LA CLAMPS DOWN HARD ON CHICAGO
KINGS DOWN BLACKHAWKS, 2-1
3.11.02
LOS ANGELES -- Since early December, the Los Angeles Kings have been
one of the top teams in the National Hockey League, especially on the
road, where they are the third-best team, with a 17-10-4-3 road
record.
But when they return to what should be the friendly confines of
Staples Center, the Kings have been anything but impressive, where
they are just 13-12-5-1--twenty-two teams have better home records.
With seventeen games remaining in the regular season going into
Monday's action, the Kings had ten of those games at home, and
virtually all of them against Western Conference rivals.
In short, if the Kings expect to make the playoffs, they are going to
have to earn the right by playing much better at home, and they got
off to a good start on Monday night when they downed the Chicago
Blackhawks, 2-1, in front of 16,596 fans at Staples Center.
Ziggy Palffy and Philippe Boucher scored for the Kings.
Tyler Arnason scored the lone goal for Chicago.
"We try too hard to put on a show [at home]," said Kings' winger Steve
Heinze. "A lot of teams do that, but with the games so important right
now, we have to just keep going hard no matter where we are."
"When we come home, we seem to go completely away from our game," said
Kings' defenseman Mathieu Schneider prior to Monday's game. "Maybe we
try too hard to please the fans. We forget the simple game and we try
for too many highlight moves. Simple is what got us here."
"We have to play a simple game," said Palffy. "Right now, everyone is
trying to win, so it is up to us to keep it simple."
The Kings definitely kept things simple on Monday night, and the
result was one of their best efforts of the season.
"We've had some great efforts over the past three years, but I don't
know if we've had a better one than tonight," said Kings' head coach
Andy Murray. "I thought from the drop of the puck in the first minute
we were solid. I thought we were relentless."
"We just said that whatever it takes, we're going to find a way to
win, even if we have to get forty or fifty shots on goal," Murray
added. "To beat a team like Chicago, you have to pay a price, and
that's what our team did."
"Tonight's game was a credit to our players," Murray continued. "They
stayed relentless for sixty minutes. We were on top of [the
Blackhawks] from the drop of the puck."
Indeed, the Kings clamped down so hard defensively that they allowed
just eleven shots on goal, tying a Chicago team record.
"We dominated the game tonight, even though we didn1t score a lot,"
Boucher said. "We have to keep doing more of the same. Even though we
dominated and the puck wasn1t going in, we kept going. We did
everything we wanted to defensively."
"That's as dominant as we've been in a long time," Boucher added. "The
puck wasn't going in for a while, but we just had to keep playing
hard. We just have to keep doing more of the same. I think we
dominated this game...we did everything the way we wanted to do."
But even though they dominated, the Kings never got a chance to feel
comfortable, as the 'Hawks kept the game very close until near the
end.
"Even as well as we were playing, we were still in danger of not
getting the victory," Murray said. "We're still looking for that
best-ever performance. It wasn't there, but this was a step in the
right direction."
The Blackhawks had short spurts of strong play, such as when they
controlled the first two minutes of the second period, and scored at
1:54 after a strong forechecking shift.
But other than those spurts, the 'Hawks never could figure out how to
break down the Kings' defense.
"They did a good job in the neutral zone," Blackhawks' head coach
Brian Sutter said. "They played hard as a team. Their defense was very
good, they battled, they didn1t fool around with the puck. When they
didn1t have a play, they used the glass and kept it going ahead and
they checked hard."
"I don1t always worry that much about shots," added Sutter. "You can
get outshot, 20-40, and win. And vice-versa. You don1t win by
outshooting people--you win with goals."
"They did a great job of backchecking tonight," 'Hawks right wing Tony
Amonte said. "We were not getting any rushes or odd-man chances. We
didn1t get to the net and we didn1t get the puck on the net. I have to
take some of the blame for that. They played a good game but you've
got to find ways to get things done and we didn't do it."
With the win, the Kings moved into fifth place in the Western
Conference, two points ahead of the St. Louis Blues, who lost to the
Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.
Nevertheless, the Kings remain within just a few points of falling out
of a playoff spot altogether, and they know that they must continue to
improve.
"They're all big games right now, especially when you play in
conference," Boucher said. "Every day the standings change, you lose a
couple and you can almost drop out. You win a couple and you move way
up."
Scratches
---------
Los Angeles: Nelson Emerson, Jere Karalahti, Andreas Lilja (all
healthy)
Chicago: Chris McAlpine (healthy), Bob Probert (healthy), Alexei
Zhamnov (hip)
Goalies
-------
Los Angeles: Felix Potvin
Chicago: Jocelyn Thibault
Referees: Greg Kimmerly, Kevin Pollock
Linesmen: Mike Cvik, Dan Schachte
First Period
------------
The Kings were very strong defensively from the opening face-off, and
held the 'Hawks to just two shots on goal in the period. And then,
late in the period...
1. LOS ANGELES. Palffy 25 (Jason Allison), 19:41
Allison battled for the loose puck behind the Chicago net with #11.
