On Wednesday, January 21, the South Carolina Stingrays welcomed back forward Nathan Walker, when the president and general manager for the Hershey Bears, Doug Yingst, announced that the left-winger had been reassigned.
Nathan Walker
The 20-year-old Cardiff, Wales native skated in two games with South Carolina in December. The 5’ 8”, 186-pound left shot has played in 28 games with the Bears this season, bringing his total to 71 games in Hershey since signing on and playing his rookie year in 2013-14. During that time he has scored six goals and had nine assists for 15 points.
Eligible for the draft is 2012, he did not actually go until the third round of the 2014 NHL Draft, when the Washington Capitals took him 89th overall.
Though born in Wales, he grew up in Sydney, Australia and has earned the distinction of becoming the first-ever native of Australia selected in the NHL Entry Draft.
During the 2012-13 season, Walker began the season by splitting his time between the HC Vitkovice (Czech) men’s and U20 teams. In January he went to North America where he skated with the Youngstown Phantoms. This was an impressive year for the then 18-year-old. As an assistant captain for the HC Vitkovice U20 squad he scored 12 goals and 12 assists in just 13 games. While playing with the Phantoms, he scored 7 goals and 20 assists and was a +5 in 29 games before a season-ending neck injury that April.
While not drafted in 2013, Walker was invited to the Washington Capital’s training camp and signed an AHL contract with the Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate for the Capitals. The youngest player in the league, he scored five goals and six assists in the 43 regular season games in which he dressed.
The youngster earned his first ECHL assist on December 13, 2014, when the Stingrays took on the Greenville Road Warriors in a home game at North Charleston Coliseum. He followed that up with his first ECHL goal—the game-winner—when the Stingrays played the Gwinnett Gladiators the next night in their barn, earning himself third-star honors in that game.
On Wednesday, January 21, it was announced that Northeastern University’s ice hockey goaltender Clay Witt was named as one of the 20 candidates for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate hockey.
The Senior CLASS Award is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. It focuses on the student-athlete as a complete person and encourages students to use their platform in athletics as a way to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
To be eligible for the award the student-athlete must be an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence—community, classroom, character and competition. The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballots. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans who will select one candidate. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2015 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in April.
Clay Witt
Clay Witt joins an impressive list of players from Union College, Miami University, The Ohio State University, Colgate, Michigan Technological University, Providence College, Ferris State University and others. The full list can be found here.
Witt, a red-shirted senior, received his undergraduate degree in entrepreneurship and new venture management in May 2014 with a grade-point average of 2.733. He is currently enrolled in the graduate certificate program in project management and will complete his requirements in the spring of 2015.
After his record-breaking junior season, Witt could have signed a professional contract and forgone his final season of eligibility at Northeastern. However, he wanted to complete his undergraduate degree and begin his graduate courses. He also believed in the talent of the team he knew was returning to Northeastern.
The goaltender wears an A on his jersey, having been named one of the assistant captains for the 2014-15 season. And he leads by example, his mental and physical preparation for a game considered second to none in the Huskies’ locker room.
With others on his team, he is a member of the Huskies Leadership Team with Team IMPACT, an organization that pairs children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses with college athletic teams to improve their quality of life through the power of team. Witt and the Huskies are teammates with two brothers who have been welcomed into the Northeastern family since January 2014. In addition, Witt takes time to read to children in elementary schools in the Boston area during the hockey season.
The highly competitive goaltender rewrote the Northeastern record book as a junior in his first season as the starting goaltender in 2013-14 setting single-season program records for goals against average (2.37) and save percentage (.932). Witt was named a finalist for the Mike Richter Award and a candidate for the Hobey Baker Award. The goaltender was named a Hockey East Second Team All-Star as a junior, was a five-time Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honoree and earned the “Stop It” Goaltender of the Month Award in January 2014.
As he entered the 2014-15 season, Witt was 20-17-3 with a 2.51 goals against average and a .928 save percentage in addition to four shutouts. In the 48 career games (38 starts), he had a total of 1,360 saves. During the summer Witt was invited to the Tampa Bay Lightning Prospect Development camp which was held in his hometown of Brandon, Florida.
Eighteen-year-old David Pastrnak took the hockey world by storm recently. First it was his dynamic play at the World Junior Championships, then his four-goal outburst against the Flyers and Lightning following his call-up to the big club- “Pasta” was making his mark on the National Hockey League. But if the Boston Bruins, who have now turned things around with the help of the rookie, are serious about winning a Cup, they will add more to this team.
