“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” — Robert Burns 1785
Nearly 250 years later, it’s still true… as Kings coach Todd McLellan can likely attest to.
Coming into Tuesday night’s game vs. the visiting New York Rangers, much was made about LA’s bench boss flipping Kevin Fiala and Gabe Vilardi in the lineup. The two moves were designed to breathe some life into a stagnant offense. And it paid off beautifully in the first period. Fiala scored 35 seconds in and Vilardi later added a power play goal.
Even Cal Petersen was looking solid in net, holding a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.
Then, everything went sideways in the second period.
“We had a real good push in the first,” explained McLellan. “We were an aggressive team. We were on our toes a little bit; we were connecting passes and plays. First two shifts of the (2nd) period, we gave up pretty good scoring chances. So they came with their push and we didn’t respond real well. After that, we sat back a little bit. We were slow, we didn’t connect on the passes that we were connecting on in the first. You have to give them credit. They pushed, but their push was a lot stronger, a lot more aggressive than ours in the second.
“Third period, I thought it was a pretty even period. Scored. Obviously, we were excited about that. Then, boom, the air is out of your sails again. Our game tonight has matched our year – where we’re inconsistent? We’re up and down.”
With one win now in their past five games, the Kings will take a few days off and try to regroup in time for Friday night’s game in San Jose.
Below are select highlights from the Rangers game on Tuesday:
Additional Post-Game Notes:
VIDEO: Hoven on Kings Intermission Report via Bally Sports West
Top of the cap to Edler. He's in the room almost every night ready to answer questions. Doesn't need to at this point of his career. Such a solid pro, though.
Tonight he made it clear he's ready to play as many games or minutes as needed. Body feels great.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 23, 2022
McLellan was direct when @DennisTFP asked if Kings are losing faith in Cal Petersen — "nope"
Also said — "Cal made some really good saves. Sometimes it's the one that you need, rather than all the ones you made, that makes the difference in the game. And we needed that one."
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 23, 2022
He's a pretty good utility player I don't think he had a large impact in tonight's negative play at all. He stays neutral and on the positive side most nights.
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— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 23, 2022
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Lead photo via Daniel Stopani
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