Takeaways from Kings’ 2-1 loss to Vancouver Canucks
Kings center Trevor Lewis, front, tries to shoot in front of Vancouver Canucks goalie Eddie Lack as defenseman Luca Sbisa, right, tries to break up the play during the Kings’ 2-1 shootout loss on April 6.
Now that the Big Game of the Season is over, it’s on to the next one. A few takeaways after the Kings fell out of a playoff spot on Monday night with a 2-1 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
Regulation was the Kings’ friend
The Kings’ record once the game hits the overtime/shootout stage is staggering -- and not in a positive way.
They are a league-worst 3-15 in shootouts/overtime, combined.
“That is what it is,” Kings center Jarret Stoll said. “We’ve got to try to get that extra point. It cost us most of the season with that number in the third column there.
“We’ve got three games to take care of our own business.”
Shootout failure on the road continues
Monday’s loss to the Canucks means that the Kings are 0-5 in shootouts on the road this season, keeping company with the likes of the road-challenged Philadelphia Flyers (0-5) and New Jersey Devils (0-3).
One of those shootout losses, in fact, was to the lowly Oilers, Tuesday night’s opponent in Edmonton.
On Monday, Canucks goalie Eddie Lack played a sharp all-around game, but he didn’t have to call on any spectacular abilities in the shootout against the likes of Kings’ forwards Jeff Carter, Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik.
In fact, the attempts of the three were relatively tame, which might be the kindest way to describe it.
Scoring drought against key rivals
In their last two games against division rival Vancouver, the Kings have scored a mere two goals. Dwight King scored on Monday, at even strength, and Gaborik had the lone goal in the Kings’ 4-1 loss to Vancouver at Staples Center on March 21.
They’ve shown they can score against the minnows of the league -- Edmonton and Colorado, combining for 11 goals in two games. But the Kings’ offense has dimmed recently against the likes of Chicago (one goal), Minnesota (one goal) and Nashville (one goal).
“We had lots of opportunities when it was 1-0,” Kings Coach Darryl Sutter said. “In the second period, Lack made some great saves as did Jonathan [Quick]. That was the difference in the game, not overtime or the shootout.”
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