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Here We Go Again, Kings Force Another Game 7

May 15, 2014, 1:17 AM ET [28 Comments]
Jason Lewis
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
We've been asking for a desperate effort.

We've been asking for a better defensive effort.

We've been asking for better penalty killing.

Tonight the Kings got it, and it was the difference maker in a tightly contested 2-1 victory at Staples Center.

The Los Angeles Kings have now faced elimination five times in these Stanley Cup playoffs, and they have allowed six goals in those five games. Not to mention three of those six goals came in Game 4 against the San Jose Sharks.

It was a standout performance from several King role players, namely Jake Muzzin and Trevor Lewis. Muzzin, in particular, was outstanding. He has quietly been one of the best King players in this post-season, and tonight was a perfect example of what he has brought to the table this year. His early first period goal set the Kings ahead, and his physical game and defensive zone play were exceptional tonight. He finished the evening with a team high five hits, two blocked shots, a goal, and a plus-one rating in 25 minutes of ice time. That 25 minutes is only two shy of Drew Doughty's total of 27, and it equals the Ducks top defenseman in Cam Fowler. Safe to say Sutter has put a lot of trust in Muzzin, and it has paid off.

Trevor Lewis, Mr. playoffs, continues to show up for the Kings when it matters. He potted his fourth goal of the post-season, which stood up as the eventual game winner. If you think I'm joking when I say Trevor Lewis is a different performer when it comes to playoffs, just look at his scoring rate. In the regular season, Trevor Lewis scores just about every 15 games or so. In the playoffs he scores every six games. If Lewis had that pace during the regular season he would be a 15-20 goal scorer. I'm not going to ask Lewis why this is the case, but I'm certainly going to thank him for his service as a clutch playoff performer to the Kings. He did get a little lucky tonight as God John Gibson allowed a leaky goal on Lewis' wrist shot. The Kings will certainly take it.

All joking aside about the media's narrative on John Gibson, both goalies played fabulous tonight. Both netminders made several big stops for their respective teams, and it was a great matchup between the pipes.

The Kings overall, I felt, played their best game of the series hands down. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't overpowering, but it was controlled and it was confident. Anaheim had their chances but so did the Kings. No one truly dominated play but the flow was excellent. In general, you aren't going to completely shutdown Perry and Getzlaf. It's just impossible with players of that caliber. They had their chances on both the powerplay and even strength, but the difference was they didn't convert. That is reflected in the fancy stats, as Perry and Getzlaf had good possession numbers but not outstanding ones.

Interesting, as always, to view the matchups Sutter went with for the Game.




Kopitar and Gaborik continue to be monstrous. Both picked up assists on Muzzin's 1-0 bid, which brings their postseason totals to 17 points and 13 points respectively. That's currently 1st in 5th in playoff scoring. Not bad. Can we start getting together the logistics for a "Please Re-sign Gaborik, Dean." bake sale soon? All proceeds will go to Dean Lombardi in order to re-sign Marian Gaborik.

Maybe the most important thing about this game was the fact that the Kings took five penalties, and the Ducks were unable to convert.

It's startling how good Anaheim has been on the powerplay in this series. They've scored nearly half of their goals in the series on the powerplay, but tonight were shut down. The Ducks registered six shots on the powerplay overall in five chances. By my count using ESPN gamecast, only one of those shots, by Hampus Lindholm, came from what you could consider a high scoring area.

Easy on the good feels though, now the attention turns to Honda Center. A building where the Ducks had a phenomenal record in the regular season. They've only lost two games in the playoffs on home ice, both to the Kings in Games 1 and 2. If you busted out the antacids for this one then you better go restock. Because Game 7 is going to be ulcer inducing. I guarantee it.



(Kudos to you if you get the reference.)

All in all, this was the best the Kings have played in the second round. I've said in the past that momentum doesn't exist game to game. I still stand by that statement. Expect Anaheim to come out as if Game 6 didn't happen and play another very very tough hockey game on Friday.

Aren't Kings fans getting spoiled with all this dramatic Game 7 hockey? Of course I'm sure you'd all rather have had this done in four.

Be careful Anaheim. You've upset the eyebrows of Jake Muzzin now.




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