Game Thread: G21 13-4-3 Kings vs Avalanche 12/3/23

[PuckinUgly57]

Game day folks, rematch of the season opener where the Kings were thoroughly outplayed in a 5-2 loss. Lot has changed since then, the Kings have the best WP% in the West at .725, the Avalanche are first in the Central Division. The Kings just won 5 in a row before that Capitals game but the Lanche are 4-0-2 in their last 6 so they're on a roll too. Pretty much a Western powerhouse showdown so something has to give.

Great opportunity to see how the Kings bounce back after a loss, they really haven't had a lot of adversity to date so I'm curious how they'll respond. My Giants have a bye week so this is my game for the weekend, getting some yard work done and looking forward to it. It's a 5pm start time tonight, don't pull a Puck and think it's at 730 or whatever.

I'm assuming Talbot will go, and Georgiev is in net for the Avalanche who lost 4-3 in a SO last night against Anaheim who got the backup. They had a 3-1 lead and blew it and then lost 4-3 in OT to the Dogs on Thursday so I'm almost certain they will come out hard and with something to prove. First 20 minutes will be huge.

Prediction: 4-3 Kings in OT, Dunno with the winner.

Let's Go Kings!

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Buster with the tip in, nice to see him get on the board - ties his career high of 5 goals in 2021.

Glad he went to the net, but again, these are the goals he is scoring - not a power forward mentality waiting around for shots. The converse is hey if he wasn't there no goal happens, I believe both POVs are correct. I'd just like to see him being a chaos engine and carry thar puck to the net as opposed to everyone else making things happen.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Buster with his second, have to say that was a great play. Good looking goal. Moore makes it 3-1 moments after, 2:50 left.

Have to think the Lanche will pull Georgiev and Buster may get his first NHL hat trick. More importantly Kings get back to winning, good game.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Doughty with the 190' empty netter, haven't seen one of those in forever. Kings win 4-3, I'll just keep talking to myself here.

=)~~

 

[Kings4OT]

Kings look to be tough to play against. Hopefully Talbot can keep up his play.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

They cranked it up in the third but the Avs were also gassed. Not only their third game in 4 nights but they also lost Makar last night late against Anaheim. While I'll take the win, the Kings definitely had an advantage being a B2B for them, being well rested (1 game since Nov 25) and also Makar being out. He is an absolute game changer and no doubt would have made a difference.

I completely forgot about Jonathan Drouin too, that guy has been a bust everywhere he's been. With Landeskog out for the season they needed some bodies though, doesn't hurt to give a former high 1st round pick a shot and see if it works out.

Kings did that with Andersson, low risk high reward. Didn't pan out obviously.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I saw first ten minutes and all the 3rd so I can't really give that much input on the entire middle frame. Kings did dominate the 3rd. I think they said 22 shots in the 3rd alone, which was more than Avs had the whole game. Really great stuff, but as you said, no Makar so it's hard to know how much difference that would have made. Still, really good win. Kings picking it up in the 3rd is such a nice trend that we haven't seen in a long time. In the down years it was Kings chasing the whole game, so when the 3rd came around, the Kings were exhausted and would usually find a way to lose. Seems to be different now.

Kings take their perfect record on the road next. Columbus, Montreal, NYI, NYR.

I'd say the first two look pretty winnable, but Montreal probably will have a little pride after getting stomped 4-0 by LA a week ago. Like how Philly lost 5-0 to LA and then came to LA a week later to win. But Kings 10-0 on the road so far. Really be having a conversation if they have another dominant road trip. I am sort of feeling some regression is in order, but maybe that's the diehard pessimistic Kings fan in me. haha