We all look for it in sports when a team is going through turmoil and struggles. We all hope to identify that moment when a team spiraling downward suddenly seems to regain control and level things back towards an upward climb.
Fans of the Los Angeles Kings hope that Saturday’s night 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes was that moment. Or moments, as the case may be.
The contest was a microcosm of the entire season to this point in many ways. The question now becomes whether or not it was a blip on the radar of continuing struggles or indeed the moment when momentum finally returns on the positive side for the Kings.
The Kings played in the first period like the Stanley Cup contending team some thought they’d be from the start of the season and like others thought they were when they started the season 12-3. First period tallies by Justin Williams, Drew Doughty, and Alec Martinez gave the Kings a 3-0 lead through the first 13 ½ minutes of the contest.
Then just as quickly it seemed, the lead evaporated much like many have recently felt their team’s playoff hopes (much less Stanley Cup title chances) had fallen by the wayside. A pair of goals by Lee Stempniak, aiming to join Shane Doan as Kings-killers on the Coyotes, sandwiched a goal by Martin Hanzal to even the contest with just two minutes left in the second period.
A tightly played third period seemed destined to result in a frantic finish. That’s when Jarret Stoll, depending on whether you perceive the Kings season to be glass half-filled or half-empty, came to the rescue. Following up on a shot by Ryan Smyth that was initially saved by Phoenix netminder Ilya Bryzgalov, Stoll made a diving attempt and batted the loose puck into the net behind Bryzgalov to give the Kings the lead for good at 4:57. The Kings clamped down the rest of the contest and earned a much-needed two points.
“We did a good job of cycling and getting to loose pucks and making good plays,” Stoll suggested after the contest, “and I knew (on the winning goal) that the puck was behind him somewhere and was just hoping it would stay there long enough for me to get to it.”
The victory snapped a three-game losing slide and moved the Kings to 51 points on the season. As play begins Sunday in the NHL, the Kings are tied with St. Louis for 11th place in the Western Conference, just four points behind San Jose for the final playoff spot.
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Lombardi Gaffe – Accidentally on Purpose?
The NHL on Friday levied a $50,000 fine against Kings general manager Dean Lombardi for his comments made following Thursday’s 2-0 loss to Phoenix in which he remarked about the video review process in general and Mike Murphy’s role in particular.
Many have written about the details on what Lombardi said, why he said it, his subsequent apology to Murphy and the league the next day, and why the league handed down said punishment. And to be fair about it, Lombardi may have been right to be upset with the call and to openly discuss how the review process works and whether it needs to be improved – which it does.
Where he went wrong was in personalizing the attack on Murphy, and in many ways infer that there was an integrity issue. To his credit, Lombardi did acknowledge his mistake and accept responsibility for his actions.
Still, this is a general manager of an NHL team and has been working in the league as a professional for a long time. Instead of taking some time to measure his reaction and ensure that his opinion was phrased effectively without the main point becoming obfuscated by a personal attack, he bypassed his communications department and fed the quote to LA Kings Insider Rich Hammond.
Which begs the question: was this slightly premeditated to deflect some heat and criticism away from his players and coaches in the midst of their recent struggles? Perhaps, though I’m willing to give Lombardi the benefit of the doubt that he was just reacting without self-censorship in the heat of the moment. Then again, there is a reason they don’t allow us reporters into the locker room during the first ten minutes of the post-game process – in part to avoid exactly this kind of unmeasured reaction.
Perhaps the most reassuring thing that came out of this incident was the reaffirmation of the journalistic integrity of Hammond, who is in his second year serving as a beat reporter for the team while also being paid by them as well. As I tweeted in support on Friday, Hammond could have very easily taken these comments (said in anger in the heat of the moment) and try to protect the organization that pays his salary by walking over to the PR guys and telling them of the context and contents of the quotes, thereby allowing the team to bury said comments from getting out and causing damage. Instead, knowing it could potentially create even the slightest bit of unease between him and others in the organization, Hammond published the comments like any other reporter would have done.
Kudos to Hammond for staying true to himself and his craft and printing the comments unedited.
By the way, Hammond wrote about the Kings ‘total shots’ situation we initially wrote about on Thursday. I inquired with head coach Terry Murray about it on Friday after practice. In Saturday’s victory in Phoenix, the Kings registered 33 shots on goal, while 28 shots were either blocked or missed, giving them more than 50% on-target attempts.
Jon Moncrief is beginning his third season covering the Kings for Examiner.com and you can follow him on Twitter by clicking here. He is also covering the NHL and the Dodgers for Examiner. Additionally, Jon is a featured contributor for Bowl Gamer, and is the co-host of the weekly web-TV show INSIDE SPORTS.
Many thanks to Phoenix Coyotes Examiner Anthony Perez for providing me audio of Jarret Stoll's post-game comments for use in this story.
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