Kings Takeaways: Hang With Avalanche in Game 1, Lose 2-1 – The Hockey Writers – Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings played well enough to win, and that’s saying a lot considering the fact that they are massive underdogs playing what most are calling one of the best hockey teams ever. There are essentially no shortcomings when talking about the Colorado Avalanche, and not only do they have loads of talent distributed throughout their lineup, but the style of play they can impose on you at will makes for a very difficult 60 minutes. 

For the Kings to come into Ball Arena, on the road, and keep the Avalanche off the board until late in the second period, and fall just shy, losing 2-1, is a win in itself. No one is expecting the Kings to do much against the Avalanche, and that was a game that felt like a team that played its best and still lost, because at the end of the day, that’s just how good the Avalanche are; they don’t need to be firing on all cylinders to win. 

This was also proof that the Kings can hang around with the Avalanche. As much of a gap as there is between these two teams, the Kings proved they can play a style of game that can limit the Avalanche. 

“I don’t think we can outscore them, so we’re going to have to keep it like that,” Mikey Anderson said. “We’re comfortable in the low-scoring games, so we’ve got to try and keep it tight.”

If you are the Kings, you have to be happy with your defensive game and the ability to limit the Avalanche in the offensive zone. Yes, the Avalanche had the puck for the majority of this game, but the Kings weren’t giving up quality look after look. 

For a team like the Kings that has struggled to move the puck out of the zone all season, it was no surprise that the task of moving it up the ice was a difficult one against an Avalanche team that was spectacular at keeping the puck alive in the offensive zone, clogging that area of the ice and turning pucks over consistently. A long stretch pass out of the zone was what the Kings elected to do for a lot of their exits because of the aggressive pressure the Avalanche forced on them. And while that got the puck out of the zone and stopped the Avalanche attack, the Kings had no flow up the ice, which hindered their ability to get going the other way. 

“I think we can get more pucks to the net and I think we’ve just got to be a little meaner offensively,” Kings coach D.J. Smith said. “I think the thing I’d take away is we’ve got to be more physical. We’ve got to hit their D more, and I expect that next game.”

Have to Find a Way to Capitalize

This game felt like one the Kings could have snuck out if they were able to capitalize on the chances they did create. If there’s one thing you have to do to give yourself the best chance at beating the Avalanche, you have to be able to capitalize, because they don’t come around often. 

Seconds into the game, Trevor Moore dashed down the wing only to force a pass that resulted in a turnover rather than to test Scott Wedgewood early, in his first career playoff start. Drew Doughty found himself right in front of the net with the chance to pot one into an empty cage, but couldn’t get a good grip on the puck.  

The Kings can’t afford to continue to pass up on quality looks when the Avalanche have the puck on their sticks for the majority of the game. There were pockets where the Kings were able to play in the offensive zone, set up, and test Wedgewood, but aside from an Artemi Panarin shot from the point late in the third that got them on the board, the Kings couldn’t get anything to go. 

Take a look at how the Avalanche scored their first goal. Nathan MacKinnon threw a puck to the net from the corner, and Artturi Lehkonen was able to finish on the rebound. Even a team that can normally create offense any way they like understands the importance of getting pucks to the net when there isn’t much time and space to do the things you normally do to score goals.

That’s something the Kings need to understand and need to implement into their game quickly. Garbage goals, screens, tips, deflections, broken plays, and rebounds are going to be the ways the Kings can get on the board. The time and space the Kings will have to do anything else will continue to be limited, and when that happens, being simple and direct is all you can do.  

Forsberg Was The Right Decision 

Anton Forsberg had never played a playoff game before yesterday. Darcy Kuemper has 40 playoff games under his belt, including a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022. None of that matters, though, because Forsberg earned the chance to be the Kings’ number one guy to start the playoffs. He had a terrific ending to the season, coming in and backstopping the Kings to the playoffs while Kuemper struggled, and kept that same mojo rolling against the Avalanche in Game 1. 

Stopping 28 of 30 shots, Forsberg did everything he could to make sure the Kings stuck around. Early, he was huge. The Kings were able to weather storms in the first period, largely because of him. All that being said, this wasn’t a game where he needed to stand on his head. The Kings collectively disrupted a lot of the Avalanche offense, and while they had the puck on their sticks a lot of the time, they weren’t able to convert that into a large number of high-danger chances. 

“He’s been great for us down the stretch,” Anderson said. “He made some huge saves when we needed him to. He’s calm, he’s collected, he’s a good guy to have back there…it’s good to see him continue his good play.”

If you think about it, that was the best possible outcome for Forsberg in his first playoff game. He still had to face 30 shots from quality players and be dialed in at times, but wasn’t necessarily left out to dry and had to come up with massive save after massive save. It’s important to note that Forsberg is going to have a lot more work cut out for him, and there are going to be games and sequences where he needs to stand on his head. So for him to be able to gain confidence in a playoff game where the Avalanche weren’t able to totally take it to the Kings is huge. 

If Forsberg continues to play as he did in Game 1, the Kings have a chance in this series. The ability for the Kings to upset the Avalanche has everything to do with how he plays the rest of the way, because of the amount of time that continues to be spent weathering storms from the Avalanche, and suppressing as much as they can to the outside is only going to increase. 

Nothing gets easier for the Kings in Game 2; in fact, you can almost bet it will get harder. They know what they need to continue to do to suppress the Avalanche, and they know what they need to do to try to force the puck the other way and create more offense. The same question will always remain: can they do it?