This was my first Frozen Fury and the atmosphere others promised most definitely delivered. For the uninitiated, picture hundreds and hundreds of the loudest and most passionate Kings’ fans all in one place – and many having imbibed the liquor of the masters… Oh, and then throw into the mix one of the most physical and arguably dirty games from the opposing team and you will have a good sense of the evening.
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First Period:
The fans wanted scoreboard from the first shot but the Avalanche wanted it more
at first. Sure, Kopitar sent the first of his seven shots drawing a power play. Under Murray and with Stoll in the fold, the first power play unit consists of four forwards – Kopitar, Brown, Moulson, Stoll and Doughty – since Stoll excels defensively and on the point. Kopitar’s pass gets picked off by Hannon and boom… short handed goal against. The power play resumes and Hickey unleashes two shots from the point – the only shots he took for the
entire game.
Westgarth tries to provide some much needed energy by taking on Stewart. No TKO for Westgarth but the victory goes to him. The Kings failed to continue the spark from Westgarth’s efforts so Simmonds gives it a shot against McLeod. That bout was a good showing for both entrants. Simmonds had a band-aid on one of his fingers and he gets a match penalty under the capital punishment for jaywalking rule where any tape for a player who fights gets the gate. And so Simmonds did and his teammates get to kill five minutes.... ouch!
To add insult to injury, Preissing gets a tripping call and the Kings now need to overcome a two man advantage for 1:49. Colorado earned strong marks for possession time and no marks for failing to finish. The major kill too fails to energize the Kings. The ice remains tilted in favor of Colorado. Tilt it some more as Tucker scores…. double ouch!
The third fight of the first finally sparks the Kings when Westgarth takes on Parker. Label this one total domination by Westgarth and Parker takes the extra two for the loss. On the man advantage, Moulson scores from Kopitar. Woo Hoo!! The next goal by the Kings gets started by Gauthier who by a sneeze snags the puck before it leaves the zone. He makes a nifty pass to Armstrong who literally makes a blind pass from his back to Dravecky who connects. A pretty play all around. As the first winds to a close, the Avalanche nearly scores at the buzzer. The operative word there is
nearly. Whew…
Second Period:
If I am a fly on the wall in the dressing rooms of both teams between periods, I am telling both teams what the heck is the problem…. pre-season or not, fights don’t win games and let’s see more action with the puck. The Avalanche got the message … the Kings not so much. There was a late goal by Los Angeles during a period where Colorado outplayed the Kings shot-wise by a lot in a differential of 11 shots to 3. The Kings acquitted themselves by showing some atypical strong defensive play.
The bigger story of the second was the chippiness factor. Brown makes his presence known anywhere and everywhere. He takes a double minor for a high stick which he earned when he drew blood. The PK units of (1) Handzus, Moulson, Gauthier and Bagnall; and (2) Meckler, Boyle, Moller and Preissing all got the job done. Nine minutes into the second and Colorado has six shots on goal to the Kings one. Bagnall tries to change the dynamic with a sad, short fisticuffs between him and Laperriere which the referees jumped in before it went anywhere. Fourteen minutes in and Colorado now has seven shots on goal to the Kings lonely one. Wake up Kings!!
Brown does what he does best by throwing a sweet open ice clean check that is suspiciously called as a high stick. The only thing high or stick-like from that hit is what Kings’ fans wanted to do to the referee who assessed that phantom penalty. On the kill that followed, Doughty makes a huge shot block allowing LaBarbera to keep the score tied. Then for reasons that only McCormick could share he spears Brown which creates a human pile up on the ice. Last I checked, a clean check against is not a valid defense to an illegal spear. Seriously. Kopitar makes the Avalanche pay for McCormick’s’ antics by scoring late with an assist from Stoll. The period ends with the Kings’ paltry third shot on goal being the only goal of the period. Team defense for Los Angeles defined that middle stanza. There is a statement I never made last season…yikes!
Third Period:
The third period might as well be called a do-over of the second with each team taking the role of the other. Now, it was the Kings who shot and shot with 11 in the third to Colorado’s four. The Kings really played
even better than that. Brown spent serious time on the doorstep of the crease as did Meckler to no avail. Points for effort but nothing for finishing. Foote continued his physical play from the second as well as some dirty play for extra credt -
not. He got a well deserved boot later in the third but earlier, he took Dravecky to the ice and then proceeded to take some gutless punches at him when he was face down and defenseless. Poor Dravecky got sin bin time for a delayed interference call which apparently was all the motivation Foote needed to repeatedly punch the guy. That brings new meaning to taking one for the team!!
Moller made his case to make this team the entire night. He took checks and gave them out as well. He only registered two official shots on goal but not for lack of trying. In the third, his crashing of the net nearly propelled himself with the puck for the effort. No score but I definitely owe him an apology for suggesting he is not NHL ready
now. Whether he makes the team or not, he definitely has a physical dimension to his game that I missed initially. Sorry Oscar! Ultimately, despite near no shots on goal in the third, Colorado scored at 15:24 and the scored ended in regulation with a tie.
Bonus Hockey:
The Kings had four shots on goal to the Avalanche’s one but the tie remained. Meckler sure looked to have scored before the shoot-out when he crashed the net and it sure appeared to either be the winner or at least the right to go to the War Room in Toronto for another look. Apparently, I was wrong on both counts… triple ouch!
The Shoot-Out:
Colorado finished as the winner despite being outplayed in the third and overtime when no Kings participant amongst the choices of Moller, Stoll and Armstrong scored. I have no words of wisdom as to Murray’s choices. I will say that these three all played strong games and with no real points on the line, seeing what they could do had no downside
officially.
Surprises of the Night:
Besides Moller’s strong play, the rookie defensive pairing of Hickey and Doughty shined. Hickey solidly manned the point on the man advantage. Doughty not only shot blocked but he also carried the puck along the boards while simultaneously keeping his head up the entire time connecting on tape to tape passes. Kopitar takes seven shots; Brown takes five and the rest of the skaters manage 15. That will
not cut it.
The Kings’ physical play, overall team defense, killing of every penalty, and the fact these players all stood up for each other and matched every Colorado hit may just be the biggest surprise. Strong specialty team play and two-way play are some major weaknesses from last year that show improvement this year
already with multiple rookies in the line-up no less. Perhaps this year won’t be as long and ugly as everyone predicts. Dare to dream….
The Lines:
Brown Kopitar Moller
Moulson Handzus Meckler
Boyle Stoll Armstrong
Simmonds Dravecky Westgarth
Johnson Gauthier
Hickey Doughty
Bagnall Preissing
Carla Muller carla.hockeygal@att.net 
Carla Muller
Fight Night at Frozen Fury 
