LA Kings need more 'common sense' to stay out of penalty box
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – The Los Angeles Kings have one clear and obvious path towards getting back into their first-round series against the San Jose Sharks.
They need to take fewer penalties.
Kings penalties have enabled the Sharks’ deadly power play to dominate the LA’s penalty kill and put a stranglehold on their best-of-seven series. In their last game, San Jose scored three goals with the man-advantage to give them a 3-2 win and a 3-1 series lead heading into Friday’s Game 5.
The Kings have been given 19 minor penalties, which is seventh most in the postseason so far. LA has averaged 9.50 penalty minutes per-game, which ranks 10th out of 16 playoff teams.
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The Sharks have buried 27.8 percent of their power play chances.
“They scored three goals on the power play last night so obviously stay out of the box as much as we can but play within the rules,” Kings forward Marian Gaborik said. “Sometimes it gets out of hand, but we have to try to follow it as much as we can in order to stay out of the box. We scored two 5-on-5 goals and they scored three on the power play. We just need to have common sense to stay out of the box.”
Kings coach Darryl Sutter intimated that there should have been more penalties called on the Sharks in the last game, where San Jose was 3-for-4 with the man-advantage. The Kings were 0-for-2.
The Sharks have averaged 7.00 penalty minutes per-game, second-fewest in the playoffs. San Jose has taken 14 minor penalties, which ranks 12th amongst this year's playoff teams.
“I know the theme today is ‘San Jose’s power play.’ I’d say the game for me is ‘how come we didn’t have more?’ We have a good power play, too. There’s missed calls in the third period,” Sutter said. “When it’s 3-2, there should’ve been some calls, clearly. There’s two hooking, tripping penalties. They’ve got to call ‘em. I mean, if they’re going to call what they did call – that’s why you ask. It’s even.”
Sutter brought up how in Game 2 the Sharks received a two-minute 5-on-3 power play when Tyler Toffoli was called for roughing and Milan Lucic was called for charging. Logan Couture scored on the ensuing power play and this proved to be the game-winning goal.
“We’ve seen some funny ones this series, if you look at it. Five-on-three they scored, and neither one knew that the other guy was calling the penalty. But it is what it is,” Sutter said. “It’s the first round, and they go from how many officials down to who they feel are the 20 best referees. You know what? Those guys are trying to get another round, too, so it’s not easy for them.”
The Kings have held a slight advantage 5-on-5 from a puck possession perspective. According to War on Ice, they have a 52.0 CF% to the Sharks’ 48.0 percent. The Kings know they can play better against San Jose at even strength, but the only way to stay 5-on-5 is to not take penalties.
“I feel they’ve been calling more than during the season for sure,” Kings forward Vincent Lecavalier said of the officials calling the game. “I don’t know if they had a meeting before, the NHL or whatever. But you see it around the league and all the series, there’s been a lot of penalties called. It’s on us to stay disciplined and keep our sticks down and skate and try not to get those penalties.”
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
