Many of the areas the Kings were hoping to improve over the summer were on display front and center in today’s 3-2 overtime win against the Rangers.
Jack Johnson scored a power play goal with about a minute left in the extra session and then was mobbed by his teammates, in a scene that looked more like a playoff game winner than the first game of the season.
Anze Kopitar showed no signs of the injury he suffered last season, picking up the first goal of the game and assisting on the one that tied things up with about five minutes left to play in regulation.
Here are a few post-game notes, followed by the video highlights:
– Overall, LA now sits at 44-62-19 against New York and they won’t see them again this season – unless they were to meet in the Stanley Cup Finals.
– Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is now 2-3-1 when playing the Kings and his counterpart, Jonathan Quick, is a perfect 2-0 against Broadway’s Blueshirts.
– Richards vs. Richards lived up to the hype. Brad Richards played 18 minutes for the Rangers, went 9-for-11 in at faceoff dot and assisted on Marian Gaborik‘s third period goal. Mike Richards scored for the Kings and set up Johnson’s game winner in 20-plus minutes ice time.
– Former Kings first round draft pick Brian Boyle (2003) looked like he was finally going to he help the Kings, when he took a penalty with less than two minutes remaining in the game. The Rangers killed it off though and the game went to overtime.
– LA outshot New York 30-26, including 3-1 in overtime.
– Matt Greene had five hits, Ethan Moreau had four hits for the Kings.
– Dan Girardi played 30:11 for the Rangers, leading all players. Drew Doughty was top for the Kings with 26:54 – well ahead of second place Jack Johnson (21:42).
– Johnson and Justin Williams each had four shots on goal for the Kings. But, check this out – Ryan Callahan was credited with 11 for the Rangers.
– Three stars: Kopitar (#1), Lundqvist (#2), Callahan (#3)
– Brandon Dubinsky was given a ten-minute misconduct at the end of game, presumably for arguing the penalty in overtime.
– Video highlights, courtesy of Versus:
More news and notes up later today.
The Mayor
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