#LAKings Kings stumble after Denis Malgin scores twice for Avalanche (Daily News)
LOS ANGELES The Kings threw the kitchen sink at the Colorado Avalanche Saturday but ended up with only a bunch of broken porcelain as they fell 4-3 at Crypto.com Arena to eliminate the possibility of hosting a first-round series altogether.
In their three most recent games, the Kings faced the top three teams in the Western Conference and lost all three throwdowns in regulation. The wild-card Seattle Kraken won Saturday to move within two points of the third-place Kings with a game in hand. Edmontons victory over San Jose Saturday nudged them closer to first-place Vegas, which lost in overtime to Dallas, which is in a points tie with Colorado atop the Central.
Winger Adrian Kempe scored two goals and winger Viktor Arvidsson scored on the power play. Kempe added an assist and running mate Anze Kopitar had three. They out-shot, out-attempted and out-possessed Colorado but Pheonix Copleys 19 saves were made in defeat.
Winger Denis Malgin tallied twice for Colorado with center Alex Newhook and defenseman Brad Hunt each potting a goal. Alexandar Georgiev beamed in a 38-save effort.
Colorado has won 13 of its past 15 games, allowing them to earn more points than any other club in the month spanning March 7 to April 7. The defending champions began to kick two months earlier, as only the Boston Bruins have compiled more points over the past three months.
The Kings turned in a tenacious, effortful first period in which they out-shot Colorado 18-4, won two thirds of the faceoffs and even out-hit the Avs while blocking nearly as many shots out of many fewer attempts. They had a strong five-on-five game, one power play that produced three shots and a penalty kill that managed to out-chance its opposition. Indeed the best opportunity of the frame was a two-on-none break that fizzled out when forward Rasmus Kupari pushed the puck wide.
But, as John Wooden cautioned, one should never mistake activity for achievement, and the Kings went to the first intermission scoreless.
Just 2:30 into the second period, the Kings trailed 2-0.
Colorados first goal harkened back to the staged game of horse between Michael Jordan and Larry Bird in the fast-food ads during the 1992 Olympics in which they made impossible shots off multiple objects. Malgins shot banged into the glass behind the goal before it caromed off the top of the netting and then Copleys back before entering the net 90 seconds into the stanza.
Exactly a minute later, a Kings turnover turned into a Newhook breakaway, with he finished authoritatively by showing his forehand before beating Copley cleanly with a backhand sweep.
The Kings would move within striking distance 7:34 into the stanza. Forward Quinton Byfield created a neutral-zone turnover that was collected by Kopitar and moved to Kempe. He zoomed in against two defenders and exhibited supple hands. First, he utilized his reach to control the puck at the right dot before flipping a seeing-eye shot that got through the stick of defenseman Devon Toews, across the body of Georgiev and into the cage for Kempes 37th goal.Related Articles
The Kings got a bit of instant karma, recuperating some of the poor puck luck from their first goal allowed. During a power play, some touch passing led to a sharp-angle shot by Arvidsson, which was redirected into the net by the toes of Toews for goal No. 26 of Arvidssons campaign.
A dangerous chance for defenseman Samuel Girard in the low slot created an offensive-zone faceoff for Colorado. Lars Ellers draw win turned into a one-timer for Hunt, who had loaded up a bomb that blew up on Copleys stick side for a go-ahead goal.
Another awkward bounce near the goal line eluded Phillip Danault, who was picked clean by winger Valeri Nichushkin. He slid the puck across the crease to Malgin for a tap-in, his second goal of the evening.
The Kings clawed back to within a goal just 26 seconds later, when Kempe dragged the puck into a lively shot from the right circle that became his second goal of the game and team-topping 38th of the season.
