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LA Kings defeat Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 (OT). It is hard to blame the Kings for not playing their best hockey. They opened the season playing two games in Europe and are finishing two games on the East Coast. In fact they haven’t been in Southern California since Sept. 30. But the Kings dug in and snuck out of the Wells Fargo Center with the win with the aid of the returning son Mike Richards.
After James van Riemsdyk was called for tripping Simon Gagné with 20 seconds left in regulation, the Kings got the 4-on-3 power-play in overtime. Richards held the puck on the left point, faked a shot then fired the pass to Jack Johnson who deflected the puck into the net for the win.
And with a 2-1-1 record the Kings have five points out of the possible eight to show for their international roadtrip.
It was fitting that Richards figured into the winning goal with an arena dotted with his Flyers sweater. The crowd gave him a warm welcome before the game - and by warm welcome I mean it was a standing ovation rather than the perception of a warm welcome by Philly fans’ standard. Of course once the puck dropped the crowd rightfully booed him each time he touched the puck.
But until that point, the only big Richards moment was his big hit on Jakub Voracek in the second period. And even that paled in comparison to the hit that really screamed Zac Rinaldo laid out on Drew Doughty 20 seconds into the game. It seemed like clean hit at first, but after playing another shift after the hit Doughty went into the locker room. He’s expected to be out seven to ten days with a non-head injury according to the Kings.
Dustin Penner decided to send the message instigating a fight with Rinaldo which sent both off the ice for fighting, but Penner got the added instigator penalty to give the Flyers the power-play. After Matt Greene slashed Jaromir Jagr giving the Flyers’ the 5-on-3 advantage, Jagr made a cross-ice pass through the crease to Danny Briere playing against the left post just as the two-man advantage ended. Briere just tipped the puck right into the net for the first score.
What looked at first to be a statement by the Kings all of the sudden seemed to be nothing more than a blip in the game. The Kings looked tired on the ice recording only three shots in a 5-on-5 situation in the first period. But thanks to 22 penalties leading to 15 power-plays, the Kings took advantage when Justin Williams went top shelf against goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for the power-play equalizer.
Williams gave the Kings the brief lead with a second-chance shot in the third period. However a Richards hooking penalty allowed Matt Carle to tie the game up less than a minute later.
The Kings come home tonight and thanks to the win will get the day off on Sunday before returning for practice in El Segundo on Monday. They open the STAPLES Center Tuesday evening against the St. Louis Blues.
TONIGHT’S ACTION
St. Louis Blues at Anaheim Ducks. 5:00 p.m. FS Prime Ticket, AM 830 KLAA.
NFL Schedule
10:00 a.m.
Buffalo Bills at New York Giants. CBS.
San Francisco 49ers at Detroit Lions. Fox.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Pittsburgh Steelers. AM 570 KLAC.
1:00 p.m.
Dallas Cowboys at New England Patriots. Fox.
Cleveland Browns at Oakland Raiders. AM 830 KLAA.
New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers. AM 570 KLAC.
5:00 p.m.
Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears. NBC, AM 570 KLAC.
