Nothing clicked for the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche, as they were outplayed in almost every facet of the game, leading to an abysmal 4-1 loss. Sluggish, sloppy, unconnected, discombobulated, the list goes on. From turnovers to penalties to the inability to make a clean pass or break out with ease, it was one of those performances the Kings will want to move on from immediately.
“We gotta forget about that one right away,” defenseman Drew Doughty said. “We all know what we were doing wrong in that game. We weren’t playing in our style of game and the way we are supposed to play, so we will put this one behind us and focus on tomorrow.”
The Kings didn’t do anything to help themselves, but not only did the Avalanche show what it’s like to have multiple superstars, their group effort also put on a clinic on both sides of the puck. Their ability to get into shooting lanes, collapse or step up on Kings forwards, giving them zero time and space to make a successful play, and use their superior speed to their advantage made it even harder for the struggling Kings to get anything going.
“They really played a strong checking game, didn’t give us any time and space,” Kings head coach Jim Hiller said. “They caught us, they disrupted plays, they didn’t let us forecheck, […] they did a good job not giving us anything.”
If not for a classic Kevin Fiala one-timer from his favorite spot on the two-man advantage, the Kings would have been shut out in their home opener. It was the only time in the game that the Kings showed some connection and moved the puck around without bobbling it or turning it over.
The list of positives from last night is short; in fact, the best part came before puck drop when the Kings unveiled their new alternate jerseys. Jeff Malott, once again making a statement, dropped the gloves and stood up for teammate Warren Foegele, who was hit high late in the first period, which was also great to see.
Other than that, it was hard to find a lot of optimism. Maybe it was rust or first-game jitters, but whatever it was, it needs to be flushed out before they drop the puck against one of the deepest rosters in the league tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights in Vegas.
Kings Took Too Many Penalties
No team can give a roster that has Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Martin Necas on their first power-play unit six opportunities to convert. Even though that’s exactly what the Kings did, they held the star-studded Avalanche power play to just one goal. However, the list of the Kings’ strengths last night starts and stops with the penalty kill.
It was the only area where the team showed promise, allowing the Avalanche just five shots on the power play throughout the game. Their aggressive structure remained, and their solid positioning and active sticks allowed them to break up plays and keep everything to the outside, preventing the Avalanche from generating quality looks.
Of course, with a power play that strong, the Avalanche are going to find a way to generate something eventually, like Necas did in the third period, where he walked in and sizzled one right over Darcy Kuemper’s blocker.
“The penalty kill was really good today, we weren’t giving them a ton of looks, and then eventually you take too many and that’s one of the best PP’s in the league, so yeah, that hurt us,” Doughty said.
If there’s anything the Kings should carry into tonight’s game against the Golden Knights, it would be the penalty kill, although they cannot afford to give up six power plays again.
Avalanche’s Elite Talent Made the Difference
As disappointing as last night was, the Avalanche’s superstars came to play. While that’s no excuse for the Kings’ performance, game-changing players can impose their will, and they did for the Avalanche with two of MacKinnon, Makar, and Necas involved in three of the team’s four goals.
The Kings’ defensive group has size and strength, but it doesn’t have speed. That’s a major disadvantage when defending against MacKinnon, Makar, and Necas, three players who can turn you inside out with their fast, elusive skating. Good teams find ways to shut down opposing stars, but for a Kings team that spent most of the night just trying to complete three passes in a row, limiting the damage to only one goal that didn’t involve the Avalanche’s “big three” felt like a small consolation prize.
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Every King knows that whatever was on display against the Avalanche was not good enough. The good news is they have the opportunity to move on, show that it was a one-off, and deliver a competitive performance against the Golden Knights in the second game of a back-to-back to open their season.
“I think if we could play that game again, I think we would want to do it right now, so I think tomorrow’s going to be a great opportunity for us to show up again and play our game, and play another really good team,” forward Adrian Kempe said.
