Drew Doughty gave the Kings the lead with a power-play goal with 27.3 seconds remaining. Doughty’s slap shot found the net, with Smyth and Brown running screens in front.

The Kings tied the game with 1:46 remaining in the third period. Wayne Simmonds had the puck in the corner and simply tossed it toward the front of the net. Ryan Smyth was parked at the post, in front of Brodeur, and Simmonds was credited with getting the puck past Brodeur to tie the game.

The Kings got back in the game with a goal with 29 seconds remaining in the second period. Alexander Frolov helped force a turnover behind the Devils’ net. Scott Parse got control of the puck and centered it to Michal Handzus, who scored to make it 2-1.

Shots were 10-5 Kings in the second period.

New Jersey took a two-goal lead 5:54 into the second period. Zach Parise started the breakout and made a cross-ice pass to Dainius Zubrus, who made a cross-ice pass to Travis Zajac. Zajac’s shot from the middle of the circle beat Quick.

The Kings didn’t record their first shot on goal until 6:07 remained in the first period, and it was officially listed as a 63-foot wrist shot by Oscar Moller. Shots were 8-4 in favor of the Devils in the period.

Just seconds after they killed off a penalty, the Devils took the lead 4:45 into the first period. Johnny Oduya found open ice and shot from the top of the left circle, and the puck seemed to get deflected in front, past Quick.

The Kings face a daunting task tonight…not only back-to-back games, not only a 5 p.m. local time start, but a game against a rested New Jersey team that sits second in the Eastern Conference and has allowed the fewest goals in the NHL this season.

Should the Kings come away with a win, they would have their first 5-0 road trip in franchise history, their first six-game winning streak since March 11-23, 2002, and they would also push their road winning streak to seven games. The franchise record is eight games, set from Dec. 18, 1974-Jan. 16, 1975. So yeah, it would be a pretty big win, Terry Murray said this morning.

MURRAY: “At this time of the year, it would be remarkable. This is a desperate time for a lot of the teams that we have played. You start off in Detroit, and moving through Toronto. That’s a hard team, desperate to get something going for themselves. Then you look at Columbus. My God, there’s an urgency there for them to get their game back on track the way they were last year, a playoff team last year. So, boy, it speaks a lot of what this team is starting to show, as far as character and playing for your teammates. Remarkable stuff. I’m very proud of these guys, the way they’ve come through this trip and played hard for each other.”

Continue reading ‘Going for history’ »

Here’s what Terry Murray said today about some of his lineup choices for today…

(on Jack Johnson’s return from his arm injury…)
MURRAY: “We skated this morning, and he was able to go out and shoot and pass and get a feel for it. He’s in.”

(on using Harrold as a forward and an emergency defenseman…)
MURRAY: “I feel comfortable that he can step up on the right side and do a good job for us.”

(on using Purcell instead of Ivanans/Segal…)
MURRAY: “I need four lines playing today, with these back-to-backs. I really called on three lines, and those guys played their butts off last night. I need some depth tonight.”

(on using Moller on the third line last night, and dropping Parse…)
MURRAY: “I thought he did a pretty good job there last night. I just needed Parse to take it to a little higher level than what he did, so the change was made for that reason. I thought Oscar showed a lot of confidence, handled the puck and tried to do the right things playing on that line.”

For those in and around the South Bay, there will be a Kings watch party (with the Ice Crew) today at the Redondo Beach Cafe, located at 1511 S. Pacific Coast Highway (corner of Avenue H). This is, of course, the cafe with the famous Jim Fox Chicken Soup, and I would also recommend the Montreal smoked meat sandwich.

Sunday watch party

Here at the hotel, I actually have a distant view of the Manhattan skyline. Unfortunately, the view is from New Jersey.

The Kings lost Wayne Simmonds for, essentially, an entire period last night after Simmonds went after Mark Stuart for Stuart’s hit on Anze Kopitar in the second period. Simmonds got 19 minutes’ worth of penalties, made worse by the fact that Simmonds got an extra penalty for wearing a face shield (Simmonds said Stuart cut his hand on Simmonds’ shield).

But even though Simmonds had to sit and watch for 19 minutes, during a time when the game almost got away from the Kings, Terry Murray said he had no regrets about Simmonds’ actions in defending a teammates.

MURRAY: “Absolutely. That’s exactly it. I didn’t like the pass that came up to Kopi, but that’s the culture that you have to have on your hockey club. We’ve talked about that many times, through last year, and the right stuff that’s been done several different times. This is the right call on his part. I know there’s an instigator rule, because of the shield, and that makes it a little harder, but there’s no question that I liked the response.”

Continue reading ‘A worthy absence’ »