Pastrnak, at least temporarily, has helped David Krejci and Milan Lucic regain their first line form. Starting with the Philadelphia matinee, the line’s looked better than it has all year, and there’s no doubting that Pastrnak was the needed spark to get them going. But since then, the rookie has come back down to earth, and reality is starting to set in. While Pastrnak can absolutely help this club, the young, undersized forward has a long way to go before carrying the team to another Stanley Cup victory.
“He’s showcased his skill level, he showcased his speed. But as you saw tonight, too, there’s some heavy game where it’s a bit more of a challenge for a player,” coach Claude Julien said of his rookie following the Rangers game.
The most obvious, biggest concern for the rookie moving forward is his size- how he can hold up skating against top line NHL defensemen, the biggest players he’s ever faced; and furthermore, if a playoff berth is earned, how he can handle the tight-checking, physical play of springtime hockey. But the Coach agrees that his skill-set is too high for him to be sent back down to Providence, at least for now.
“He’s definitely a great player. I think we all want him here. The decision that was made was pretty unanimous as far as should we keep him past the 10-game mark. As far as I was concerned as a coach, I wanted him on my team. I think management felt the same way. They had to look at different situations, obviously the 10 games and what it does, everything else. But at the end of the day, the consensus was this guy belongs here and it’s gonna be up to me to manage it the way I should manage it, help him continue to improve and grow and get some experience, and if he has some tough nights make sure I don’t expose him. That’s part of a young player who’s only 18 years old, that’s part of his development and us doing the right thing for him.”
Following an underwhelming loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on home-ice, the Bruins rebounded with a gutsy come-from-behind victory over Tyler Seguin and the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
Pastrnak, who’s been faulty of forced passes at both ends of the ice and dominated physically at times, has seen his ice-time drop steadily. Even the Reilly Smith and Dan Paille’s of the world could be seen taking shifts alongside Krejci and Lucic during the third period of Tuesday’s game.
Though coach Claude Julien maintained that it was purely circumstantial, as the team needed their best players on the ice at all times to earn a crucial two points before the all-star break. This isn’t your typical conference-dominating Boston hockey team, the Bruins are in the thick of the playoff hunt and need as much help as they can get. We’ve seen Julien take uncharacteristic, desperate measures this season and that’s something that will continue after the break.
One of the most disappointing, mind-boggling decisions of the offseason was the trade of Johnny Boychuk for salary cap purposes. While it seems that problem could have been solved dealing away other parts of the roster, the Bruins dealt away arguably their second best defenseman for two second round draft picks. Relying on an aging Zdeno Chara, and post ACL-injury Dennis Seidenberg, the season got off to as ugly of a start as expected, and things only got worse when the captain went down with a knee injury of his own.
Now that Chara is closer to 100%, and Seidenberg is playing a bit better, the team has regained some of their defensive identity. However, if the team is serious about winning a cup, acquiring a top-two or top-four defenseman should now be the number one priority of General Manager Peter Chiarelli.
Much of the trade chatter surrounding the Bruins this season has revolved around acquiring a right-shot, right-winger to play with Krejci and Lucic; and while that’s still a valid concern, with the help of Pastrnak, and continuing improved play of the Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson third line duo, that focus must shift to defense.
Even when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, they weren’t a score first hockey club. This team has consistently been at its best when it’s been defensively suffocating, almost downright impossible to score against at times. Now, its unlikely a single move would help them regain that 2011 Championship form, but if this team is going to win anything, its going to happen on the back end- as they are much closer to becoming a championship caliber defensive club, rather than one that’s going to score its way through the playoffs and into the Stanley Cup Final.
If Chiarelli is keen on adding some size up front that makes sense- but if he’s going to “break bank” for a player, do so on the back end. Being stuck in the middle, not having an identity, is no place for a championship-caliber club to be. If the Bruins can build back up a top-tier defensive core, they will be much closer to achieving their ultimate goal.
A key piece to the Arizona Coyotes offense is going to missing for a little while. After an injury sustained in a game on Sunday night against the Winnipeg Jets, Mikkel Boedker had surgery to remove his spleen following the game.
