The Kings had a dominant 7-2 victory at home against the Hurricanes. In the blowout win, there were many aspects of the game that the Kings executed to perfection. Any minor slip-ups from the Kings will also be examined as well. The positives and negatives that Los Angeles showed will be analyzed in their overall grade against Carolina.
Here’s a breakdown of tonight’s performance for the Kings:
Positives
For a team known to play at a slower tempo offense, the Kings rebelled against their reputation and came out the gate blistering hot. A little over three minutes into the game, Kempe scored an early goal to give the Kings the lead. Los Angeles was able to build momentum off the early goal. In the first period alone, the Kings scored three goals which gave Los Angeles complete control of the game.
As great as the first was for the Kings, their physicality on defense complimented their hot start on offense. The Hurricanes’ offense had their work cut out for them with the 23 hits and 17 blocked shots Los Angeles racked up. Carolina took so long to get on the scoreboard since they were so worn down and stabilized by the pesky Kings defense.
Not only were the Kings better on offense and defense, but they were also better on the power play. While both teams only had two power-play opportunities, Anže Kopitar delivered the power-play goal for Los Angeles. Along with the Kopitar goal, the Kings also secured two penalty kills. The power-play goal and stopping both opportunities from Carolina was another boost for the Kings’ performance.
For a well-rounded effort to be as fluent as it was, every player had to step up for the Kings. All 12 forwards for the Kings recorded at least one point in this game. Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala, Tanner Jeannot, Andrei Kuzmenko and Anže Kopitar all had a goal and an assist each. If that wasn’t enough production, Drew Doughty delivered two assists and David Rittich recorded a .944 save percentage. Five of the six defenseman recorded at least one blocked shot as well. Every player on the Kings left their mark in this game.
Negatives
With how elite the Kings were today, what is there to even criticize? The Kings only allowed minor slip-ups that had no impact on the game. Los Angeles allowed more shots on goal and only allowed Carolina to score after the Kings already had a six-goal lead. Saying that allowing a few goals or having fewer shots on goal is a negative when the game is out of reach is a complete stretch. There really weren’t any negatives to the Kings’ performance, hence why they won in such convincing fashion.
Recap
The Kings were near perfect in their scoring, quick start, power play goal, physicality and overall playmaking. It was an all-around effort from the entire team that built them a 6-0 lead. Not to mention this performance came against the Hurricanes, who are one of the top teams in the NHL. A Kings performance that steamrolled and completely embarrassed a Stanley Cup contender deserves nothing short of a perfect grade.
