That was a little nerve-wracking, wasn't it. You'd like to think that if you have a four goal lead with 12 or so minutes to go that you'll be able to hang on, and I guess they did, so I shouldn't be worried. But the Kings are going to need to finish a little better in games where they have a lead.
They almost let this one get away from the early when they had power play after power play without scoring. When you get four PP's in the early going, you know the game isn't going to be called even the rest of the way, so you dig a hole for yourself. But Visnovsky really scored a great goal on the two man advantage, completely taking advantage of the screen on Cloutier. Just I when I thought they were going to relax after getting that one, Lubo added another on the same power play for a 2-0 lead. Cammy scored an absolutely beautiful goal for the 3-0 lead with a really nifty move in the slot.
That's when things started to go south. After killing a two man advantage, the Kings lost any momentum and the Canucks took over. It carried over into the third period, but just as quickly as the Canucks took momentum, the Kings came back with two goals in 16 seconds. The Kings were somehow able to withstand a furious attack in the last ten minutes as the Canucks got back to within one goal.
After the loss to Nasville, and with the Colorado game coming up, this was really a game the Kings needed to win, and despite some spotty play at times, they got it done. Nice night for the CPA line with about another 10 points. The Belanger line was flying all over the ice again. The Kings could use a little production out of the Roenick line. And it's not just him, but Cammy and Brown need to pick up the offense a little bit at even strength. The other lines are playing so well, though, that I'm not worried about them at this point.
Two more points closer to a playoff spot. Let's go get Colorado.
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3 comments:
this game was way too much like the '92-'93 kings with "blueline" stauber in goal. you know, those 9-6 affairs where no lead was safe and you drank heavily, hoping hrudey wouldn't get burned because the "escort service" was wont to let an yzerman or fleury walk in on net and take point blank shots. garon is hanging in there, in a very Fuhr like manner (i.e. winning ugly), but we need LaBarbera back in net as soon as he can get back in there.
yeah, i did just mention stauber and hrudey as having played in the same games -- that happened a lot back then...
The defense has been really spotty at times, I think. I don't really put any of those goals on Garon. I'd like to go back to the rotation, though. I think it was good for both guys. I have faith in both of them to give the team a chance to win. I just don't know that either of them can win games by themselves the way Kiprusoff or Vokoun can.
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