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The Los Angeles Kings ride the wave of a chaotic third period to come from behind and beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Saturday night.
With the score tied at two going into the third period, former King Nic Dowd scored 41 seconds in to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead. Two minutes later Kyle Clifford scored his first goal of the season to tie it and shortly after Drew Doughty took advantage of a turnover to take the lead and never give it back.
In the end, it was two lead changes within seven minutes.
“There are so many statistics out there that can affect the outcome of a hockey game,… said John Stevens after the game. “But I think this group has done a really good job of net letting an instance of a game dictate the outcome, so they understand that’s one play in a game, and they know there’s 60 minutes.…
“I think that was certainly indicative tonight giving up a shorty to start the period and then bouncing back with a quick goal and then ultimately getting another one.…
For all intents and purposes, this game should have been wrapped up by the Kings long before it got to that point. Despite the fact that LA gave up the first goal for the 23rd (out of 39) time this year, they carried the play well into the third period and it took a long time for the Canucks to match it.
Scoring started early in the first period when Troy Stecher walked around Alex Iafallo at the blueline and threw a shot that somehow beat Jonathan Quick short side to make the score 1-0 for Vancouver.
At this point the Marian Gaborik and Tyler Toffoli show started. The pair, along with Adrian Kempe, put on the same line after Stevens juggled the entire line up, dominated throughout this game.
Halfway into the period, Gaborik received a pass the Kempe on the left wing and made a power move to the net. Jacob Markstrom made the initial save but Toffoli was there to clean up the rebound to tie it.
A minute later, while on the power play, Gaborik had his stick down and heading to the front of the net when Trevor Lewis put a perfect pass of Gaborik’s stick to give the Kings the 2-1 lead.
That line of Toffoli, Gaborik, and Kempe ended up the night with two goals and four assists, and could very easily have had a lot more than that as Gaborik alone hit multiple posts in this game.
“I thought that line was good tonight,… said Stevens of his second line. “The elements on that line, you’ve got a guy in the middle [Kempe] who can really skate and see the puck, you’ve got [Tofolli] who’s got a great ability to find space, get open, and make plays, and then you’ve got [Gaborik] who really reads off the puck, gets open space, still has got high-end speed, and I think he shoots the puck better than he’s given credit for.…
From this point on, the Kings really controlled the play. LA outshot the Canucks 15-7 in the first period and even though it was a closer 13-11 margin in the second, Vancouver’s chances were kept out into the perimeter and easy pickings for Quick.
The problem for Kings fans however, is that Markstrom stood on his head and stopped 32 of 36 shots, which gave Vancouver a change to hang around and possibly win it.
That process began when Nikolay Goldobin undressed Doughty, walked around the Kings defense and shelved the puck past Quick to tie the game with two and half minutes left in the second period.
Vancouver’s momentum continued when Dowd scored on a two-on-one against his former team to really give the Kings a scare and make the score 3-2.
Fortunately for LA, the Kings were able to clean up their game long enough for Clifford to bang in a goal in Marstrom’s crease to tie it, then Doughty’s ability to catch a team on its heels let him come in and score off his own rebound to take the lead.
After Doughty’s go ahead goal, the Kings had to hang on tooth and nail to preserve the one goal lead, but they were up to the challenge and made it out of Rogers Arena with their second regulation win in 10 games.
“We always have resilience and we’re the best third period team in the whole league, if I’m not mistaken,… declared Doughty. “We just don’t give up, doesn’t matter if we’re down, if we’re up, we just push for it.…
“When it comes down to it, every player here loves being big time players and they want to make a difference in that third period to help us win games.…
The Kings will look to continue their winning ways in the New Year when they travel to Edmonton on Tuesday night and take on Connor McDavid and the Oilers. The Oilers had high expectations after a 103 point 2016-17 season. This season hasn’t treated them as kindly but have started to find their game by winning four in a row before losing to the Jets and Blackhawks last week.
Happy New Year everyone!