Kings after two: Kings 2, Oilers 1
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Defenseman Jack Johnson, hit on the foot by a hard shot from Oilers defenseman Sheldon Souray in the first period, was OK, and that was remarkable. But not as remarkable as the Brad Richardson-Michal Handzus-Dustin Brown line striking again in the second period to give the Kings a 2-0 lead at 3:44.
Handzus made an outstanding lead pass up ice to Richardson, who dodged former King Lubomir Visnovsky to take a shot that Jeff Deslauriers went to his right to stop. But the goalie left a juicy rebound on the right side, which Brown swatted into the open side of the net as he was falling. He went hard into the end boards, but the goal no doubt eased his pain.
Drew Doughty was in considerable pain after he was mashed into the end boards by Jean-Francois Jacques, emerging dazed and wobbly at 7:33. Kings enforcer Raitis Ivanans immediately went after Jacques to avenge the unpenalized hit, and Ivanans came out with two minutes for instigating, five for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct. Jacques got only five for fighting, giving the Oilers a power play.
No coach would mind that kind of disadvantage because Doughty is a cornerstone player for the Kings and they can’t allow him to be mauled like that.
The Kings killed off that penalty, but they began to get scrambly in their own zone and gave the puck away too many times in dangerous spots. After they iced the puck, the faceoff came back to Jonathan Quick’s right, and Edmonton’s Ryan Potulny beat Corey Elkinson the draw. Potulny got the puck back to the point to Souray, whose slap shot threaded its way through a maze of bodies and past Quick at 12:17.
The Kings got lucky late in the period when Quick made a save on Dustin Penner and Matt Greene cleared the puck out of danger as Quick lay flat on his back.
More later at www.latimes.com/sports
Helene Elliott, from Edmonton, Canada