NHL Playoffs 2014: LA Kings get blown away in San Jose, 13 goals scored against in first two games
Jonathan Quick and the Los Angeles Kings' impressive playoff run two years ago seems much, much further away after an extremely disappointing start in their first playoff series against the San Jose Sharks over the weekend, getting smacked around giving up six goals on Thursday night and seven goals on Sunday night.
The wheels fell apart in the final minute of the first period in Game 1, when the Sharks went up 3-0 before intermission. They tacked on two more in the second period but it could have been a lot worse of Quick didn't make some great moves in front of the net. Period 3 was better after San Jose stopped choking down LA, and gave some spark to the team and fans for the next game.
It started out well. LA put up the first two goals in the first period of Game 2, and order looked to be restored. Then once both teams hit the ice for Period 2, the Sharks got hot again with seven different players scoring a goal in a 7-0 run that buried the Kings into submission.
After being outscored 13-5 in the first two games, it's hard to figure out exactly how the Kings can slow down the Sharks as the series shifts to Staples. No, Quick hasn't been his usual self giving up goals he wouldn't have two years ago, but his team isn't doing any favors. In four of the first six periods of the series, San Jose is destroying LA in possession and shots at the goal. It's not Quick's fault when a Sharks player swipes the puck away before the Kings can clear it and nails a 1-on-1 shot against Quick.
The series resumes Tuesday night. The Kings have plenty of work ahead of them now needing to win four of the next five. Hope seems lost, but hockey is one crazy ass sport that can't be predicted.
Top Five Headlines
- NBA: Rick Adelman retires after 23 seasons as a head coach. Dude won 1,042 NBA games. Fantastic coach will be missed, and it's a bummer that the Minnesota Timberwolves couldn't play better under him this season.
- BPL: Man United manager David Moyes expected to be sacked. Man U lost to Everton 2-0 on Sunday, and they may not even make Europa League qualifying currently sitting at 7th in the BPL behind Tottenham by six points.
- NBA: New York Knicks head coach Mike Woodson is officially fired. His fate was going to be determined early this week according to reports late last week, and it only took a couple hours for him to find out on Monday morning.
- NHL: Jesus resurrected at the Detroit-Boston game on Easter Sunday. He was seen being escorted out after sneaking into the bottom half of the arena, but he magically made it back in the third period to become the fan of the game. That's Jesus for you.
- NBA: Gregg Popovich gives a message to ailing Craig Sager on the air. CS Jr. was on sideline duties filling in his father, and Popovich gave a heart-felt quick comment to Sager to wish him well and wanting him back on the sidelines. He would even be nice to him. That's love.
Yesterday's Favorites
NCAA Baseball: TCU 3, Texas 1 (F/Saturday)
The Horned Frogs completed the amazing sweep of the Longhorns. Texas was able to get on the board with hits, but only scored their lone run in the first inning. Nathan Thornhill was sharp again giving up five hits and two runs with six strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work, but the Texas offense just couldn't get anything going against TCU all weekend. With the sweep, TCU is now just one game back of Oklahoma State for the top spot in the Big 12 and Texas now sits at 3rd.
MLB: Giants 4, Padres 3
San Francisco had their 10th straight game decided by one run, and finally they were able to break a 3-game schnide and avoided a sweep at San Diego. Buster Posey hit his fourth home run of the season, a two-run jack, and SF put up two runs in each of the first two innings despite having just three hits. While Tim Lincecum had a hiccup in the third inning but gathered in his first win of the season after giving up seven hits, three runs, and recording seven strikeouts in six innings. The bullpen held it down the rest of the way -- four players didn't give up a hit and allowed just two walks.
Stanley Cup Playoffs Report
- Flyers 4, Rangers 2 (Tied 1-1)
- Bruins 4, Red Wings 1 (Tied 1-1)
- Canadiens 3, Lightning 2 (MON 3-0)
- Sharks 7, Kings 2 (SJ 2-0)
We've already touched on the Kings' debacle in SJ. That was the only Western Conference game in action yesterday while three Eastern Conference tilts happened earlier.
After sweeping the Lightning in Tampa Bay, Montreal continues to dominate and take a commanding 3-0 series lead with Game 4 at their home for a chance to sweep the series. Rene Bourque scored just 11 seconds into the game for the Canadiens to get on the board early and they didn't look back. Kudos to the Lightning for keeping it close the rest of the way, but it's a hard sell to win four straight games to move on.
Elsewhere, the Flyers were able to rebound after a crushing loss to the Rangers and tie up the series while the Bruins looked more like themselves in a dominating 4-1 win over Detroit.
NBA Playoffs Rundown
- Spurs 90, Mavericks 85 (SA 1-0)
- Heat 99, Bobcats 88 (MIA 1-0)
- Wizards 102, Bulls 93 (WSH 1-0)
- Blazers 122, Rockets 120 (F/OT) (POR 1-0)
Today's Slate
BPL
West Brom at Man City - 2:00 NBCS
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1
Penguins at Blue Jackets (Tied 1-1) - 6:00 NBCS
Avalanche at Wild (COL 2-0) - 6:00 NHLN
Blues at Blackhawks (STL 2-0) - 7:30 CNBC
Ducks at Stars (ANA 2-0) - 8:30 NBCS
NBA PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1
Grizzlies at Thunder (OK 1-0) - 7:00 TNT
Warriors at Clippers (GS 1-0) - 9:30 TNT
MLB - NL West
D'backs at Cubs - 7:05 FSAZ/CSCH+
Padres at Brewers - 7:10 FSSD/FSWI
Giants at Rockies - 7:40 CSBA/RSRM
Phillies at Dodgers - 9:10 CSPH/SNLA
LAX
CBB - Big 12
Texas Tech at New Mexico - 3:00
CS Bakersfield at Kansas St - 6:30 FCS
No comments:
Post a Comment