It’s a well-known fact that hockey is a physical game, so injuries follow suit. For the ‘Yotes star forward right now to be sidelined, it only seems like it could add to the woes of the team.
After the game on Sunday, it was speculated that Boedker would be out for a little while. Monday it was confirmed that he would be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, but the extent of the injuries was not discussed.
Reports came on Tuesday that Boedker had undergone successful surgery to remove his spleen the same night as the tilt against the Jets. Boedker underwent the surgery in Winnipeg, and is currently still there until he is deemed fit to travel back to Arizona.
Fox Sports Arizona’s Todd Walsh took to Twitter to commend the medical staff of the Coyotes for keeping Boedker back in Winnipeg instead of traveling with the team to Chicago.
Big time tip of the hat to #Coyotes training staff who kept Boedker in Winnipeg for local observation. Critical element to his care
Boedker is expected to miss about 4-6 weeks. Sarah McLellan from AZCentral talked to general manager Don Maloney, and he confirmed the timeframe that Boedker is expected to be on.
Boedker might be able to return to Arizona in 2-3 days, Maloney said. Also said recovery in 4-6 week range.
Prior to his injury, Mikkel Boedker was on track for what could have potentially be a career high season. An impressive 14 goals and 28 points for the young forward could’ve been a heck of a lot better considering the pace he was going at.
Now, by no means is his season over, but the Coyotes will most definitely miss this important asset.
The Reading Royals and Elmira Jackals have faced-off against each other for a total of 11 times so far this season; this includes the three games they played this past weekend. As it stands the Royals have beat the Jackals a total of six times while the Jackals have only beaten the Royals five times. This is a proud statement for the Royals and their fans as many view Elmira as Reading’s main rivals. While the Royals only play their other rivals a handful of times, they meet up with the Jackals again and again with games full of action and fighting. The Royals will meet Elmira four more times during the regular season, but are satisfied to have beaten the Jackals two out of three times this past weekend.
Friday
On Friday night the Royals were on the road at Elmira. In the first period the Jackals seemed prepared to fight as they took an early 3-1 lead by the end of the first. The second period saw no goals as Elmira held onto their lead and the Royals struggled to get back in the game. In the first half of the 3rd Elmira increased their lead to three when Jackal defenseman Steven Shamanski tapped the puck in past goalie Connor Knapp. In the second half, the Royals were only able to accumulate one more goal from Ryan Cruthers and ended up losing the game 4-2.
Sunday
On Sunday night, the Royals played the Jackals on Elmira turf again. The Royals took an early 1-0 lead by the end of the first, but the Jackals came back fiercely in the second and claimed a 3-1 lead. The night wasn’t over for the Royals though. By the end of the 3rd, the Royals were able retie the game at 3-3. The game later went into overtime. For five more minutes the Royals and Jackals pushed with no luck as the game ended up going into an always nerve-racking shootout. By the end of the shoot-out Reading’s Pat Mullane and Sean Wiles would both score while the Royal’s goalie Connor Knapp was able to hold off all of the Jackals attempts at scoring. Reading won the game 4-3.
(Source: Royalshockey.com)
Monday 1st
On Monday the Royals and the Jackals celebrated Martin Luther King Day with some hockey on Reading territory. With the game at 1:00 p.m. and the teams still tired from playing two games and traveling the weekend prior, both squads started out looking a bit sluggish. Midway through the period, however, they got their blood pumping and Elmira started off by scoring the first goal at 9:41. After Royals forward Andrew Johnston was sent to the box for tripping, the Jackals took advantage of their opportunity as forward Thomas Nesbitt took possession of the puck and quickly fired it under Royals goalie Connor Knapp.
Now down by one, the Royals saw they had to step up their game. Three minutes later Reading answered Elmira’s first goal with another power play goal. Mike Marcou scored his fourth of the season after slipping the puck past the glove of Travis Fullerton at 12:42. Just two minutes after that forward Olivier Labelle fired one past Fullerton’s stick to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Royals.
2nd
In the second period Elmira came out ready to take back the game. At 13:05 they were able to tie up the score when Keith Buehler who was set up by teammates Thomas Nesbitt and Ryan Rashid smacked one past Knapp for his second of the season. Shortly after, as the teams were lining up for the face-off, David Mathers and Justin Sawyer caught the attention of the crowd as they dropped their gloves and prepared to fight.
