It wasn't a pretty Game 1, and in a poetic sort of way it wasn't a pretty OT game winner from Justin Williams either.
Nonetheless, the Kings did it again. They did what they have done all postseason. They got themselves into a hole, down 0-2 early in the first, and dug out of it with three straight goals. After they outshot the Rangers 20-3 in the 3rd and had numerous chances towards the end of the third period, the Kings benefited from a sloppy turnover in his own zone by Dan Girardi which led to the final goal.
Kyle Clifford made his first appearance in the goal column and Drew Doughty scored an absolutely brilliant goal to knot the game up at two after the Kings spotted the Rangers two.
Benoit Pouliot and Carl Hagelin posted the markers for the Rangers, who after a hot start looked gassed halfway through the 2nd.
Both Lundqvist and Quick looked very sharp. Lundqvist faced a lot more rubber than Quick, standing up to 43 shots from the Kings. On the other side Quick allowed two goals on 27 shots. With a lot made about goaltending going into this series, especially on the side of JQ, No. 32 looked more himself to start this series which could spell trouble for NYR. The two goals in which he allowed were both breakaways.
One from Pouliot early on in the game after a turnover
and Hagelin's was actually kicked in by Slava Voynov.
Despite the loss, the Rangers gave the Kings plenty to think about.
No. 1...SPEED. Speed, speed, speed.
So the Rangers are pretty fast yea? And how about Carl Hagelin. Oh man, I knew the guy could skate but he was flying down the wing past Slava Voynov King defenders like they had cement in their skates. His goal was a direct result of pure unadulterated speed from blue line to goalline. If Game 1 is any indication of how effective Hagelin is going to be, the Kings better find away to slow him down. Likewise with St. Louis, who had a ton of opportunities bringing in speed off the wing. The positives of this for the Kings is that the speed is coming from the outside and not down the center lane ala the Blackhawks. Speed on the wing is much more manageable.
The other thing I touched on quite a bit in my preview was faceoffs. They were surprisingly equal, but with a bit of a caveat. Overall the Kings won the faceoff duel 29-28, with Mike Richards and Jeff Carter turning in dynamite performance at the dot. Each man went 7-for-11 for a 60% win rate. On the flip side, Anze Kopitar had a rare bad night at the circle. He won just 9 of 21 draws, and lost 5 of 7 against DEREK STEPAN. Now, I bold Derek Stepan because he is easily the Rangers weakest link on the draw. Stepan is currently winning 41.8% of his draws in the postseason, and won 45.2% during the regular season. He won 8 out of 17 tonight, good for 47%. Five of those wins came against Kopitar. A blip on the radar for Kopitar? You'd have to think so given how dominant he normally is. Stepan and Kopitar have not faced each other very much and perhaps the feeling out process fell in favor of No. 21 in Blue this time. Who knows. Brad Richards went 4-8 and Derrick Brassard was 7-for-13.
I don't expect Game 2 to be so close in the circle.
The game very much had a "feeling out" sort of flavor to it. Neither team was particularly sharp, and it showed in the goals and on the breakouts. Passes weren't so crisp, and play looked a little sluggish through the neutral zone at times. Also take into account that word is that ice was pretty bad at Staples tonight after L.A. hit temperatures in the low to mid 90's.
Still, there were plenty of strong performances to speak of. The Kings top 6 in particular seemed to really get going against the Ranger in the third period, and it showed in the chances.
H2H Corsi through 3. Big 3rd period for LA. Kings top six dominating possession against Rangers top six. pic.twitter.com/tktICqFNUb
— Robert P. (@RobertJFTC) June 5, 2014Willie Mitchell turned in a very good performance as well despite his partner, Voynov, fighting the puck all night.
Tyler Toffoli had several legitimate scoring chances, including a third period bid into an open net which he whiffed on completely.
In a whole you can't say that the Rangers had too many QUALITY opportunities. The two goals they got came on the break after very sloppy defensive plays. Other than that, when the Rangers had to manufacture their own chances it was few and far between. I get the feeling in this series that if the Kings lose it will be by their own undoing. Vignault's wide open flowing style of play is certainly easy on the eyes, but it didn't do much to manufacture chances when and where it mattered. Traffic was pretty non existent in front of Quick, and most shots came from bad angles and the perimeter. Sounds eerily similar to the Canucks-Kings series from 2011-12 yes?
However, it's just one game, and Game 1 is usually the least telling of any game in the series. Still, just some things to think about.
If I am the Rangers, I like the speed, and I like the forecheck. They were very quick on pucks behind the net and won a lot of board battles.
If I am the Kings I am pleased with the result, but the traffic in front of Lundqvist has to be better. Also, the powerplay. UGH The powerplay. It seemed like the Kings had a pretty hot run going, but the strong Rangers PK limited them to no shots on the first three attempts. Special teams might not play a huge role in the series, but the Kings surely have to do better than that. I also like how the Kings top-6 matches up with the Rangers top-6. There was little offensive prowess from the Rangers top-6, and the Kings ran amok in the 3rd period.
Game 1 is in the books.
And as Kings fans we can all thank this man for it.
Don't worry. I got it. #LAKings pic.twitter.com/mdltDxOLSS
— Jason Lewis (@SirJDL) June 5, 2014There will certainly be more to talk about as the series moves on and more and more takes shape in terms of strengths, weaknesses, and matchups. For now though, Game 1 to Los Angeles.
Follow me on twitter for news and notes about the Kings and the NHL