Well, what a let down. What a sloppy and boring let down.
With a chance to go up 3-0 and take complete control of the series, the Kings failed to capitalize and now face at least one more trip down south. The Ducks converted on two powerplay goals and got a late insurance-marker turned game-winner from Ben Lovejoy to put their first stamp on the series.
From start to finish it was a fairly ugly game for the Kings. While the possession stats looked pretty even and at times favorable towards LA, it was a game plagued with turnovers, bad decisions, and pretty choppy neutral zone play from both teams. No one could get possession, no one seemed to want possession, and when either got it they looked like they were handling grenades rather than pucks
Neither team hit their stride consistently at even strength, and the contest was ultimately decided by special teams.
For the Kings, Kopitar extended his point streak to 10, which now ties Wayne Gretzky for longest playoff point streak by a King player. Also, Jeff Carter scored his first goal since Game 5 of the Sharks series, and Mike Richards potted his FIRST of the postseason in the waning seconds. Welcome to the goal column Mike.
Yea, you can grumble about the officiating all you want, like the call on Doughty early in the game that led to the Perry PP goal. Or maybe this missed one in overtime:
Looks clean to me. #LAKings #Ducks pic.twitter.com/Dxt9gS4lpA
— Danica (@d_izzzle) May 9, 2014But the Kings overall were simply not sharp and did not look ready to play. They were losing board battles and making far too many turnovers to win that game.
Sometimes calls are missed, sometimes bad calls are made. Whatever. It is inconsequential in the end. On the Doughty call in particular, after taking the shoulder into the boards from Perry, Doughty had to know the officials would be watching the two of them on the backcheck. Drew obliged the official.
It was sloppy and undisciplined play like that that buried the Kings in the end. The calls are a red herring to a game that featured 13 giveaways and too many bobbled passes to count. After all, between the two teams there were only extra man opportunities given, and all three were converted on. So it wasn't a game dominated by officiating.
The Ducks made a few changes to their lineup, inserting defenseman Sami Vatanen and goaltender Freddie Anderson, but overall it was the same approach we saw from the Ducks in Games 1 and 2. They use speed through the neutral zone, chip in, and set up behind the net. Personnel really wasn't a factor though, as outside of the powerplay opportunities neither team was really able to execute a game plan effectively tonight.
I did feel as if the young defenseman Vatanen had a real strong game. He was a presence on the powerplay, and played a strong game at evens as well. If I were Bruce Boudreau I'd definitely look at moving forward with Vatanen over Mark Fistric and the inconsistent Luca Sbisa. Vatanen automatically made the Ducks defensive group far more mobile and threatening on the breakout. The Finn was arguably the best player on the ice tonight for both teams. Getzlaf and Perry also continued to be a dominant force, and this is a trend we should get used to seeing. The possession numbers have been fairly decent through the first three games of the series for the duo and tonight they were great. Sutter did say that the key to shutting them down was to "Hit & hope".
The Kings went with the following matchups on the evening.
Here's how matchups ended up. Kopitar ended up seeing most time against Getzlaf by the end. pic.twitter.com/kbD13iQEWo
— Robert P. (@RobertJFTC) May 9, 2014On the opposite end of the possession numbers, the kid line got eaten alive. Pearson and Toffoli were big negatives on the evening. Richards struggled. Carter struggled. They also saw a rather forgettable effort from Drew Doughty and the defensive corps. Breakouts weren't crisp and it failed to get the Kings moving up ice with any semblance of potency. To me, this kind of game was to be expected with a Kings D group playing without two key members. Schultz and Greene have done admirable, but Regehr and Mitchell were both playing excellent prior to injuries and after brutal starts in the San Jose series. Voynov has looked a shell of himself either by virtue of a down year or less than desirable partners. Either way, rough outing for the King D corp tonight. They didn't look sharp and it made a difference. Doughty will likely want to forget his ill-disciplined penalty and blue line turnover which resulted in goals one and three also. Voynov will likely want to forget his entire season the gaping net that could have tied the game late in the third. However, it's a seven game series so there is still plenty of hockey to play.
Really though, i've been thoroughly disappointed with the quality of this series overall.
The Kings played a pretty bad Game 1 and were able to steal it. They played a mediocre game in Game 2 and won. Game 3 was equally bad as Game 1 and for stretches of the game at 1-1 it looked as though the Kings could win it.
Maybe the team just doesn't like Games 1-3 and the real hockey is about to start. It better, because I'm really getting anxious to write about some fantastically awesome happenings in these games rather than the mediocre play that has been plaguing the series so far.
The two teams clash again on Saturday at Staples with a big Game 4 on the line. It's either back to even, or a 3-1 hole for Anaheim. Someone best bring their A game.
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