NHL Update: Colorado Avalanche lose to the Los Angeles Kings 2-4
One of highlight games of the pre-season was the 14th game which took place at the Pepsi Centre on Wednesday. The Colorado Avalanche locked horns with the Los Angeles Kings in a battle that was surely going to attract a big crowd. It was Colorado’s
second game while the Los Angeles Kings were making a fresh start to the off-season.
Before the match began, Joe Sacco, the Head Coach for the Avalanche said, “this is one of the tough games without a doubt, but we surely have the potential and team that is needed to win against the Kings.”
The match began at 7:07 local time and the first half proved to be a close contest between the two. The away team dominated play, making frequent attacks on the Colorado goal. They mounted up a total of 13 shots during the course of the first period but
failed to convert any shots on goal. On the contrary, the Avalanche team, which was backed by a very energetic home crowd, managed to break through the tight King's defence. Though they weren't able to get past them on most occasions, they managed to make
only 6 attempts on goal, netted only once to make a 1-0 score line in their favour, thanks to some good wrist work by Philippe Dupuis who managed to score from 15 feet when the match went into the third minute.
At the half time buzzer, Kings Head Coach Terry Murray said, “the game is still open and up for anyone's taking, let's hope it’s us.”
As soon as the second period began, the home team launched repetitive attacks at the Kings goal and once again managed to get past the jam packed defence during the sixth minute of the period and cemented their position further by putting up the second goal.
The goal scorer was one of the most talented men in the NHL, Kyle Quincey. After watching a 2-0 lead built up against them, the Kings tried to do something different. They launched counter attacks at Colorado's goal with a higher frequency but sat back when
they didn't have the possession. This paid off and the Kings managed to score at 7:32 on the clock, thanks to a thunderous 9 foot shot by captain Michal Handzus.
After gaining confidence, the Kings scored again in the 12th minute by some splendid wrist work by John Zeiler from long range. This marked the end of the second period which concluded as a successful one for the Kings who managed to crawl back
from a deficit of two goals. The Kings made a total of 14 attempts on goal out which they scored twice. The Avalanche on the other hand made 9 attempts out of which one was able to get past the Kings goalie. The end of the second period saw the score line
locked at 2-2.
The third period saw a shift in momentum as soon as play began. This time round, the Kings started the period on a high and fired a shot every now and then. This resulted in the Kings taking the lead for the first time at 4:32 into the third period after
Brad Richardson managed to score from another long range shot. This put the Kings in the lead and they pressed on without the fear of losing the lead they gained for the first time during the match. The constant hard work and determination of the Kings proved
to be fruitful once again as they scored once again through Justin Williams. With 7:29 on the clock, this player hit a shot from 10 feet that got past the goalie like a bullet, leaving him with no chance of stopping it.
Kings won the match 4-2 and sealed victory. While commenting on their loss, Cameron Gaunce from the Avalanche said,
“We had the right combination, the right start but didn't have the final touch to seal off the match. Though this was disappointing for us but we will be looking to bounce back in the next game.”
On the other hand, Kings Captain Michal Handzus said, “Though we were not supported here a lot but still I would like to thank the few fans that came here to back us. As for the win, this was surely sweet as we managed to make out way back after
two goals were scored against us.”
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