Kempe would test Georgiev with Copley pulled, including a hard shot that struck him squarely in the facemask. That was one of several surges, but none resulted in a goal. With three seconds to play Colorado forward Andrew Cogliano, who made the hit on Kevin Fiala that injured his knee last month, was penalized for a high hit on Kempe, but the Kings had no time to operate on the power play.
https://www.dailynews.com/2023/04/08...for-avalanche/
In their three most recent games, the Kings faced the top three teams in the Western Conference and lost all three throwdowns in regulation. The wild-card Seattle Kraken won Saturday to move within two points of the third-place Kings with a game in hand. Edmontons victory over San Jose Saturday nudged them closer to first-place Vegas, which lost in overtime to Dallas, which is in a points tie with Colorado atop the Central.
Winger Adrian Kempe scored two goals and winger Viktor Arvidsson scored on the power play. Kempe added an assist and running mate Anze Kopitar had three. They out-shot, out-attempted and out-possessed Colorado but Pheonix Copleys 19 saves were made in defeat.
Winger Denis Malgin tallied twice for Colorado with center Alex Newhook and defenseman Brad Hunt each potting a goal. Alexandar Georgiev beamed in a 38-save effort.
Colorado has won 13 of its past 15 games, allowing them to earn more points than any other club in the month spanning March 7 to April 7. The defending champions began to kick two months earlier, as only the Boston Bruins have compiled more points over the past three months.
The Kings turned in a tenacious, effortful first period in which they out-shot Colorado 18-4, won two thirds of the faceoffs and even out-hit the Avs while blocking nearly as many shots out of many fewer attempts. They had a strong five-on-five game, one power play that produced three shots and a penalty kill that managed to out-chance its opposition. Indeed the best opportunity of the frame was a two-on-none break that fizzled out when forward Rasmus Kupari pushed the puck wide.
But, as John Wooden cautioned, one should never mistake activity for achievement, and the Kings went to the first intermission scoreless.
Just 2:30 into the second period, the Kings trailed 2-0.
Colorados first goal harkened back to the staged game of horse between Michael Jordan and Larry Bird in the fast-food ads during the 1992 Olympics in which they made impossible shots off multiple objects. Malgins shot banged into the glass behind the goal before it caromed off the top of the netting and then Copleys back before entering the net 90 seconds into the stanza.
Exactly a minute later, a Kings turnover turned into a Newhook breakaway, with he finished authoritatively by showing his forehand before beating Copley cleanly with a backhand sweep.
The Kings would move within striking distance 7:34 into the stanza. Forward Quinton Byfield created a neutral-zone turnover that was collected by Kopitar and moved to Kempe. He zoomed in against two defenders and exhibited supple hands. First, he utilized his reach to control the puck at the right dot before flipping a seeing-eye shot that got through the stick of defenseman Devon Toews, across the body of Georgiev and into the cage for Kempes 37th goal.Related Articles
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The Kings got a bit of instant karma, recuperating some of the poor puck luck from their first goal allowed. During a power play, some touch passing led to a sharp-angle shot by Arvidsson, which was redirected into the net by the toes of Toews for goal No. 26 of Arvidssons campaign.
A dangerous chance for defenseman Samuel Girard in the low slot created an offensive-zone faceoff for Colorado. Lars Ellers draw win turned into a one-timer for Hunt, who had loaded up a bomb that blew up on Copleys stick side for a go-ahead goal.
Another awkward bounce near the goal line eluded Phillip Danault, who was picked clean by winger Valeri Nichushkin. He slid the puck across the crease to Malgin for a tap-in, his second goal of the evening.
The Kings clawed back to within a goal just 26 seconds later, when Kempe dragged the puck into a lively shot from the right circle that became his second goal of the game and team-topping 38th of the season.
Kempe would test Georgiev with Copley pulled, including a hard shot that struck him squarely in the facemask. That was one of several surges, but none resulted in a goal. With three seconds to play Colorado forward Andrew Cogliano, who made the hit on Kevin Fiala that injured his knee last month, was penalized for a high hit on Kempe, but the Kings had no time to operate on the power play.
https://www.dailynews.com/2023/04/08...for-avalanche/