Oilers at Kings: Another shutout, yaaaawn.

Well, I, for one, am very pleased we don’t have to dwell in the sting of losing for very long. The Oilers came to visit the Kings, and I’m glad that the team with twice as many points as the other won this matchup.

It’s good to be home after a road trip, and the Kings came out strong. Once again, Drew Doughty just weaves around everyone to force room and get the puck to Dwight King. It’s gotten to the point where if King has the puck, I fully expect him to shoot and score, even with Jeff Carter loitering nearby. And with a bit of stick handling and patience, King goes five-hole and beats Bryz to open up the scoring.

Can’t get over how excited I am about him this season. Demon soul and all.

With this goal comes my favorite part of the celebrations, Dwight King’s “I’m so happy about my goal, and this is the face I’m gonna make for it.” FSW ever so kindly pushes in on his celly, making everything 10x more terrifying.

My stream couldn’t handle anything about Dwight King’s goal I guess and paused here for 30 seconds #terrified pic.twitter.com/fNLbz7ESPy

— THX BUD (@thxbud) December 18, 2013

Seriously, my stream just stopped here. So it’s this on the screen and abrupt silence. Christ.

The Kings lead 1-0 going into the second. The second was less successful for the Kings, kind of just letting the Oilers hang around, but they didn’t give one up, so I count it as a win.  Five minutes into the 3rd, a goal was scored by just the people we expect to score goals. Noted Playmaker Matt Greene hops one over an Oilers’ stick, Nolan picks it up, and beats Bryzgalov to bring the Kings up 2.

“I want to give Matt Greene credit, but…” – Jim Fox, saying what we’re all thinking.

The Oilers pull their goalie with plenty of time left in the 3rd, so of course Dustin Brown gets called for interference in the dying minutes of the game while I become concerned about the state of Martin Jones’ shutout. I really needn’t have worried though because he’s definitely pulled this “get a penalty at a dumbo time, only to jump out of the box to score a goal” thing before. Stoll blocks a shot and chips it out to center ice, and Brown just scoops it up as he skates out of the box. He oh-so-gently taps the puck into the net to solidify the Kings’ win as well as garnering his 400th point in the NHL.  

From the penalty box to scoring a goal is probably the most Dustin Brown thing ever.

I will admit that I am FURIOUS that he didn’t just hang onto the puck, force someone to jump off the ice to let Trevor Lewis on, pass to him and let him score his first goal this season. I’M FURIOUS! Chanelle assures me that Brown kept looking towards the bench like he was going to try to find a way, so I’m going to run with this and say it’s the thought that counts. This comes after Trevor Lewis straight up trips and falls on the blue line, so really it’s his own fault that he didn’t get that empty net. Also, Matt Greene is a point per game since he’s come back. Let’s just think about that for a bit shall we?  Stop making me have to keep counting this Trevor Lewis, please.

Another day, another shutout for Martin Jones who is now 6-0-0 in his NHL career. Also, this:

Martin Jones, the LA Kings’ undrafted 3rd-string goalie, leads the NHL in save percentage (.972), goals-against (0.82) and shutouts (3). — Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) December 18, 2013

Way to make a name for yourself buddy.

After the grease fire that was the Hawks game, this is a nice bounce back to start their homestand. The Kings outshot the Oilers, 40-24, blocked 16 shots and were solid possession wise. Let’s just hope it lasts.