Kings Utilize Alternative Fuel To Power Past Sens

Life In HockeywoodDec 4, 2009

Los Angeles Kings scores on a penalty against Brian Elliott #30 goalkeeper of the Ottawa Senators during the first period of the NHL hockey game on December 3, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)" width="400">

Game 29: Kings 6, Senators 3

It seems the Kings have embraced what former Presidential candidate Al Gore has been selling for years: using alternative energy.

When Ryan Smyth went down to injury, many Kings fans sighed and said "here we go again". The Kings franchise is no stranger to the man-games-lost column of the stat sheet. And when Smyth exited the top line, production dropped. Kopitar had already started to falter, even before Smyth's
upper body injury against the Panthers. And the Kings lost three of their next five games.

But that was Snore-vember. This is now the December to Dismember, and the Kings are undefeated after taking the Senators to the woodshed. And the concern over who would step up their game has clearly been answered.

Wayne Simmonds has become mine and everyone's favorite player, and not just because he's scored four goals in the past five games. The way he plays the game with such energy and skill gives Kings fans reason for relief. It's his work ethic, of constantly pushing and playing that makes him a solid player. His +10 plus-minus is evidence that he plays the game the right way. He plays the majority of his minutes at even strength, and has benefited sharing a line with Michal Handzus.

Simmonds got the penalty shot when he was pulled down by Filip Kuba. He took the puck and slowly skated toward the goal, almost shark-like in his approach. Then he deftly tucked it under Brian Elliott to make it 2-1 in the first. It was Simmonds first NHL shootout goal, but he made it look easy.

That's when the wheels fell off for the Senators, who quickly had not one, not two but three players go to the box in under a minute near the end of the period. That meant the Kings would come back in the second with a two-man advantage and plenty of time to pump the puck at the net and pot some goals. Perhaps Anze Kopitar would break his 10-game scoring slump.

Nope. They couldn't muster many shots, even with two extra guys on the ice. Killing off those penalties gave the Senators new life, and they proceeded to tie the game later in the second. There was a scary moment, when Anze Kopitar crashed against the boards and stayed crumpled on the ice as play continued. It led up to the Senators' third goal.

I don't have to tell you what EVERYONE was thinking after seeing Kopitar doubled over in pain. It's the sight that no one wants to see. But as it turned out, it probably slapped the Kings in the face and forced them to realize they were going to have to wake up.

Things started getting antsy, as it looked like the game was slipping out of the Kings grasp. That's when Drew Doughty's power play goal gave the Kings a much-needed boost, and snapping a mini-4-game scoring slump of his own. Kopitar had an assist of the goal. And even better, with the goal, Drew matched last year's offensive production.

After that, the Kings came out in the third and knew what they had to do to insure a victory. They were huge in the faceoff circles, with both
Handzus and Kopitar winning over 80 percent of the drops. And it was Kopitar's linemate Justin Williams who scored twice to cement the win and send Ottawa on to Anaheim with a raw butt from such an ass-kicking.

I think Williams summed it up best when he told Rich and the assembled media: "We’ve won three in a row, and we’ve won them in three different fashions. The thing I’m happy about is, good teams and great teams find a way to win games when they’re not at their best. We were definitely not at our best. We were loose tonight, but we ended up coming away with two points."

So now I can stop harping on secondary scoring now. It took a while for them to find their way, but the Kings look to be back on track. next up is the always tough St. Louis Blues. With a 1 p.m. start, maybe the Kings could use some solar energy to help power past the Blues. LA Live opened their ice rink across the street... why not have the game outside?

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