Kings claw back to beat Coyotes
Game 15: Kings 5, Coyotes 3The Kings had the potential for a letdown game on Monday night. against Phoenix After all, they hadn't played since Thursday, and they were coming off two back-to-back shootout losses. Things appeared to have reverted back to the Kings of Old: high on potential but lacking that killer instinct.
And as the game started, it looked as if they were a one-trick pony. Anze Kopitar scored to make it 1-0, snapping his two-game slump. Then the Coyotes answered, when Shane Doan scored right as time expired in the first. Phoenix answered again, less than a minute gone in the second period, when Martin Hanzal snuck one past Quick. The Scottie Upshall scored, and I was tempted to turn off the game and tune into Monday Night Raw. (Special guest hosts, The Osbournes!)
Then the new and improved Kings battled back. First Ryan Smyth on a nice assist by Kopitar, then Justin Williams had nifty move to fake out LaBarbera to tie the game up. Nice to see Justin Williams back in the lineup. Then it was Drew Doughty's turn to step up, and step up big he did. Doughty buried it to put the Kings on top, and successfully allowing the Kings to take the lead.
After it was all said and done, the Kings lefting Jobing.com Arena with al the doubts and regrets of the past two games erased from their collective memories. Older Kings teams might have let that self-doubt fester and grow. But the latest model of the Kings has the ability to remain focused. Sort of.
During the first intermission, coach Murray was apparently fed up with his team's lack of focus in the first and opened the floodgates. After the game, both Murray and the players downplayed what was said. But I could see Murray spew fire and brimstone, trying to wake up the team. His system works, and they were piddling it away. And you know what: his tirade worked. Enough with the kid gloves, dealing with this team. Sometimes you need a kick in the ass. And check it out, they responded big time.
On to another subject, the Coyotes' sale to the league was approved Monday. But you could tell fans still aren't sure what to expect. As I was working last night, one of the senior copy editors turned to me and said "Does there seem to be a lot of empty seats tonight?" And I cracked back "I'm sure it's Camp Fire Girls Night and Bowling League Appreciation Night and Retired Librarians Night, and they are all sitting up high." Then I saw the official attendance: 5,855. And that was the announced attendance. I read later that the Coyotes had just set franchise lows for attendance in their last two home games. The previous low was 6,495 on Sunday against the Ducks. Way to go, Bettman. Not to sure how I can pin poor attendance on the Commish, but he's my go-to guy for everything else.
• AP: Victory is just how Kings Drew it up
Ryan Smyth scored twice, Anze Kopitar had a goal and two assists, and Justin Williams also scored for the Kings, who won for the first time in five games this season when trailing after two periods. Los Angeles snapped a two-game losing skid.• LAKings.com: Kings rally in Phoenix
The Kings were in need of a timeout. Not the rest-on-the-bench type of timeout, but the sit-quietly-in-the-corner, parental type of timeout. With many of their fathers watching from a suite in the arena, the Kings rebounded from a dreadful second period with some of their strongest play of the season, as they scored three third-period goals to beat the Phoenix Coyotes 5-3 on Monday night before approximately 3,000 fans at Jobing.com Arena.• Fox Sports: Team Report
With the return of Justin Williams, who had missed five games becauseof a lower-body injury, coach Terry Murray shuffled his lines a bit.Williams, who had recorded nine points in nine games on the top line,got his old job back. Wayne Simmonds, who had impressed as Williams'replacement, returned to his third-line role but picked up two newlinemates, center Jarret Stoll and left wing Scott Parse.They said it
“Sometimes you have a little extra incentive, and you try to do a little too much sometimes. Tonight, I think, in the third period they probably talked about it. `Let’s do something special here. This is a special trip for the whole team, and our parents are here, so let’s dig in and get the job done.’ It was a real character third period. There was a lot of strong play, hard, taking it to the net, battle mentality. That’s what we have to show.” – Terry Murray, on the players winning in front of their dads
“Terry came in (the locker room) in between the second andthird and he gave it to us. He told us we weren’t playing the way wewere capable of, and after that I think the team stepped up to theplate. Everybody did their job, of sticking to the coach’s game plan,and that’s why we came out with the win.”– Drew Doughty, on the reason for the third period turnaroundAround the Kingdom
• LA Kings News: Kings put a muzzle on the Coyotes
Even though the Kings could not seem to handle a pass or get off a good shot for 35 minutes tonight, they played their best third period of the season. Killing the penalty late in the game was a sure-fire season builder, the kind of close-out to a game they were unable to grab hold of last season, and even struggled with in the first few games this year.• Purple Crushed Velvet: Phoenix Again? Blerg.
It feels good knowing the Kings beat Phoenix, especially since the Yotes always seem to have their number. The win was also sweet since former Kings goaltender, Jason La Barbera, was in net and allowed 4 goals.• Bleacher Report: Ryan Smyth: The Best Trade The Kings Have Made Since Gretzky
I look at the roster now and there is one name that glares back at me—Ryan Smyth. Maybe it’s placebo effect that Ryan has on the Kings. I believe he is the definite cure for what’s been ailing this team. I believe he really helps make this team a contender.• Frozen Royalty: Scott Parse Is Quite The Surprise For The LA Kings
From across the aisle, the Phoenix viewpoint
• The Arizona Republic: Coyotes let win slip away vs. Kings
"I should have hung onto it. I made a dumb play with moving it to the corner and kind of panicked with the puck, and they did a good job of getting the puck to the net," LaBarbera said.• Hipchecks: The Luckiest
My friend has decided that I am not allowed to go to Kings at Coyotes anymore. Apparently mu love of Jon Quick makes me his lucky charm and the Coyotes lose.• HF Boards: GDT: Kings @ Coyotes
YotesFan: Man I'm depressed. A chance to move ahead of the Kings and we blew it. Why start LB? Bryz should of been in net. Barbs let in a softie on Kopitar and caused another goal by not freezing the puck. We played poorly but bad decision to start Barbs.• Five For Howling: Coyotes vs. Kings - Game #14 Gamethread: Zombie Kopitar!
hao chi: I blame myself. Right before the Kings' second goal, I was telling my dad about how the Coyotes were about to once again win four games in a row after losing two. I also mentioned how Bryz beat his former team, now Lolbarbera will probably do the same.
Devils Advocate: I blame myself for the loss tonight for my conversation with Dean Lombardi in the elevator prior to the game: me: "With all due respect Mr. Lombardi, you're going down tonight."
holy cow what happened? it was 3-3 a moment ago … and now it’s over at 5-3 kings?Peeping the dailies
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