“That guy was kind of running his mouth a bit. I figured they just scored to tie it up, and we were at home, so if he wanted a fight, it was probably a good time for me to go with him. I tried to get the crowd back into it and liven them up.”
After getting knocked to the ground the two players skated off to the box to each serve their five for fighting penalties. The rest of the period remained goalless.
3rd
By the second half of the third period, the Royals would take the lead again. At 12:17 Olivier Labelle scored his second goal of the game while on a power play. He states, “I picked up the puck and it wouldn’t settle; the ice was pretty soft today; it was pretty warm out there. The puck wouldn’t settle, wouldn’t settle, wouldn’t settle, and I was looking for Patty [Pat Mullane] because on the power play you usually try to set the play up, like you don’t want to just take a shot. Then I turned around and he [Pat Mullane] had just iced the puck [so he wasn’t there]. I was going to look for Patty, and I think that might be why the goalie got a little confused because I kept looking at Patty, and once it got a little too late to pass, the defenseman saw that I was going to pass and was going to start covering it, and I just shot it and I think the goalie got surprised.” This would prove to be the game winner, but not the final goal of the night.
The last goal came from Matt Hatch who picked up the puck that Labelle knocked it out into the neutral zone. Hatch took off down the ice like he had rockets on his skates and fired one past Fullerton and into the net. “It was the last shift of the game, and you know they were making a little bit of a push on us, so I think that I just wanted to beat that guy and get a shot on net to see what would happen.” At 18:43 Hatch secured the Royals lead and took away Elmira’s hopes of getting back in the game. The game ended with a final score of 4-2.
(Source: Royalshockey.com)
What’s Next?
The Royals have a five-day break now for the All-Star games. The Royals very own Cam Reid has been selected to participate and will proudly be representing the Royals. After the break the Royals play five games on the road and will not be back until February 4th where they will play the Wheeling Nailers. The Royals are currently in 3rd place in the Eastern Division and 5th in the entire conference.
Coach Courville discusses his feelings on the season thus far, “I like where we are right now, of course I’d like to be in 1st place, but you know with the start we had and the players now that we’ve lost; counting right now I think we’ve lost 12 guys who were initially here in training camp. So, you know, I’m happy, but we still have a ways to go. Hopefully after the All-Star Break we can keep things going. This five-game road trip is going to be hard on us. I know that with the bodies we have, but hopefully we can win some games here and keep going.”
Even though it is only half way through the season, it looks like the Royals do have a decent chance of making it into the playoffs. If they can keep up their away game winning record and increase their at home winning record, they should be able to stay within the top ranks in the conference. Only time will tell what kind of effort the team is willing to make.
At just 17 years old, Alyssa Gorecki of Monee, Ill., has joined a group of ladies who accomplished what the U.S. women’s and men’s Olympic teams, and the men’s world juniors USA team have not been able to do in recent years.
Perhaps either of her ambitions as a child could have led her to a gold medal. The Peotone High School student who now plays hockey for the Women’s U18 USA National Team and Chicago Mission U19 (a AAA club), started in gymnastics.
But, when she was 5 years old, her little brother, Jimmy Gorecki, wanted to play hockey, and her parents urged her to join him.
(photo: Gorecki family)
“As a result, I fell in love with [hockey] and quit gymnastics. I have been playing for about 12 years and have been on a few teams including the Orland Park Vikings, Joliet Jaguars, Chicago Fury, Chicago Mission, Kankakee Irish, and USA U18 National Team.”
The pinnacle of her 12-year hockey career — which includes state championships, national invites, the National August Festival in Lake Placid, and Four Nations Camp — came in Buffalo last week when Gorecki was able to contribute to a gold medal win.
She said the entire experience was positively overwhelming — but her team went into it determined for victory.
“We have not really thought about [what winning gold means] other than, when the boys’ world juniors team lost a week earlier, we said now we have to win,” Gorecki said. “It is such an honor to represent your country, let alone to be successful and win a gold medal. It feels amazing and I am so happy I was able to experience it and have my dreams become a reality.”
(photo: Gorecki family)
She said she’d happily do it all over again, calling it the best experience of her life — playing five games in the course of a week with 22 other girls dedicated to winning for each other and their country.
