March 5th, 2017

Another game the Kings needed got away from them on Saturday night at Staples.  The Kings fell behind 4-0, but their rally fell short as they lost 4-3 to Vancouver.

Sven Baertschi scored twice, Ryan Miller made 41 saves and the Vancouver Canucks ended a four-game losing streak.

Trevor Lewis and Anze Kopitar each scored a power-play goal, Alec Martinez scored a short-handed goal and Ben Bishop made 17 saves in his home debut for Los Angeles, which missed out on a chance to move three points ahead of St. Louis for the second wild card in the Western Conference.

In typical Kings fashion, LA outshot their opponent 44-21, and dominated the possession numbers as well.  The Kings even won the special teams battle, scoring two power play goals, and not giving up any to Vancouver.

However, LA continued to have problems 5-on-5.  “On the score sheet, we may be close, but really the first two periods, it was nowhere near close enough to our game, and nowhere near close to being good enough,” Kopitar said.

The Kings were victimized by a few unfortunate deflections against them, but they have little room for error left.   LA continues game 3 of its 7 game home stand on Thursday against Nashville.

March 2nd, 2017

It was an emotional day for the Kings, who managed to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in a shootout on Thursday night at Staples Center.  It was bittersweet for Kings fans after learning that Hall of Fame announcer, Bob Miller will be retiring at the end of the season.

The Kings trailed 2-0 after Toronto got goals from Tyler Bozak and Nikita Zaitsev in the 1st two periods.  However, LA battled back in the 3rd, sparked by Anze Kopitar’s power play goal 27 seconds in the period.

The goal was the first for the Kings captain in the last 13 games, and bounced off the head of Zaitsev in to the Toronto net.

Just 90 seconds later, Tanner Pearson tied the game at 2-2 after sliding the puck past Frederik Anderson.  It was his 22nd goal of the season.

After an exciting overtime session in which both teams had their chances, the game would go to a shootout.  That’s when Kopitar would score the only goal for either side, to help secure a big Kings win.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves, and stopped all 3 Maple Leafs he faced in the shootout.  Quick’s final save was very acrobatic, where he even reached behind his back to stop the fin shot.

With the win, the Kings inch past St. Louis and back into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Jerome Iginla made his debut as a King.  He knows he has work to do though,  “Personally, I can get better,” he said. “It was a fun game to be a part of. You could tell how important the points were, for them and for us. And to be able to come back and get that in the overtime, back and forth is pretty exciting.

As for Bob Miller, just hours earlier, he announced that this would be his final season with the Kings, after  44 years and 3,351 broadcasts.  Miller is 78, and coming off of a minor stroke he suffered in January.  It’s the 2nd straight season that Miller has had health problems.  In February of last year, he had a four-way heart-bypass operation.  Doctors had essentially made the decision for him, telling him to slow down.

“I said, ‘Well, in this sport, in my mind, there’s no taking it easy. When they drop the puck, you’re going. You’re on,’” he said. “And that’s what the fans expect from you and that’s the way you want to do the game.

Ralph Strangis has been filling in for Miller for the last month with play-by-play duties.  However, Miller said that he will call two finals games: April 8th vs Chicago, and April 9th at Anaheim.  That gives him and the Kings fans a final chance to say goodbye.

Miller’s retirement is the end of an era of great broadcasting in Los Angeles.  For nearly half a century, LA got to listen to three Hall of Fame announcers: Vin Scully, Chick Hearn, and Miller.  Kings President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille summed it up best: “No one will ever replace Bob, just like you can’t replace the great people that worked for the Dodgers and the Lakers. He’s at that same level.”