A night of firsts
Last night was a big one for Kings rookies Oscar Moller and Drew Doughty, both of whom scored their first NHL goals in the 4-3 loss to Colorado. Moller scored a power-play goal in the first period and Doughty scored an even-strength goal in the third period. Here they are...
Doughty said of his first goal, ``It was awesome. It's so good to finally get that goal and just give me that boost of confidence. After I got that goal, I was more in the play and rushing the puck a little bit more, so it was good. Obviously it would have been better to win the game, but it's always good to get that first goal.''
Terry Murray talked about the two goals...
``It was only a matter of time before these young guys were going to get their first goal. It's great to see it happen so early in the season. Quite honestly, Moller's goal was just a veteran play, throwing the puck to the net, you never know what's going to happen. It's the right play, when you make that kind of a play, but it's usually an experienced guy that ends up doing it. Same with Doughty. After a tough goal against there in the second period, on what ends up being the winning goal, he had no effects of it whatsoever. He came out and played a tremendous third period and had a great effort on that goal to show poise and handle the puck and come in off that left-wing side with a great shot. So congratulations to both of those guys.''
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J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra@inlandnewspapers.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews
.com.
Vincent Bonsignore is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Vinny at vincent.bonsignore
@dailynews.com.
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any one notice how quickly Kopi retrieves that puck for Doughty from the Avs net???
i think it speaks volumes to the differences between last years team and this years team. these guys play for each other and its obvious.
this season so far is already more enjoyable than all of last season for me.
This Doughty is gonna be a franchise D-Man for sure.
I'm happy we ended up with the #2 pick instead of the #1.
And I'm also happy that DL picked Doughty over Bogosian. Very Smart move by DL. If he'd picked Bogosian instead, the Staples Center would never be the same.
if it's your first NHL goal, 99% of the time your teammate will get the puck and give it to you.
jack handy,
You are right. there is a huge difference between this years team and last years team. I saw it last night. Last years team would have punched the clock and quit after going down 4-2 to the avs. last night, i saw that they put thier big boy pants on and battled to the end.
And i'll tell you this, i haven't seen a rookie as confident and as talented as doughty in a while. He keeps playing this way, and he'll have a real shot at rookie of the year.
Of course, there is the rumor that DL would have picked Doughty over Stamkos anyway.
Harry -
absolutely... i'm just happy about who grabbed it.
I actually agree with Jack. Of course, the puck would have found its way to Doughty's locker, but Kopitar was more interested in grabbing the puck for him than celebrating the goal, which is why the dude's wearing the the "A."
Imagine 50 years from now, when Doughty's long since retired and he's got his grandkids on his knee... and he says to them, "...and that's how I scored my first ever goal in the NHL, then afterwards one of the top 3 or 4 players in Kings history presented me with the puck afterwards." I'm not sure life gets better than that.
Congrats to both Drew and Oscar (and Wayne) hopefully they are the 1st of many from this season alone and the future. Wish them both the best and beyond 10th games. Going back to the WHL/OHL will be a waste.
jack handy, those are some deep thoughts. I love Doughty. I've been able to watch games with Stamkos, Bogosian, Pietrangelo & Schenn, and Doughty looks far and away the best of the bunch. We've got a really good one on our hands.
I am just amazed even the Avs announcers were impressed with the goals, especially Doughty's.