PHOENIX—The Kings witnessed another shutout. Phoenix’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Antoine Vermette scored three unanswered to shut out Los Angeles at Jobing.com Arena on Tuesday night. Thomas Greiss earned his second shutout of the season on 30 shots from the Kings.
The Kings’ back-to-back games ending in the desert led the team to believe that a 1-0 victory over the Sharks would leave enough room in the tank to beat a team that sits a half-dozen points out of playoff contention. With a recent on-again, off-again winning pace, the time for victories at home came tonight. Both teams took to their respective nets hard in the third with Los Angeles shooting 13 on Greiss, with no clear assurances of an easy night.
The game remained tied scoreless with the Coyotes battling for possession in the Kings’ end. After fighting the puck off the boards, Antoine Vermette slid the puck back to the far end, finding Ekman-Larsson there to drive the puck hard and score his seventh of the season, making the lone goal hold for the duration of the first period.
Los Angeles center Jordan Nolan became the target early in the second after interfering and roughing Coyotes center Kyle Chipchura. The attack led Paul Bissonette to let Nolan have a taste of his own medicine. Bissonnette was charged with a game misconduct and did not return to the ice. The double minor from Nolan put the Coyotes in a spot to increase the lead where Ekman-Larsson connected on another drive that zipped past Jonathan Quick to give him his second of the night. The Coyotes outshot the Kings 12-8 with the certainty that Phoenix would hold their ground at home for the win.
Despite the penalty-free period, time was not on the Kings’ side, leavingPhoenix with one last chance to score. It came at 8:47 with Vermette scoring his 19th on a short wrister as Quick fell into the net, leaving Vermette with an easy goal and a 3-0 margin not to be made up by Los Angeles. Solid defense from the Coyotes bench and a strong attempt from Greiss improved, as the second string goaltender left them with success. The 28-year-old finished with his seventh victory in the last 11 starts, averaging out to an even 2.00 goals against average and .935 save percentage.
The loss for the Kings doesn’t come as a good finish to a short road trip withPittsburgh and Philadelphia coming into town on Thursday and Saturday. Los Angeles might begin to wish for the Olympic break to come sooner rather than later.
