Game 18: Kings 5, Capitals 2

A highly satisfying game to watch, even if it wasn't live. To see the Kings play to this level against the reigning MVP and his team, currently tops in the Southeast, it gets me pumped.

Did you know: Alexander Ovechkin has never scored against the Kings in his career. Of course, thanks to the screwy NHL scheduling, they've only played three times.

The Kings not only halted Ovechkin's five-game winning streak, they found ways to get under the MVP's skin. Like when he and Dustin Brown collided in front of the crease late in the third.

At first glance, it looked as if Ovechkin decided to take out his frustration on Brown, and took a run at him. Only, Brown got back up and shrugged it off. Ovechkin looked to have gotten the worse of it. Not only that, but he got an interference penalty, which then Brown capitalized on, scoring the game-winner..

The "kid Kings" got the better of Ovie and the rest of the Caps Thursday night, and finally brought to light the Kings' choice for a tagline this season:. They out-hustled (27-25 faceoffs won = PRIDE), outshot (33-21 = PASSION), outhit (34-29 = POWER) the road-weary Caps. Get it? Maybe the Kings marketing department are on to something...

• AP: Kings beat Capitals, 5-2

• LA Times:  Kings take a big step forward

That is where the Kings sit right now. They aren't the talent-poor franchise that scoured the bottom of the Western Conference the last two seasons, but they haven't reached that they're-coming-to-town terror level that others in the conference hold.

• The Canadian Press: O'Sullivan scores go-ahead goal as Kings beat Capitals

"I had a few hits on him and some other guys put hits on him," said Dustin Brown. "I think he's one of those players that likes giving the hits out, but if you can slow him down offensively and be physical with him, he gets a little frustrated out there.''

Looking through purple-hued glasses

• Press Box Perspective:  Capitals in Southern California

Though Erik Ersberg started in his 8th consecutive game tonight for the Kings, Terry Murray evaded the question about the Kings’ number one goaltender yet again, saying he didn’t think goalies needed a label above their head to play well. Whether he’s willing to admit it or not, it’s clear that the Kings’ number one goaltender is Ersberg even though Erik hasn’t played in as many games as Jason LaBarbera this season. The games may be close to even, but Ersberg’s performance has been superior to LaBarbera’s so far.

• Purple Crushed Velvet: Kyle Calder, get off the ice!!

Kings 5, Capitals 2. Here's what each player's goal said:

Doughty: "I'm still awesome."
O'Sullivan: "That's right bitches!"
Brown: "Suuuuuuuuuck it, Ovechkin!!!!"
Handzus: "Will Coach take Calder off my line?"
Kopitar: "Fuck y'all!"

• The Royal Half: USA! USA!

I'm sure tomorrow on blogs across the country people will be debating whether or not that was truly interference between Ovechkin and Brown... but remember this... if Ovechkin hadn't been running around the ice like a madman for the minute before, there is no way the referee makes that call. Subtlety is definitely not one of Ovechkin's strong points. And the best part of it all... a close up of Dustin Brown's baby face on the Staples Jumbotron mouthing "Fuck You" to Ovechkin after Brown scored. That's my Captain!

• Frozen Royalty: Kings Offense Awakens in 5-2 Rout Of Capitals

From the other side of the ice, the Washington view

• Washington Post: Caps' Surge Slowed by Los Angeles

"We were kind of humbled a little bit tonight," Brooks Laich said. "That was a hockey team we should have beat. We expected better of ourselves."

"They were more emotionally into the game than we were at the beginning," Coach Bruce Boudreau said. "That's the part that is unacceptable. We were not up to standard at the beginning. And once you let a team get on a roll like that, it's tough to stop them. They were taking away time and space and just working hard. It's that simple. But when you can't get a shot on goal even-strength, that means your team's not working hard enough."

• Musings of a Hockey Mom: Hollywood Lights - Caps Meet the L.A. Kings

Hockey Mom is usually lights out early (kind of like someone dumb enough to drop the gloves with the “Donald”) but for some reason I found myself awake in the middle of the night and of course, HAD to turn on the game. Just in time to see 2 Caps go to the box for sticking infractions against the L.A. Kings. Of course we rarely get to watch the guys in purple much here on the east coast, but HM’s brood kind of digs their marquee player Anze Kopitar as one of my twins sports the same number 11.

• Japer's Rink: Friday roundup

It's no wonder Dustin Brown had 10,000 hits last year - the in-house scorer at Staples apparently has a pretty generous definition of what constitutes a hit.

• Puckhead's thoughts: No gas left in the tank

Also, this was the same officiating crew from last night. A phantom interference call late in the third sealed the Caps fate. Dustin Brown and Alex Ovechkin simply ran into one another and Brown's skate caught Ovi's ear on the way down. While the contact was just an accident (both players were unaware of the other), the officials called Ovechkin for interference. The Kings were able to score after the Caps were a little too offensively minded with the man down. Frustrating to say the least. Especially considering that obvious tripping and hooking infractions seemed to go unnoticed.

• The Peerless Prognosticator: A NO-point night: Kings 5 - Caps 2

Maybe it’s a scoring thing, but 34 hits credited to the Kings? Only three skaters failed to record one. We can understand that might have been a strategy to employ against a team that had played the previous night against a physical opponent, but…34 hits? John Zeiler was credited with five in just over seven minutes of play. There are linebackers in the NFL who don’t get that many hits in a game.

• Tic Tac Toe Hockey: The Day The Transition Died

The shellacking at the hands of the lowly Kings is a reminder of how imperative it is -- and even more so in the post-lockout NHL -- to have a blueliner who can lead the rush from his own zone. Controlled breakouts, stretch passes, and a generally stellar transition game is the foundation upon which great offenses are built.

Kings-related news

•Puck Daddy: Penalties: Who draws the most and who takes too many?

According to Behind the Net, Patrick O'Sullivan of the Los Angeles Kings current leads all skaters with 14 penalties drawn in 16 games. Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks follows with 12, and then it's Erik Cole of the Edmonton Oilers (11), Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins (10) and Darcy Tucker of the Colorado Avalanche (10) rounding out the top five.

• ESPN.com: Quarterly report: Team-by-team grades

Kings c-minus: Hard to be critical of a team that is in many ways overachieving with a close-to-.500 record. Still, no matter how much better this young team is playing defensively (it was fourth overall on the penalty kill compared to 30th last season), the Kings are still not ready to be a playoff team.

• Yahoo: Kings team report

“Time has gone by and games have happened and I’m seeing more of a reaction, more of a reactive kind of game from (O’Sullivan),” Murray said. “That’s the kind of game he needs to play, instinctive and reactive to the play. So it’s time to get it back together and hope that good things can happen with the chemistry that they have and that they can bring it back together quickly.”

 • NHL.com: Centers of attention

Kopitar and Stastny are the focus of this week's Head-to-Head segment on NHL.com and we want to hear from you. If you were given the opportunity to build a franchise around either one of these young snipers, who would you choose?

• NHL.com: King of the castle

My first game was both emotional and nerve-wracking," said Anze Kopitar. "But when I put the Kings jersey on, I just said to myself, 'This is it. You just have to go out there and show them what you can do.'"

Power rankings

• The Hockey News: Rise to 26

• TSN: Fall back to 26

• ESPN: Holding steady at 22

• Yahoo: Drop two to... 26