uh, he basically tossed a puck in the vicinity of the net. It glanced off newly-acquired Keith Yandle, and Cam Talbot simply couldn’t Yandle the deflection.
Yep
Any hockey guy will tell you two things win games: “get the puck on net” and “go to the front of the net.” Robyn Regehr got the puck on net, and Keith Yandle went to the front of the net. What resulted was perhaps the ugliest goal I have ever seen.
Building on the momentum created by the huge Robyn Regehr goal, Justin Williams continued to do things that 165 lbs-ish guys should be able to do. He swatted a pass into the corner, battled a bigger defenseman for the puck, got it to Anze Kopitar, who immediately touched the pass to Marian Gaborik, who scored — for all intents and purposes – -an empty-net goal.
In what was becoming a surreal game, Dwight King used his big body to stop a puck from leaving the offensive zone. He the used a nifty move to get to the corner, where he was able to slide the puck across the goal-mouth (past a collection of stunned Ranger defensemen) for Jeff Carter, who simply had to be there.
Anze Kopitar continued his dominance of the New York Rangers four minutes after Carter’s goal, by driving hard to the net, circling the net, taunting the New York Rangers who were following him, finding Jake Muzzin, and dropping his stick as if it were the mic.
To be fair, Muzzin’s shot had to be good, and it was.
Chet Haze Kevin Hayes scored a goal 16:16 into the third, but that didn’t matter one bit.
PLAYOFF PUSH
When was the last time you heard yourself saying, “CANUCKS! CLUTCH!” That’s right, because no one has ever said that. Ever. Least of all, a Kings fan.
But when I looked-up the standings for this piece, I found myself in a bit of disbelief when I saw that the Vancouver Canucks had come-back against the Winnipeg Jets to win 5-2 last night. Radim Vrbata and Henrik Sedin each had three points, and the Canucks shook-off an early deficit in a last-ditch effort to show hockey fans that they are a team to be reckoned with.
The Kings are now tied with Calgary for the third spot in the Pacific division, and just two points back of Winnipeg for the second Wild Card spot.
LOOKING AHEAD
I got my first eBook recently, and found it riveting. In the next week or so, (apropos of nothing) there will be a recap of “Showtime: One Team. One Year. One Step from the NHL” about the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes. The only facts in this article will have been stated in the actual book, so don’t get mad at The Royal Half or John Siegel for stepping on any toes. Expect the following to be discussed:
- Excessive alcohol consumption [not by me]!
- Breaking curfew!
- Prima donna hockey players who are now solid NHL prospects!
- Girls!
- Former and current King prospects!
- Overachieving, undersized players who have overcome tremendous adversity to become the most likable players on a team of misfits!
It will be a fun read, I guarantee it.
