Kings vs. Coyotes Game 2: Keys for Los Angeles to Take Control of Series

The No. 8 Los Angeles Kings are continuing their unexpected NHL playoff run and are doing it in bold fashion. 

They beat Phoenix 4-2 in order to take an early 1-0 series lead. 

But the Coyotes are a good team and will be hard to beat on home ice. The Kings will need to play great hockey in order to put the home team in an insurmountable deficit. 

Here are a big keys to the game for the Los Angeles Kings. 

Play Aggressively 

Not many people expected the Kings to make it this far. But they stayed hungry and proved the doubters wrong. 

That type of aggression and will to win is what propelled Los Angeles to such an outburst in the playoffs. 

They can’t lose that. 

The reason that the Kings kept winning is because they had their backs against the wall. They had a chip on their shoulder. No one outside their locker room believed in them. 

They wanted to win more then the Vancouver Canucks wanted to win. They out-willed the Saint Louis Blues.

If they become overconfident and feel like they have this series in the bag, then Phoenix will find a way to beat them.

They have to keep playing like they are the underdogs. 

Feed Dwight King

The young left wing only had five goals in the regular season and one in the postseason. 

That was before Game 1 against the Phoenix Coyotes. 

In that matchup he came alive as King scored two goals to give Los Angeles the 4-2 victory. He even scored one in the final minute of play, sealing the sixth straight road playoff victory for the Kings. 

This kid is hot. 

It may have been a fluke or it may have been a sign of things to come. But if Dwight King can build off what he did in Game 1, then Los Angeles will put the Coyotes in a massive hole. 

The Power Play

Phoenix will take advantage of the power play while killing any opportunities that Los Angeles has to score with the man advantage. 

In Game 1, the Kings went zero for four in the power play. 

This is unacceptable and has to change in order for this squad to win the series. 

If Los Angeles jumped out to a lead with an early power play goal, then the Coyotes would be deflated and play cautious. 

Suddenly, the Kings have forced their opponents into playing with fear. 

Los Angeles will have to break through with a couple of power play goals in Game 2 to seal a victory and take full control of this series.