Through two periods, the Kings looked stuck in purgatory. Their offense sagged, and every promising rush ended in a turnover. A switch flipped beginning in the third period when Los Angeles delivered in the clutch, something theyâ€ve struggled to accomplish this season.
Brandt Clarke delivered a power play goal, avoiding overtime to send the Senators packing in a gritty Kings 2-1 win over Ottawa.
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The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Kings, where they looked awful, especially down the stretch in overtime games, failing to close out in the clutch, but today they showed up in late-game situations.
Ugly Start by Both Teams
Ottawa controlled the game through the first two periods, outshooting Los Angeles and winning nearly 70% of its faceoffs. But the Kings survived thanks to their goaltending and defensive group that didnâ€t bend when needed to make a stop.
Still, the Senators were in it all game when winger Fabian Zetterlund hit a big shot that went high in the air past the Kings’ defenders and into the net in the third. This game felt like it would end the same way it always has for the Kings: in overtime, and they would lose consistently.
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Kings Close it Out
But, instead, the Kings got a wake-up call that they desperately needed and didnâ€t let the game go into an extra period.
After the game-tying shot from the Senators, just a few minutes later, the Kings earned their chance to take the game away from Ottawa, who took a costly penalty. On the following play, Clarke, consistently becoming one of the Kings’ best players this season, stepped into the middle of the ice and hammered a big shot through traffic to break the tie.
The puck whistled past every Ottawa defender and gave the Kings their first lead of the night.
From there, the King tightened up their defense in the final minutes of the game as Clarkeâ€s goal held serve and fended off Ottawaâ€s final push.
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The performance wasnâ€t pretty for the Kings. The opening minutes of the game were flat and ugly. But, a win is a win, especially in a year where the Pacific Division is looking like a dog-fight. It was a big Monday night win for the Kings to secure a much-needed win to get back in the win column.
Up next, the Kings will travel to Anaheim on their one-game road stand to take on the Ducks at 1:00 p.m. EST.
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