The puck went into the left corner, and White tapped it ahead to
Chicago forward Eric Daze, who was outside the left circle. Daze
moved to the left face-off dot, but Palffy came in and knocked the
puck off his stick. Allison got to it, and knocked the puck into the
slot, where it bounced off the left leg of Chicago defenseman
Alexander Karpovtsev, and out to the top of the slot. Palffy was
alone when he picked up the loose puck. He then spun clockwise, and
fired a low snap shot through some traffic. Palffy's shot went under
Karpovtsev's legs, and then beat Thibault through the five-hole.
"We did a good job of forechecking there," Palffy explained. "The puck
bounced to the middle. I was able to get open and throw it on the net.
I just shot it past him."
Indeed, this was a solid forechecking shift produced this scoring
chance for the Kings. Allison worked hard behind the net, and in the
left corner, and then Palffy came in to knock the puck away from Daze.
That put the 'Hawks off-balance and totally disorganized on defense.
Both Daze and Karpovtsev tried to block Palffy's shot, but all they
did was screen Thibault, who never saw it.
Second Period
-------------
The 'Hawks came out with a lot more energy than they did in the first
period, and their hard work paid off early...
2. CHICAGO. Arnason 3 (Mark Bell, Matt Henderson), 1:54
Bell got the puck in the right corner, and threw it behind the Kings'
net. The puck went around the left corner boards, where Arnason picked
it up, and threw it back into the left corner. Bell came around, and
carried the puck back towards left point, before passing back to
Arnason, who spun around Kings' left wing Craig Johnson. He made a
beeline to the net from the left circle, and at the left goal post, he
deked, and Potvin cheated towards his left, leaving a bit of space
open at the left goal post. That allowed Arnason to backhand the puck
past Potvin.
Potvin got caught cheating on the play, assuming that a fourth-liner
like Arnason will look to pass first. Potvin should have been hugging
the left post on this play...a soft goal.
But Potvin does not deserve all the blame for this one. In fact, he
should never have had to try to make that save. In fact, Johnson let
Arnason skate right around him along the left wing boards. He lost
his man and gave up the scoring opportunity.
Third Period
------------
The Kings continued to play well defensively, and the 'Hawks scoring
chances continued to be limited.
3. LOS ANGELES. Boucher 4 (Palffy, Deadmarsh), 15:01
Allison got the puck along the right wing boards, and pushed it ahead
to Deadmarsh, who was in the right corner. Deadmarsh carried the puck
back up the right wing boards, and then got checked. Palffy picked up
the loose puck above the right circle, and quickly passed to Boucher,
who was all alone in the middle of the ice, just inside the blue line.
Boucher took the pass, controlled the puck, and then fired a low slap
shot that ticked off the top of Thibault's right leg pad or his stick,
then through the seven-hole, deflecting high into the net.
"I was switching off with Schneider, and it was my turn to come up
into the zone," Boucher said. "The play was on my right side and Ziggy
came out of the pile with the puck. I took a few steps away from him
to get myself some room. There wasn't so much traffic, so I just tried
to shoot it as hard as I could on the net."
"I was aiming for Thibault's right because he was coming back across,"
Boucher added. "I was thinking either get a goal or create a rebound
where we had a chance to get a goal. I got a good piece of it and
that's what you have to do because the goalies in this league are so
good. It's been awhile, so it1s good to get this one."
"I put it on net as hard as I could," Boucher continued. "I tried to
beat [Thibault] on his right side. I got a good piece of it, got lucky
and it went in."
With no traffic in front, Thibault saw this shot all the way. He
should have been able to make the save...a soft goal.
Shots on Goal
-------------
Los Angeles: 12 9 11 -- 32
Chicago: 2 3 6 -- 11
Power Play Conversions
----------------------
Los Angeles: 0/2; Chicago: 0/3
Zone Time
---------
Los Angeles: 6:59 7:24 7:30 -- 21:53
Chicago: 8:38 8:12 8:10 -- 25:00
Neutral: 4:23 4:24 4:20 -- 13:07
Three Stars (official)
----------------------
#3 - Thibault; #2 - Palffy; #1 - Allison
Gann's Three Stars
------------------
#3 - Schneider; #2 - Allison; #1 - Palffy
A side story to this game was that Murray coached his first game at
Staples Center since his automobile accident on February 15.
"It's great to be back," he said. "I appreciate the support I got
after the accident and not being able to be here, not be able to be
behind the bench where I belong. I am tired, but I can rest in July or
the end of June. I'm not one hundred percent, but I'm capable of doing
my job. It's going to be intense the last couple of weeks."
About the three stars...goalies who give up soft goals in
games--especially those who wind up losing, do not deserve to be
considered as one of the three stars. As such, I gave the third star
to Schneider, who played a great game. Not only did he lead all
players with eight shots on goal, but he was on the ice for both
Kings' goals, and threw a huge hit in the neutral zone that rocked
'Hawks center Michael Nylander, who was a bit woozy after the hit.
Next Game: On Thursday, the Kings skate against the team they just
passed in the standings, as Chris Pronger, and Al MacInnis lead the
St. Louis Blues into Staples Center. Game time: 7:30 PM PST. Televised
in the Los Angeles area on Fox Sports Net West beginning at 7:00 PM
PST with the "Break the Ice " pre-game show.
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