Team USA beat Canada first, in a 2-1 shootout victory Jan. 5. The next day, they shutout the Czech Republic 3-0. On Thursday, Jan. 8, they beat Russia 7-1. Semi-finals were Sunday, Jan. 11, with another shutout victory, 5-0, against the Czech Republic. Then, on Monday, Jan. 12, Team USA went to overtime again with Canada. Canada struck first in the game, then Captain Jincy Dunne tied the score.
Gorecki gave USA the go-ahead goal in the second, but Canada would tie it back up, and the game would stay knotted through regulation. She had another chance for the game-winner, but was stopped within an inch by (player of the game) Canadian goalie Marlene Boissonnault. Dunne would score with a wrist-shot seconds later.
It didn’t matter who scored, as long as it was someone in blue.
“When we won in overtime it was an automatic thrill,” Gorecki said. “We all jumped off the bench, threw our sticks gloves and helmets off, and rushed to jump in the pile of people.
“It was the best moment in my life and I can’t even really explain it. I started bawling my eyes out.”
“Being able to put on the jersey is such an amazing feeling,” Gorecki said. “My favorite moments were scoring in the gold medal game, the sold out crowd chanting ‘USA,’ the celebration when we won, receiving the gold medal, and standing on the blue line with my 22 best friends, our arms around each other, singing the national anthem.”
(Photo: USAHockey)
As for coming home with gold, Gorecki said coming out on top is quite the rush.
“It is amazing,” she said. “The feeling you get when it’s around your neck and in your hand is amazing.”
(Photo: Gorecki family)
The team found inspiration from a number of sources, including the HARBORCENTER crowd’s American flags and “USA” chants, but also through social media.
“The tweets definitely help since Hilary knight is a person we look up to and wish we could be,” Gorecki said.
And, she realizes, that she can be someone younger girls wish they could be as well.
“We are definitely focused on being the best we can be, but also try being the best we can be as a person knowing little girls look up to us,” Gorecki said. “We try to be the best role models we can be for all the young girl hockey players aspiring to be where we are.”
Her hockey hero is Brianna Decker, who was on the Women’s Olympic team. Her favorite NHL players are Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews.
She trains with 5-6 days per week of workouts in the summer and 3-4 during the season, including weights, agility and cardio. She incorporates skating 3-5 times per week in the summer and 2-6 days per week during the season. Shooting and stickhandling are, of course, part of her routine.
A high school senior, Gorecki has committed to play hockey for the University of Vermont, where she plans to study exercise and movement science.
She has some words of wisdom for anyone who wants to play hockey, or chase any kind of dream.
“My advice is go for it and play! Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do,” Gorecki said.
“So many people didn’t believe I would make it this far and I proved them wrong, so play for the love of the game and work hard and good things will come.”
The teams in the Atlantic are no strangers to playing the other teams in the division frequently. However, the Monarchs and Sharks have to be sick of each other with how often they’ve played over the past week. The teams have faced off for three of their last four games (January 13th, 16th, and 18th). The Monarchs dropped the first two of the three games to the Sharks. Each of the first six games of the season between the two teams have gone to the Monarchs.
From the start of the game, it was clear the teams had been seeing a lot of each other lately by the physicality. Early in the game, Monarchs veteran Josh Gratton hit Sharks defenseman Taylor Fedun behind the Sharks goal. Although Fedun got up and returned to play for his next shift, he missed the second and third periods.
But, the Sharks took the chance to capitalize on the power play that resulted from the play. With nine seconds left, Sharks defenseman Matt Taormina fired a shot from the blue line that beat Monarchs rookie goaltender Patrik Bartosak. He was playing his second straight game with JF Berube in LA covering for the injured Martin Jones. Unfortunately for the Monarchs and Bartosak, the Sharks were not done. With the Monarchs seemingly unable to stay out of the penalty box, the Sharks took advantage of their third power play as well. Rookie Chris Tierney got right in front of the net and found the puck on his stick. He lifted it over Bartosak’s shoulder to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead early in the first.
Towards the end of the first period, the Monarchs started to generate some chances and got their first power play of the game, but were unable to find their way against JP Anderson. The game was Anderson’s first since January 3rd.
When the teams came out for the middle frame, the Sharks did not waste time increasing their lead. Just over a minute in, defenseman Taylor Doherty took an incredibly hard shot from the point and Bartosak did not seem to have a chance to stop it. To the Monarchs credit, they did not give up despite being down 3-0.
