The Los Angeles Kings came into New York needing a win, and they got an emphatic win over the Rangers. The Kings completely shut down the Rangers, clogging skating lanes and neutralizing the Rangers best weapon –speed– and forced the Blueshirts to play a slower, more methodical game. That is when the Kings are at their best: Clogging the neutral zone, forcing teams to dump and chase, and forcing them to slow the pace. The Kings made the Rangers play their game last night, and the Kings destroyed them with it.
The first three Kings goals were all the result of defensive zone turnovers by the Rangers, something else the Kings are very good at. The Kings capitalize on mistakes as well, and do it like some of the best in the league. Couple this with their ability to completely limit the Rangers’ ability to get shots, and you have a team that is difficult to beat.
It’s worth noting that the Kings went into a pretty big defensive shell once Jake Muzzin gave them a 4-1 lead. Up until then, the Kings led in SOG 35-22. They finished even at 35 SOG. Stats, when not analyzed properly, can be misleading. We will get to that below.
On to the goals:
Rangers 1, Kings 0
Hard work creates your own luck.
Mats Zuccarello made a good play to force a turnover at the Rangers blue line, then spring J.T. Miller to start the rush. Miller never gave up on the play, taking the puck behind the net to the corner, then eventually breaking free and trying to drive to the net with the puck. He lost the biscuit, but it went right to Zucc who put it over Jonathan Quick for the early lead.
Kings 1, Rangers 1
Turnovers, man.
Tanner Glass turned the puck over when Mike Richards pressured him with a poke check in the slot. Cam Talbot put the puck in the corner, where Kyle Clifford collected it and got it to Robyn Regehr at the point. His wrist shot took an unlucky bounce off Keith Yandle’s leg and by Talbot.
Kings 2, Rangers 1
More turnovers.
The Rangers just had sloppy puck work on this one. Zuccarello gave the puck away, then Talbot gave the puck away. Then it was simply Justin Williams to Anze Kopitar to Marian Gaborik for the easy goal.
Kings 3, Rangers 1
Mucho turnovers.
Dan Boyle had a bad turnover here, basically handing Dwight King the puck at the boards. No one helped Marc Staal in front, who had to defend both Tyler Toffoli and Jeff Carter. King got the puck through to Carter, who had an easy tap in goal.
Kings 4, Rangers 1
Bad defense here.
Zuccarello got caught chasing Kopitar on this one. He simply left his man (Jake Muzzin) at the point to go follow the puck. Muzzin recognized this and crept in to get a better opportunity. Kopitar isn’t missing that pass. Muzzin isn’t missing that shot.
Rangers 2, Kings 4
A seam in the coverage.
Kevin Hayes is a very smart hockey player. After Dominic Moore won the faceoff, in which Hayes was lined up to his right (more towards the slot), Hayes circled around to find a seam in the Kings’ defensive zone scheme. Boyle found him, and Hayes got a bit lucky as his shot went off Richards and through Quick.
USAT/Fenwick Chart
Courtesy of war-on-ice
As mentioned above, the Kings really dominated this game until Muzzin’s goal in the third. At that point, they went into a shell –something all Ranger fans should be used to– and the Rangers climbed back in it. The Kings did a great job of really limiting shot attempts by the Rangers. Suppressing shots is something the Kings do very well.
Scoring Chances
Courtesy of war-on-ice
This wasn’t even close until the Kings went full shell.
Individual SAT/Corsi
Courtesy of war-on-ice
This is a tough one to gauge, since the Kings’ shell skews things on this chart. I did think that the Hagelin/Hayes/Fast line had a strong game. But I also thought Yandle played well. So, take this one with a grain of salt.
Shot Locations
Courtesy of war-on-ice
The Kings are so good at suppressing shot attempts. Look at where these are coming from. The Rangers had very few shots from prime real estate. The Rangers didn’t do a terrible job either, but those turnovers cost them dearly.
Shift Chart
Courtesy of war-on-ice
Typical Alain Vigneault shifts until he changed the lines up in the third period. Not much else to see here.
The Rangers simply got beat by a very good team last night. The Kings aren’t vastly superior to the Rangers. They just did a better job of executing their game plan, which is to clog the neutral zone, force a dump and chase game (thus neutralizing New York’s speed advantage), and slow the pace down. The Rangers fell victim to that, and were beaten by a team that has the skill to capitalize off their turnovers.
Losses happen. And there’s no shame in splitting the season series with the Kings. On to the next one.
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