Knights on Ice — A Lot Of Heart Makes It 3-0

This team is such a pleasure to watch. They can and will play whatever kind of game is presented to them. They just don’t blink.

Last night, the L.A. Kings had to play better than they did in the first two games. The only reason the first two games were even close was Jonathan Quick, the L.A. goaltender. The Kings had played a total of 168 minutes and 37 seconds without ever having a lead in this series. They hadn’t scored a 5-on-5 goal until they finally got one past Marc Andre Fleury at the 13:14 mark of the first period.

They finally played their best game in the series in front of the home crowd. They found their forecheck, which was missing in the first 2 games, and gave Vegas a bit of a challenge in the first 20 minutes. They cleared the puck quickly out of their zone, neutralizing the Vegas forecheck, which had bogged down the Kings’ ability to break out of their defensive zone in games 1 and 2. It didn’t hurt that not only was Drew Doughty back in the lineup after serving his one-game suspension, but Jake Muzzin also returned to the lineup after missing the first two games. Their presence in the lineup made a difference in getting the puck up and out of their zone.

But Muzzin and Doughty also made a play that made a difference. With the score 2-1 in favor of Vegas late in the 3^rd period, there was a faceoff to the left of the net. Reilly Smith clearly lost against Adrian Kempe as the puck was pushed back to the end boards. Smith never gave up on the puck and chased it to the back wall, along with defenseman Muzzin and forward Tobia Rieder. When Drew Doughty joined the fray, three Kings were behind Quick, leaving the front of the net wide open. With William Karlsson alone in front of Quick, it was a recipe for disaster. Karlsson, a non-factor in the first two games, put the puck behind Quick the goal, which turned out to be the game winner. It was the first for Karlsson, who has been neutralized by L.A. so far in this series.

Even though L.A.’s physical play was once again evident, they registered 28 hits in the first period and 14 of their 18 skaters registered at least one. Vegas dished out a few in return. Marchessault, the smallest player on the team, is listed as 5 feet 9 inches and 174 pounds. I’ve stood right next to him in the locker room and 5-9 is a stretch. Still, he delivered some huge hits against players to whom he’s giving up a few inches and a lot of pounds.

Vegas was held scoreless for the first 40 minutes and Fleury, being Fleury, stopped just about everything the Kings sent his way. The first goal scored by L.A. came with their forecheck. Dustin Brown blasted Nate Schmidt behind the net, removing him from the puck. Brown quickly passed it out to Anze Kopitar, who slipped it over to Alex Lafallo. Lafallo was wide open on Fleury’s right as Fleury was up against the left post expecting a shot from Kopitar. Fleury clearly kept Vegas in the game in the first 40 minutes, giving them their chance for a 3^rd period surge.

And that was exactly what happened. Cody Eakin opened the scoring for Vegas in the 3^rd period. The first shot by Miller rang off the post and came out to Perron, who found Eakin in front of the net. Eakin’s first shot was blocked by defenseman Dion Phaneuf and bounced back to Ryan Carpenter, who passed it back to Eakin. Our guy this time buried it behind Quick, who once again was a rock in the nets for L.A.

With the score tied at 1-1 were we looking at another potential OT game? Well, James “Big Game” Neal, who set up the winning goal on Friday night, made sure that wasn’t in the VGK plans. He made a great move coming down the right wing, turning his back on the L.A. defenseman, then quickly pivoting by him on his way to Quick. Earlier in the period, Neal came down on Quick from the same side of the ice, but passed the puck. This time he took matters into his own hands and just like Haula on Friday night, Neal fired the puck between Quick’s legs for the lead that Vegas would not lose. When Karlsson scored just 19 seconds after Neal’s goal to go ahead 3-1, you could see the air abandon the L.A. Kings’ sails.

L.A. did add a second goal with Quick pulled for an extra skater when Reilly Smith attempted to clear the puck off the glass, but was kept in the zone by Oscar Fantenberg. Oscar shot the puck that was deflected off Anze Kopitar in front of the net with 2:04 left in the game, giving Koptar his second point of the night. Vegas killed off the last 2:04 and, with the exciting 3-2 win, now hold a commanding 3-0 lead.

However, let’s not forget that the 2014 Kings came back to beat San Jose after losing the first 3 games of their opening round. Then again, the VGK aren’t the San Jose Sharks. So keep your brooms close by.

David Perron returned to the lineup and Coach Gallant had a tough decision to make. Do you scratch a player that you gave up three draft choices for in Tomas Tatar? And if so, he’d have to juggle his other lines. The fourth line was a monster in the first two games, so he was left with no choice but to scratch Tatar. Once again, Gallant looked like he has a crystal ball that knows all.

Fleury faced 39 shots; Quick faced 26 shots.

The VGK were 0-4 on the power play and are 1-11 in this series on the PP. L.A. was 0-5 on the PP.

L.A. Coach John Stevens, in an attempt to find some offense, reunited the ’70s line of Carter Toffoli and Pearson. They were held scoreless in the game.

VGK scorers: Eakin (1), Neal (1), Karlsson (1).

Game 4 is tomorrow at Staples Center at 7:30 p.m.