In a story of special teams, it was a shorthanded goal that got the Monarchs their first goal of the game. Andrew Crescenzi was able break away behind the Sharks defense and put one past Anderson unassisted. It seemed like there was a possible momentum switch in favor of the Monarchs.
However, the Sharks were not done yet. Tierney fired a shot from the top of the face-off circle that went over Bartosak’s shoulder and slid in just under the crossbar in a highlight reel style goal.
Then, before the second period was over, the Monarchs cut the Sharks lead down to 4-2. Rookie Ryan Horvat notched his first professional goal as the puck ended up on his stick with his back slightly to Anderson.
The teams came out for the final period and the Monarchs showed that they were down but did not want to be counted out just yet. Konrad Abeltshauser appeared to score for the Sharks but the goal was waved off. Abeltshauser took the shot from 10 feet behind the blue line and did not appear to have scoring in mind but the puck ended up in the back of the net. The refs waved it off though due to an offsides call.
That was not the only review, though. Later in the third period, the Monarchs appeared to have a goal of theirs waved off. Auger seemed to stuff the puck past Anderson through a lot of traffic but the official behind the net waved it off. After review, they ended up awarding the Monarchs with the goal.
Despite only have a one goal lead, the Sharks seemed to be falling back on their heels for the remainder of the period. But it did not end up hurting them. Late in the game, Manchester pulled Bartosak for the extra attacker but it was not enough. When the horn sounded, the Sharks found that they had now won all three of their games against the Monarchs over the past week.
Manchester has had to contend with both injuries and call-ups lately. With injuries in LA, both Nick Shore and JF Berube are with the Kings. They are also currently without standout forward Brian O’Neill, who said he should be back in another week. Given that, they have done a good job of having other players step up. Paul Bissonnette, a name every hockey fan seems to know, has had assists in three straight games.
With the win over the Monarchs, the Sharks extended their winning streak to seven straight. It marks the longest winning streak in franchise history. The two teams will not meet again until February 18th.
I think we can all agree that it’s time for Spring. Not because I want to hurry through the hockey season, absolutely not! But because I want to pair spring clothes with my tights to wear to the next several Sharks home games. (I know I really shouldn’t complaining when California has been unseasonably warm and everything east of the Sierra Nevadas is under a sheet of ice.)
So it was a bit fortuitous that the morning of the Sharks’ tilt with the Calgary Flames, SAP Center hosted the Harlem Globetrotters–which meant that the ice was covered for a couple hours, which also meant that it wasn’t quite as cold come puck drop.
I was bound and determined to bust out the spring-time color palette and get a leg up on that warmer-weather wardrobe — even if I still have to bundle it under a heavy coat at game time.
To brighten up a sheer black stocking and my ballet flats, I chose this minty sherbet tank dress from H&M. I typically wear this with bare legs and wedge sandals, but I’m pretty sure the climate at the Tank isn’t going to agree with such a minimal ensemble. I could have gone with my mainstay black cardigan, but I instead chose to keep the look extra bright, and reached for a periwinkle-blue button-down cardi instead.
Granted I still had to pack a heavy peacoat to keep from having a massive chill all game, but it was totally worth it!
I left my usual gigantic baubles at home and went with a small ring set I snagged from Charming Charlie to pair with my dainty Gucci watch. I don’t know if you guys on the East Coast have Charming Charlie, but it’s basically jewelry store paradise.
Until the next puck drops,
The Girl In The Black Tights
It was a big night at Staples Center. Not only were the Los Angeles Kings‘ division rivals, the Anaheim Ducks, in town, but Rob Blake’s jersey was retired by the LA franchise prior to the start of the night’s match-up. After a hard-fought battle that could very well be a postseason preview, the Ducks finally beat the Kings in a shootout on Rob Blake Night at Staples Center.
PRE-GAME
The Ducks played their second game in as many days after defeating the Devils 5-1 at the Honda Center Friday night. The Kings had not played since Wednesday, January 14th when they suffered a 5-3 loss to the visiting New Jersey Devils. The Devils then went on to play the Ducks Friday night
The Ducks began the game with a comfortable lead in the Pacific Division. With at least 10 points on every other team in the division and a 14 point lead on the Kings at the start of the game, the Ducks have shown no sign of slowing down. Meanwhile, the LA Kings had a bit of catching up to do. With the San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames showdown happening at the same time in Northern California, a lot could change in the division standings in just this one night.
