The Kings iced the same lineup, took the same approach and ended up with an identical result in each of their first two playoff games against the Colorado Avalanche, a 2-1 loss.
That they led the second time around – however briefly before defaulting to the sort of prevent defense that turned a quick triumph into a slow-motion trainwreck last spring –– and got the game to overtime did little to change the bottom line.
Even the Kings, frequent purveyors of “we didn’t get the bounces,” “we were right there” and “we’re generating chances,” could no longer fall back convincingly on such platitudes.
“You always want the opportunities, and now we’ve got to make the most of them,” forward Trevor Moore told reporters after Tuesday’s overtime loss. “‘Almost’ doesn’t really matter at this time of year.”
Kings interim coach D.J. Smith had plenty of praise for his group, and rightfully so in a match where Mikey Anderson played his best game in recent memory and the whole crew was committed to checking, hitting and blocking shots. But even he was clear on the heft of a 2-0 hole against the Stanley Cup frontrunners in a best-of-seven series where so far even the Kings’ best hasn’t proven sufficient.
“We’ve got to find a way to win a game. Clearly, good isn’t enough,” Smith told reporters.
Yet Smith ran it back with the same lineup game over game, eschewing the now-available scoring punch and creativity of Andrei Kuzmenko or any other adjustments to his Game 1 melange. The Kings have yet to score a 5-on-5 goal in 127:44 of playoff action, and though they’ve struck twice on the power play they’ve also had nine opportunities.
In Game 2, Colorado’s even-strength prosperity expanded into outright dominance. They put up a 5-on-5 expected-goals percentage firmly over 80% during regulation, per Natural Stat Trick, and had the majority in overtime as well.
While there were more “almost” moments – Quinton Byfield’s unsuccessful penalty shot, a puck that laid in the paint, a failed clear after a won faceoff on the equalizer and Brandt Clark’s block, one of six from him on the night, that inadvertently served up the winner – Colorado had more than its own proportion and the lion’s share of possession, territory and offensive menace.
The Kings have used five different Game 1 starters in five consecutive postseasons as well as six starting goalies overall and eight netminders in total during what appears destined to be five straight first-round exits. Anton Forsberg has been their best performer yet, nearly stealing Game 2 from the clear-cut Cup favorites for a team whose very presence in the playoffs felt at least slightly suspect.
Despite never having made a high-stakes start, Forsberg has done more than just look the part.
“He’s a focused individual. He’s been great. I didn’t know these were his first two (playoff) games, you wouldn’t be able to tell,” Moore told reporters.
On the Avs’ side, Colorado coach Jared Bednard said that while he was enthused that his team threatened more offensively, he felt they still had additional gears to their game.
“We got a bunch of clean looks, we happened to capitalize on two of them, and we hit a couple posts,” Bednar told reporters. “We had a 3-on-1 that we didn’t really even get a shot on. I’d like to see Forsberg have to make a big save on a play like that. We put ourselves in position, but you’ve gotta execute and that was lacking at times.”
The Kings did not practice Wednesday but were scheduled to skate Thursday morning, when more may or may not be revealed about any potential adjustments for Game 3. Smith engaged in such coy gamesmanship ahead of Game 1, even on obvious matters such as his starting goalie.
NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND GAME 3
Who: Edmonton at Kings
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: TNT, truTV, HBO Max, FDSN SoCal