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Kings/Canucks Report: Beijing Edition
September 23, 2017, 6:20 PM ET [27 Comments]
Sheng Peng
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The prospect of overtime and a shootout couldn't have been the least bit exciting for two teams who had already traveled 7,000-plus miles and two cities in five days.

But years from now, these players won't be the story of the NHL's first-ever games in China. Instead, it will be those handful of fans who discovered the excitement of hockey in their first 3v3, in LA's 4-3 shootout victory over Vancouver. It will be that future NHL star who was sitting in these stands.

Today, however, we'll focus on a few players, starting with Jonny Brodzinski, who closed Beijing with a bang:




It was a much-needed boost for the St. Cloud State sniper, who hasn't really been getting his chances through three pre-season games. Expected to seriously challenge for a roster spot this September, he's yet to make a convincing case.

There have been issues aside from scoring, such as this staple-your-butt-on-the-bench miscue:



That said, Brodzinski is always just one shot away from making a difference.

At his best, he's also tenacious on the puck -- like here, when the 6'1" winger mugs 6'6" Patrick Wiercioch:



This was Brodzinski's most noticeable game yet this pre-season, so hopefully, he's on an upward trend.

On the blueline, Oscar Fantenberg continues to impress with his consistently crisp puck-moving. But for those unsure about his ability to defend down low (raises hand), he showed well in Beijing.

Here, Fantenberg prevents Henrik Sedin from establishing position in front of Darcy Kuemper:



Here, he lowers his shoulder on Brandon Sutter, allowing Christian Folin an easy retrieval:



"He’s shown an ability to both defend players at this level and to move pucks with a lot of poise," noted John Stevens.

In my mind, he's leading the running right now for LA's seventh defenseman to start the regular season.

While praising Fantenberg, Stevens also made this interesting comment, presumably about Kurtis MacDermid, "We had one other option on defense, but we really wanted to see [Fantenberg] again."

MacDermid was the only Kings skater to not play during the trip to China.

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Here are sights and sounds from two unbelievable days in Beijing:

9/22/17


















9/23/17















































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