Sometimes games are slogs. Sometimes they are low event affairs that can put you to sleep.
Then you get games like tonight, where the 1-1 and 2-1 score that occupied the scorecard for portions of the night was no justification to the back and forth nature of the game.
That game pretty much had it all, from career first NHL goals, to one of the more wide open 3v3 overtimes we've seen. In the end both teams took home well earned points, and the Kings squeaked out the extra one in the shootout. That extra point certainly has to fall on the shoulder of Jonathan Quick, who made several spectacular saves in overtime to keep the game alive.
One such save, a timely poke check on a clear cut Claude Giroux breakaway.
one of Quick's OT saves, Giroux on a breakaway pic.twitter.com/cLahtNikGy
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 18, 2015With a combined 78 shots between the two teams, both Mason and Quick had their work cut out for them. The Kings also gave the Flyers five powerplays to work with, which really increased the stress load for the Kings. If you want to say they maybe stole a point, that would not be an outrageous statement by any stretch.
In the end, the scoring chance battle came out looking like this:
Some other key notes regarding the game:
- Milan Lucic scored his third goal in four games and now has 10 points in 17 games.
- Shayne Gostisbehere, a name everyone should get better acquainted with, scored his first NHL goal for the Flyers. The 22-year old Dman played his college hockey with Union, and has all but bypassed the AHL due to his strong play.
- Trevor Lewis, Dustin Brown, and Nick Shore had yet another outstanding offensive game in which they failed to generate a goal. It is certainly not for lack of trying. The trio combined for all three of the Kings high danger scoring chances generated at even strength. They also combined for 11 of the Kings total 22 individually generated scoring chances at even strength. They were also a staggering +21, +19 and +18 at even strength corsi. Those are some really great numbers, the only issue is that the puck is failing to find the net. It will come eventually though with continued buzzing about the net like that.
- On the flip side, the top unit of Kopitar-Gaborik-Pearson was pretty well put to rest by the Flyers top line of Giroux, Schenn, and Voracek. The Flyers trio stuffed the Kings top unit, winning the even strength possession battle by 75% corsi for. Muzzin and Martinez also drew the match up of the Kings top line, and paid for it.
- Meanwhile, Simmonds, Couturier, and Read drew up the Carter, Toffoli, Lucic line and succeeded for the most part. They kept the line at a pretty quiet, limiting their corsi and scoring chance event total. It continues to be a theme of the Kings season: When teams treat the Carter line like the top line, their chances of winning increase dramatically. Couturier and Simmonds are the go to shutdown unit for the Flyers, and they did well tonight. The last goal with the extra man was simply happenstance. Credit big Milan Lucic for again being in the right place at the right time. He is making a habit of that so far this year.
- The Kings got demo'd in the face off circle, winning just 21 draws to the Flyers 38. Both Carter and Kopitar had rough outings, as Kopitar won just 5-of-20, while Carter wrapped up winning 8-of-24. Giroux was the main thorn in Kopitar's side, as the Flyers Captain ripped off 13 of his 15 draws against the Slovenian. Giroux overall was an outstanding 24-for-28 on the draw. That's 86% for anyone keeping track. Whew. Nick Shore and Andy Andreoff combined for a 50, and 58% faceoff win percentage on the night respectively.
- For Quick, that is his 9th win on the season and his 8th game over a .920 save percentage. It is only the 2nd time in his last 7 games that he has posted a save percentage above league average. He stopped 36 of 38 for a .947 save percentage. He was 22-for-23 at even strength.
- Quick's counterpart, Steve Mason, put forth his best statistical effort of his struggling 2015-16 campaign. he stopped 38 of 40, for a .950 save percentage. The next closest game back on October 24th against the New York Rangers where he stopped 37 of 39 en route to a victory. He is now 3-5-3 on the year with a .902 save percentage.
- TYLER TOFFOLI POINT ALERT. 73 registered an assist on the game tying goal in the dying seconds. That gives him points in five straight, and six of his last seven (1 goal, 6 assists)
- Jeff Carter played a hockey game in Philadelphia (This is news I guess)
- Claude Giroux seems to be recovering nicely from a slow start. The Flyers captain had a goal and an assist, and now has eight of his total 13 points in the last eight games.
- The Kings killed off 4 of 5 penalties, and now sit at second overall in the NHL with an 86.6% kill rate.
- Muzzin and Martinez continue to get smothered with difficult zone starts. As not only were they matched up against Giroux, they went -1 in offensive versus defensive zone starts. Doughty and McNabb by comparison were a +4 and +5 respectively. Forbort and McBain were a -3 and -2.
Full highlights are available from NHL .com, right here.
It was a very watchable game, and a good antithesis to the idea that goals = entertainment.
Also, was Dustin Byfuglien watching that 3v3 overtime? He should have been.
What did you like/not like about the performance?
The Kings kick off a stretch of very difficult, multiple road trips through the east coast in the coming month. While it didn't end in regulation, this was certainly a good way to kick things off. They did not play their best, and Philly made it exceptionally difficult, but they came away with two points.
Discuss!
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