The numbers from the game overwhelmingly suggest a Kings win. Despite that, they lost, hitting three posts and failing to score on three breakaway chances.
In the second period against the Florida Panthers, the Los Angeles Kings tried and failed to score on a scramble play around the net. As both teams battled, the referee blew his whistle, even though it didn’t appear as though Panthers goalie Daniil Tarasov had covered the puck. No one on the ice was more frustrated by this than Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, who briefly screamed at the official after play stopped.
Yes, his frustration derived partially from the poor call. But surely at least some of the anger came from another night where the Kings did many things correctly on offense only to have them not translate to goals, this time ending in a 3-2 loss.
“We’re getting chances and just can’t seem to bury them, and then they’re getting some lucky bounces, and it’s going in for them,” said forward Alex Laferriere, who missed from close range late in the second period. “It’s a long season. It’s hockey, it happens. And I think right now we’ve just got to bear down on those chances and try and score.”
The numbers from the game overwhelmingly suggest a Kings win. Though they only outshot the Panthers 29-28 in terms of shots on net, they took more overall shots and more unblocked shots. They earned 25 scoring chances to Florida’s 19 and 15 high-danger chances while Florida managed just two. Despite all that, they lost, hitting three posts and failing to score on three breakaway chances.
“If you’re not getting points, it feels almost useless,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “So I know no one’s really happy. Obviously, you’re happy with the way you play, but if you don’t win, it doesn’t really make you feel any better for having a good game.”
Even one of their goals was essentially an accident, when a clear attempt by Florida’s Gustav Forsling bounced off of Kevin Fiala and went into the net in the third period. That made the score 3-2, but the Kings never got another goal despite spending the rest of the game actually trying to score one.
“We hit three posts. We missed three breakaways,” head coach Jim Hiller said. “There were some other chances from deflections in and around their net. So, you know, we got a lucky bounce on Kevin’s, but you would expect that one of those other six, you might find a way to get to the back of the net.”
The Kings’ need for offense becomes even more important amid goaltender Darcy Kuemper being moved to injured reserve, leading to an increased reliance on backup goalie Anton Forsberg. His teammates praised his recent efforts, both tonight and on Monday against the Dallas Stars, but emphasized the need to reward his performances by scoring goals in front of him.
More generally, the Kings are tired. They’re tired of playing so many similar games, with the exact same problem, and they’re tired of repeating themselves.
“We came with some energy, with some compete,” Hiller said. “And if we can keep doing that, you just have to believe. I know we sound like a broken record. You just have to believe we’re gonna start scoring some goals.”
Category: General Sports
