The Kings did it again on Saturday. They got down early. They had some bounces go against them.
But they again fought back to top the Arizona Coyotes in a solid 4-2 victory.
After the shellacking they recieved at the hands of the St. Louis Blues, the Kings have answered the bell in what could be considered two really big character wins.
The Coyotes got their fair share of luck today as they had two leads throughout the game, but were really unable to muster much outside of the two bounces. The second Coyotes goal has to be one of the craziest double deflection goals I've seen.
The Kings battled, limited chances, and put together some really solid offensive zone time for the second straight game.
The Kopitar-Gaborik-Carter line is officially on fire. Kopitar has a staggering 9 points in his last 3 games, while Gaborik and Carter have combined for 6 goals in the last 3. If the Kings can continue to get production from the top line like that then it may yet turn around what has been a pretty lack luster middle third of the season thus far.
Also making a nice impact in the game was Jamie McBain. McBain had been scratched for the last nine games with the return of Alec Martinez. However, the former Hurricane was inserted into the lineup to replace the injured Robyn Regehr. He finished the game with two assists in 14 minutes of icetime. This included a slick little dish play to Kopitar who subsequently set up Gaborik.
You gotta love that play by Kopitar. Finds the soft spot in the slot, draws the defenders, and then deals it to Gaborik who had Dubnyk dead to rights. All of a sudden the Kings have decided they have a powerplay, and it has a ton to do with a few of the teams stars getting into better form.
The game wasn't without the typical Coyotes-Kings nastiness that we've come to expect ever since the 2011-12 Conference Finals.
A clearly frustrated Shane Doan took his anger out first on Jarret Stoll with a late hit after a delayed offsides. He then fired a puck just wide of Jonathan Quick after the buzzer sounded the end of regulation.
Never change JQ. Never change.
Cheap play by Doan? Yes? No?
It was an altogether solid effort from the Kings, who continue to be a strong home team (13-4-1). Now if only they could get that success to translate over to some road wins (4-7-5).
Arizona now falls to 11-17-4 on the season and are on the cusp of placing themselves out of contention for a playoff spot at a very early stage. The Kings move back up into 7th, and are a midst a log jam teams within two points of each other. With Calgary coming to town on Monday the Kings hope to continue the road of regression that the Flames are currently on.
Also to note, Gaborik appeared to be okay after taking a shot to the head from Oliver Ekman-Larsson late in the third. Gaborik took his final shift after coming off slowly and visibly dazed after the hit. Hopefully it was just a stinger for Gaborik, who has missed quite a bit of time already this year with injuries.
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