Centerman Nick Shore joined the LA Kings roster and was making his NHL debut. The 22-year old from Denver Colorado was drafted by the Kings in the 3rd round of the 2011 NHL entry draft. He has been with the Manchester Monarchs after a stint with playing the University of Denver following being drafted. Shore was called up from the AHL following Tanner Pearson’s leg fracture (and subsequent surgery and rehab) and Tyler Toffoli’s ongoing bout with mononucleosis, both of whom were unavailable for the game.
RECAP
Los Angeles struck first against the Ducks. After a scoreless first with shots on goal about even, the Kings finally got one a little less than halfway through the second from their fourth line. Alec Martinez scored his 5th of the season on a slapshot set up by Jeff Schultz and Kyle Clifford. It was Schultz’s first assist of the season.
Ryan Getzlaf got his 14th goal with less than 6 minutes left on the clock in the second off a rebound to tie the game at one apiece. Getzlaf’s face-off win and a timely rebound off of Kings’ goaltender Jonathan Quick led to Getzlaf’s game-tying goal. Almost immediately after scoring the goal, LA went on their second power play of the game. Jakob Silfverberg sat for a 4-minute double minor: the result of a high-stick against hit Kings’ Brayden McNabb. The Ducks’ penalty resulted in a Kings’ goal scored by Anze Kopitar to make the score 2-1. Kopitar snuck the puck just past the left pad of Anaheim netminder, Frederik Andersen.
Anaheim surged ahead in terms of chances in the third period, outshooting the Kings 27 to 18 early into the final period of regulation. Drew Doughty’s 2 minute tripping penalty against Ducks’ Corey Perry resulted in Anaheim scoring the tying goal against Quick. A low shot from Sami Vatanen from the top of the face-off circle to the left of Quick was then deflected off of Kings’ defenseman Matt Greene before heading into the net. The goal was Vatanen’s 10th of the year and put the Ducks back in the game with less than half of third remaining.
The late goal by the Anaheim Ducks forced the game into overtime. Overtime was incredibly face paced, with both teams getting some quality chances and goaltenders on both ends coming up with some brilliant saves. However, 5 minutes of OT was not enough to decide the final score and the game went into a shootout. Frederik Andersen was perfect in the SO for Anaheim and Silfverberg’s goal against Quick was enough to win it for the Ducks. The Kings came away with one point, while the Ducks got the extra point. Andersen made 26 saves total, while Quick stopped 29 shots.
The Kings’ shootout loss ties them with the Calgary Flames, who defeated the Sharks in overtime earlier that evening. Both teams are 2 points behind the Vancouver Canucks, and three behind the Sharks.
Jakob Silfverberg was the hero for the Ducks, scoring the winning goal against Quick in the shootout, but Anaheim’s team as a whole played a very strong game. It was a hard-fought win that involved the entire team. There’s a reason the Ducks are one of the best in the league. Not only do that have talent distributed all through their roster, but every line and defensive pairing plays with a fiery passion every single night. They score however they can, dirty goals included. As hard as LA pushed, the Ducks pushed back. The Kings deserve their credit as well. With one game left in this home stand, which will be played against the Flames, the Kings also played with a sense of urgency. It’s a good sign for the Kings, who are in search for another shot at the championships.
ANZE KOPITAR
Despite losing in the shootout, Anze Kopitar, who scored the second goal of the game to put the Kings ahead 2-1, shined again on the ice on Saturday. The 27-year old center’s contract will expire at the end of this season, but he will have the chance to re-sign with Los Angeles come July 1st. Kopitar has been acknowledged as one to the most underrated centers currently active in the NHL. During the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, Wayne Gretzky had a lot of good things to say about Kopitar in an interview with Ron MacLean, calling him an elite center, comparable to the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby and the Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews. Kopitar was also recently complemented by rival center, Sharks’ Logan Couture in a neat article on elite centers in The Players’ Tribune. Kopitar has done nothing but quietly put together the numbers and plays to support the praise from Gretzky, Mark Messier, and fellow players, and the game against the Ducks was no different.
OTHER NOTES
The Ducks’ special teams have been doing well, the power play unit in particular. Anaheim has scored on the power play in five games straight.
According to LA Kings Insider, back-up goaltender, Martin Jones, did not participate in the morning skate with the team. There is some speculation that Jones will soon be placed on IR for an unknown, but likely short, period of time.
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