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The win streak ends with a thud |
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Well that game was a dud.
Taylor Hall’s two goals and Brian Gibbons’ goal and assist helped propel the New Jersey Devils to a 5-1 victory and end the Los Angeles Kings winning streak at eight.
Torrey Mitchell was the lone goal scorer for the Kings midway through the third period but the Kings couldn’t get any traction all night. I don’t know if it was the travel from west to east or if they just weren’t expecting the open ice game that the Devils have played this season, but it just simply wasn’t good enough.
To be more precise, it was out of character. The Kings had 17 shots all game, which is rarely going to help you win, and most of those “shots” were not exactly the most dangerous.
What’s more concerning is that there were rumblings from the dressing room that the players felt like they weren’t ready to play.
“I was saying earlier, we didn’t prepare properly,” said Jake Muzzin post loss. “We’re not surprised at teams anymore coming in and we’ve got to be ready from the start.”
“I think they had the upper hand early and we couldn’t settle in.”
When players say that they felt like they were not prepared, that always raises red flags for the media and will be one of the first questions for the head coach’s press conference. This was no exception for John Stevens' time with the media.
“I don’t know if ‘prepared’ is the right word, but we played a hockey team that lost three out of four as a very good team,” explained Stevens. “We knew we were going to get their best game, and we’re a team that’s won eight in a row, and I think one team was really, really hungry and ready, and one was complacent.”
“I’ll take responsibility for that. We had a plan similar to when we went to Detroit and we thought it was a good plan. We played really well to start that road trip and tried to follow a similar path, and obviously we weren’t ready.”
There’s one thing I’ll say to this is that there’s a difference between playing a team in the Atlantic Division compared to a team in the Metropolitan Division.
When looking at that division, you see Columbus, Washington, and New Jersey currently in the top three. Then the Islanders, Rangers, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Carolina the top four contenders for the two wild card spots.
There is a clear separation of status between the Atlantic and Metropolitan that needs to be pointed out.
As for a complacency goes, I’m not so sure if that was the case. It’s very similar to what Stephens said that teams tend to be hungrier if they’re facing someone with a long winning streak. The Devils wanted to prove that they belong at the upper echelon of the league by beating the Kings, who were the hottest at the time.
With that in mind, I suppose I agree with Muzzin that maybe they weren’t mentally prepared to deal with that. In any regards, this game was an anomaly when you compare it to the rest of the season. It’s highly unlikely that this will start a trend for the road trip.
In other news, Kyle Clifford was activated off the IR today from his shoulder injury suffered early in the season. He took his usual place in the lineup next to Nick Shore and Jonny Brodzinski.
The Kings didn’t have to make room on the roster as they freed up a spot when they made the Nic Dowd for Jordan Subban deal. However, Jussi Jokinen ended up being the odd man out for Tuesday’s game as a healthy scratch.
Coming up, LA has a couple of days off before they face the New York Rangers on Friday night and then the New York Islanders on Saturday night. However, before those games, they will be practicing on the rink at Central Park that was built as part of the festivities for the Winter Classic between the Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres. It will be a good chance for them to have some fun and put Tuesday’s game behind them.
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
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