February 16th, 2017
The Kings resumed play on Thursday, after their bye week, but you never would have been able to tell that they showed up in their 5-3 loss vs Arizona.
LA fell behind early, and just when you thought they were going to get it going, their goaltending let them down repeatedly. When it wasn’t that, it was the officiating letting them down as well. When it was over, the Kings were 1 point out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Kings fell behind 2-0 in the first five minutes on goals by Brendan Perlini and Tobias Reider. Tanner Pearson tried to rally the Kings with two third period goals, along with one from Dustin Brown, but Perlini added another, while Jordan Martinook scored a pair of his own to give the Coyotes the win.
After Brown pulled the Kings to within a goal at 3-2, Martinook scored from just outside the right circle on a wrist shot that beat Peter Budaj on the short side. It was definitely a goal that Budaj wishes he would have had back, as were several other ones on the night.
Adrian Kempe made his NHL debut for LA after being called up from the minor leagues, but it looked as though it was the rest of the team that was sent back to the AHL with the way they played.
The officiating didn’t help LA either. It appeared as though Tyler Toffoli had brought the Kings back to within a goal at 4-3, but officials ruled that they had lost sight of the puck and blown the whistle just before Toffoli poked the puck past Coyotes Goaltender, Mike Smith.
The Kings outshot the Coyotes 44-22, but Smith was spectacular, making 41 saves. Two of those saves included robbing Anze Kopitar right in front of the net. It was a struggle for Budaj on the other hand, who made 17 saves, but couldn’t seem to make the important stops.
Kings Coach Darryl Sutter wasn’t all that thrilled with the goaltending either. “When we lose you’re going to ask how our goalie played. Peter would like to have 3 of the 4 goals back.”
One of the few bright spots for LA was Jeff Carter. His assist on Tanner Pearsons’s goal early in the third period was the 300th of his NHL career. Carter is receiving Hart Trophy consideration for his play this season.
The Kings will continue their brief home stand on Saturday against the Florida Panthers, before heading up to Anaheim on Sunday to take on the Ducks.