Kings stumble against Coyotes, lose fourth straight game
LOS ANGELES –– The Kings produced multiple domineering stretches but still lost their fourth straight game, 2-1, against the Arizona Coyotes in overtime at Staples Center on Sunday.
Winger Brendan Lemieux scored a goal for the Kings. Jonathan Quick made 25 saves in defeat.
Center Travis Boyd tallied for Arizona and defenseman Kyle Capobianco netted the overtime game-winner. Rookie goalie Karel Vejmelka earned his first career victory in his 11th decision by stopping 37 shots.
“No finish on our behalf. Two-on-ones, breakaways, staring at the goaltender, open nets –– the opportunities were there, but no finish,” Kings Coach Todd McLellan said.
The Kings have two points in their last four games, both from overtime losses, while last-place Arizona has won two straight to double their win total for the season.
“I thought we played really well in Winnipeg. I thought the two games against the top teams from out East we played very well in,” McLellan said. “Tonight was a frustrating night because of the amount of chances that we created.”
Each team had two shots in overtime, and Arizona’s second won them the game 3:24 into the extra session. Capobianco whipped a shot by Quick from the right faceoff dot that dinged one post, entered the net, and then hit the other.
The third period had started famously for the Kings, but soon swung toward Arizona.
Sixteen seconds into the third period, the Kings went to the power play, keeping the puck away from Arizona and generating quality opportunities in what McLellan called their best two minutes on the power play in some time. The Kings hit the net five times and attempted 10 total shots in a 2:04 stretch of sustained pressure. Their failure to convert, however, opened a window for Arizona.
“It’s nice to take [the puck] around and have a good unit out there, but at the end of the day we need to score, and if we’re not scoring then we’re not doing our job,” defenseman Matt Roy said.
At the 4:44 mark, defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere skated down a saucer pass into space and moved the puck to Boyd, who redirected the puck past Quick to even the score.
It was Gostisbehere’s team-leading 14th point of the season, a pleasant surprise from a player who was accompanied in an offseason trade by a second-round pick so that the Philadelphia Flyers could jettison his contract. Gostisbehere also carried the puck through three Kings during a third-period power play, and in overtime his dangle-and-deke move led to a dangerous chance.
The Kings later killed a penalty and got through a four-on-four situation, and Quick made a stop on winger Loui Eriksson in the dying seconds of regulation.
The second period belonged to the Kings’ fourth line. It rolled momentum from Saturday’s game in Sunday’s match, scoring the game’s first goal 5:38 into the middle frame. Center Blake Lizotte stole the puck as the Coyotes were exiting their own zone, creating a three-on-one opportunity. Lizotte looked to his left but opted for a short, unguarded pass to his right for Lemieux, who caught Vejmelka cheating with a near-side wrist shot. It was Lemieux’s second goal in as many games, and his fourth of the season.
Lemieux nearly scored again later in the period when a stretch pass found him ahead of the play. He was checked from behind and nearly swept the puck home while sliding along the ice.
The fourth line generated yet another sterling chance late in the frame. Defenseman Olli Maatta centered the puck for Lizotte, who quickly moved it to winger Arthur Kaliyev for a rising shot that Vejmelka snared with his glove.
The Kings asserted themselves in the latter part of the first period, recording seven unanswered shots on goal at one point. That included winger Viktor Arvidsson’s neutral-zone takeaway turned partial breakaway and some goalmouth scrambles. They also out-hit the Coyotes, carried possession and dominated in the faceoff circle, but had nothing to show for it all at intermission, and those trends persisted for much of the remainder of the game.