The Kings had themselves a nice game back on home ice against the Flyers on Tuesday night to finish off 2019.
Los Angeles controlled the majority of play for an entertaining 40-plus minutes. It was encouraging seeing the defense doing a good job keeping the front of the net relatively clear for JQ most of that time and working at directing PHI forwards wide when they could.
It was even equally as good seeing the Kings crash the net on a regular basis, too. They never seemed to let Elliot (and then Hart) get comfortable in the crease and that’s a key aspect to the game. In the opposite blue paint, Quick looked great - making some big/key saves throughout the game.
It was also encouraging to see LA using speed to push Philly back on their heels. This is the direction that Blake has been emphasizing taking this team in and we’re seeing the foundation of it starting to build this season.
As nice of a win as it was, LA was lucky that third period horn blew when it did because the Flyers started to put the pieces together and find their game, just as the Kings we’re losing there’s a bit.
Perhaps the best stat of the night (IMO) was the Kings going 3/3 on the Power Play. A team transitioning to youth needs to capitalize with any edge they can get. Being able to score on the the man advantages you’re given is huge. Hopefully this trend of PP conversion continues.
Toffoli Trending Up
The trade rumors for Toffoli have been pretty consistent and his good play this year has only helped to bring his value up. I read recently that the Caps and Bruins are interested in him.
His goal on Tuesday night was my favorite of LA’s (along with Kempe’s laser snipe). What I liked about it was that it showed hunger from Toffy to keep driving to the net to score. It was sort of symbolic of the change in this year’s team versus last year. That level of drive and compete wasn’t always there last year and guys were going through the motions, giving up on plays, etc. This was a great example of staying with the play and being rewarded for it.
A serious beauty:
Speaking of Goals...
It seems that Blake’s low risk, potential reward move signing of Martin Frk has paid off thus far. In three games up with the Kings, Frk has tickled the twine three times.
Could it be that LA found a hidden gem that works with this system, or will he come back down to Earth soon and be sent down when injured players return? It’ll be interesting to see as time goes on...
But this goal on Tuesday had me laughing. It’s right on par with something you’d see in beer league. Catch the pass, head down and just try to rip it as hard as you can. The only difference is that Frk’s shot went in - whereas it would have went six feet wide in beer league and at half the speed. HA!
Saturday Night: Catfish on the Menu
Hoping to see the Kings tee off on the struggling Nashville Predators this Saturday night.
The Preds find themselves in second to last of the Central Division and coming off a loss (blown lead) on the big stage of the 2020 Winter Classic yesterday.
Their major inconsistency lies in the blue paint, but some of that can be attributed to shaky defense - both on the blue line and overall team D.
I’d love to see the Kings jump on them early. Using that same approach from Tuesday’s game to push their defensemen back and get to their goalie often.
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Happy New Year to everyone and Go Kings Go!
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
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