Monday night was a change in effort, a change in on ice quality, and it ultimately led to a different result for the Los Angeles Kings.
Of course they still had to do it in their cardiac arrest inducing ways.
The Kings won a tightly contested Game 3 against the San Jose Sharks in overtime off the stick of Tanner Pearson. The victory gives life to a uninspired looking Kings squad that was outplayed and outmuscled in the first two games of the series.
It was a shaky start for Los Angeles, who got scored on by Joe Thornton on the first Sharks shot just 30 seconds into the game. It was the third game in a row where the Kings were scored on with the first shot.
However, the Kings bounced back after a sluggish first five minutes, and managed to tallie a marker of their own on the powerplay from Anze Kopitar.
At 1-1 the two teams locked in a chess match through the next two periods. For the Kings, it was a marked improvement in denying the Sharks chances, but creating was still a bit of an issue. Predictably the Sharks top line was still very good, but the Kings bottom three lines managed to chip away at the Sharks depth. Nevertheless, the improved defensive look which included some new and mixed up pairings from Sutter, seemed to help stabilize the back end. With Muzzin supporting Schenn and Doughty supporting Scuderi, the Kings took their two perhaps most targeted defensemen and put them with their two most trustworthy. Elsewhere, Jamie McBain fell in a well and did not see the light of day from the second period onward. However, they went an extremely long time in the third without a shot (around 13-14 minutes).
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After a series of penalties, mad scrambles, and scoring chances for the Sharks in the third period, the Kings managed to put the overtime winner off the stick of Tanner Pearson just three and a half minutes into overtime.
While much has been made of the San Jose home record this year and how poor the Sharks have played in SAP Center, both teams played a fairly high quality game on Monday despite the low score.
Turning Points:
Kings killed off all five of the San Jose Shark powerplays. A powerplay that was giving Los Angeles a ridiculous amount of issues in the first two games.
Two of these powerplays came within the final stanza of the game, with Lucic going off for slashing at 9:40 (10:20 game) of the third, and Tanner Pearson making way for delay of game at 14:04 (5:56 game).
The Kings loaded up the neutral zone on the Sharks powerplay, allowing them very little space on entry. The Sharks rarely set up a good solid powerplay, except for the Lucic slashing minor in which San Jose's top unit spent almost a solid two minutes in the Kings zone without a change coming for the defensive team. It was a massive kill for the Kings and may have ultimately saved the game.
Key Stats:
Hits. Normally we do not praise hits from a possession stand point, but the Kings outhit the Sharks 61-39 while maintaining manageable possession numbers (Meaning they weren't just hitting because they did not have the puck.) It was fitting that in such a physical came, the penultimate play that led to Tanner Pearson's overtime winner was a huge hit levied by Kings captain Dustin Brown on Joonas Donskoi at the blueline.
Key Players:
Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin again proved that they are invaluable to the Kings team. Drew Doughty played a penny over 35 minutes, while Jake Muzzin accumulated 29:18. As mentioned before, both spent significant time with Scuderi and Schenn, thus nullifying the potential exposure of the Kings former bottom pair. In a series that is starting to round into shape as a series that will be won on breakdowns, the Kings cannot afford to have any weak links. Both Doughty and Muzzin played superb games, playing aggressively in the neutral zone with step up plays, and also making intelligent and patient breakout plays once they settled into reading the Sharks forecheck.
Moving Forward:
Kings still have a lot of work to do. The Sharks will perhaps look at this as a game of lost opportunity with the amount of powerplays they had without conversion. Thus they could say they did not play their best and it still went to overtime. They also have another game on home ice, and could take a 3-1 series lead heading back down to Los Angeles. While the Sharks did not get the result they desired on Monday night, they still hold the advantage in the series and could make tonight's OT disappointment a figment of the imagination with a win on Wednesday.
For Los Angeles this is a huge shot in the arm. It was not so much that they won, it was HOW they won this game. It was more like the Kings hockey of old, and less like the Kings hockey of the second half of the season and down the stretch. The grinding, body crumpling hockey was there, the defensive responsibility was there, and ultimately it led to way less volatile hockey that ended in their favor. They effectively shut down the Sharks top six at even strength, and got a little bit of good fortune and good special teams play to get them the win. Momentum may be starting to shift, and the start to the game on Wednesday will be key.
The two teams meet again on Wednesday at 730 PST 1030 EST in San Jose for a pivotal Game 4.
This one is a wrap. Kings take it in OT 2-1 from Tanner Pearson and Vincent Lecavalier and Dustin Brown.
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