Los Angeles 4, Ottawa 1
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 10, 2016
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Referees:
Francois St. Laurent, Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen:
Shane Heyer, Vaughan Rody
Attendance:
18230
By The Sports Xchange
LOS ANGELES -- The crowd at Staples Center had barely settled into their seats Saturday afternoon when the Los Angeles Kings took control of the game against the Ottawa Senators and never looked back.
An early major penalty paved the way for two of the three power-play goals by the Kings, an advantage that held up in the 4-1 victory that ended a four-game losing streak against Ottawa.
"To get up to a 2-0 lead like that, right away, is big," Trevor Lewis said. "Special teams was good tonight."
About 2 1/2 minutes into the game, Tyler Toffoli was playing the puck along the wall in his zone when he was hit from behind by Ottawa defenseman Mark Borowiecki. He collapsed to the ice as gloves dropped and teammates converged on Borowiecki.
Toffoli, who led the Kings with 31 goals last season and was second entering Saturday's game with 15 points, didn't stay down long before heading straight to the locker room as Borowiecki went off to serve a five-minute boarding penalty.
Los Angeles quickly took advantage of the man advantage, and Ottawa didn't help as defenseman Dion Phaneuf was unable to control Drew Doughty's dump-in pass. Jeff Carter was in position to pounce on the puck and shoot it past Mike Condon 32 seconds into the power play.
As the penalty was winding down, Tanner Pearson passed the back out from deep in the Ottawa zone to defenseman Alec Martinez, who fired a shot that hit Condon, ricocheted above his head, hit his right elbow on the way down and was redirected into the net with 16 seconds left on the penalty.
"It was one of those nights," Condon said. "Funny bounces."
Shortly after the penalty expired, Borowiecki went back to the penalty box after fighting Kings veteran defenseman Matt Greene. He was soon joined by teammate Chris Neil, who fought Jordan Nolan in his 1,000th career game, all with the Senators.
"Greener stepping up right away was a big emotional boost for our whole team," Lewis said.
Toffoli emerged from the dressing room with about five minutes left in the opening period and was back on the ice a minute later. Toffoli soon went to the penalty box for holding the stick of Phaneuf, but the Kings held up behind several fine saves by Peter Budaj, who also earned an assist on the Carter goal.
"Credit Peter Budaj for keeping us off the sheet there," Condon said.
Ottawa got on the scoreboard two minutes into the middle frame when Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin tried to clear the puck to Greene just inside the blue line. Ottawa center Zack Smith was there to deflect the puck and then bat it out of the air to keep it in the Los Angeles zone.
Tom Pyatt retrieved the puck, drove through the left circle before centering a pass toward the crease, where Muzzin was trying to hold off Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Smith. The puck was redirected into the net and Pageau was originally credited with the goal but it was later awarded to Smith, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
The Senators dominated the second period, but the Kings managed to get the goal back with 1.8 seconds on the clock. A shot by Derek Forbort ended up on the stick of Lewis, who pocketed the puck into the open side of the net for a 3-1 lead.
"That was a tough one to come back from," Smith said. "We controlled the pace and created a lot of opportunities after the first half of the first period. We were rolling along there, so it's tough when they get one and hadn't shot in a quite a while."
Marian Gaborik added Los Angeles' third power-play goal in the third period, his first of the season in his sixth game.
NOTES: Looking for a spark after a listless performance Thursday against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes, the Kings moved RW Devin Setoguchi and C Andy Andreoff into the lineup for Saturday's day game against the Ottawa Senators at Staples Center. Setoguchi watched the last three games as a healthy scratch and Andreoff hasn't played since Oct. 30, missing a big chunk of that time with a thumb injury that required surgery. LW Kyle Clifford and C Nic Dowd were healthy scratches for Los Angeles. ... Ottawa G Mike Condon will make his second consecutive start and fourth in the last five games as Craig Anderson remains in New York to be with his wife, Nicholle, who is being treated for a rare form of throat cancer that was diagnosed in late October. ... Senators D Marc Methot returns to the lineup after missing the last four games with a lower-body injury, and D Andreas Englund is scratched after appearing in the last three contests, along with C Phil Varone.
Top Game Performances
Ottawa |
|
Los Angeles |
Zack Smith 1 |
Points |
Trevor Lewis 2 |
Zack Smith 1 |
Goals |
Trevor Lewis 1 |
Tom Pyatt 1 |
Assists |
Trevor Lewis 1 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Jeff Carter 1 |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Mike Condon .789 |
Save Percentage |
Peter Budaj .950 |
Mike Condon 15 |
Saves |
Peter Budaj 19 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Ottawa
|
20 |
1 |
0-4 |
1-4 |
17 |
30 |
Los Angeles
|
19 |
4 |
3-4 |
4-4 |
18 |
34 |
Upcoming Games
-
Los Angeles will play their next game on the road against Buffalo. The Kings have a W/L % of .692 after a win and .357 after a loss.
-
Ottawa will play their next game on the road against Anaheim. The Senators have a W/L % of .438 after a win and .750 after a loss.