Final: Kings 3, Sharks 2

After nine consecutive road games, after visiting four different time zones, after playing on both sides of the border and on both coasts, the Kings finally returned Saturday to the cavernous confines of Staples Center to face the San Jose Sharks.

The Kings hardly looked like the same uncertain team that lost three consecutive games and was 3-4-2 while averaging only two goals per game during their extended absence from Southern California. They grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and made it theirs, winning 3-2.

Kings center Jeff Carter got a step on the Sharks’ retreating defense and scored his team-leading 20th goal of the season to restore a two-goal advantage 3 minutes, 44 seconds after Brent Burns pulled San Jose to within 2-1 with a power-play goal 12 seconds into the third period.

Carter reached the 20-goal milestone for the 12th time in his 13 seasons in the NHL.

San Jose’s Kevin Labanc cut the Kings’ lead to 3-2 at 13:57, but the Sharks’ failed to overcome a poor start to the game. Tanner Pearson, in the first period, and Drew Doughty, on a second-period power play, gave the Kings a 2-0 lead after two periods.

The Kings outshot the Sharks 13-6 in the opening period and by 27-20 by game’s end.

“We played the whole game the way we want to play,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said after tying Jacques Martin for 13th place on the NHL’s all-time list with his 613th career victory. “We hadn’t played here for a long time. It was nice to play in front of our fans again.”

A loss would have dropped the Kings 11 points behind the Pacific Division-leading Sharks, not that anyone expected a tight race between the teams. Instead, the Kings moved within seven as the midpoint of the season nears. The Kings are 18-15-4; the Sharks are 23-13-1.

The matchup in goal Saturday featured two possible Pacific Division teammates when the NHL’s annual 3-on-3 tournament, er, All-Star Game is held at Staples Center on Jan. 29, with Peter Budaj starting for the Kings and Martin Jones in net for the Sharks.

Budaj was playing only because No. 1 goalie Jonathan Quick sat out for the 35th game after suffering a serious groin injury in the first period of the season-opening game Oct. 12 at San Jose. His play was hardly the reason for the Kings’ fifth-place standing going into the game.

In fact, Budaj’s statistics aren’t all that different from those of Jones after the third of five meetings between the Kings and Sharks this season. Budaj is 16-10-3 with a 2.03 goals-against average; Jones is 19-12-1 with a 2.11 goals-against average.

“Guys played great in front of me,” Budaj said. “We didn’t give up much. They’re a very dangerous team. They don’t need much to make it interesting, and they did. It’s a big game for us, a big two points. … It’s a grind, it’s a battle.”

Before the game, Sutter dismissed the notion that the Kings’ lackluster goal-scoring was keeping them from moving up in the standings. As ever, Sutter was more “interested in cutting scoring chances down and giving up easy goals-against.”

“Scoring goes, like, once in a while you don’t and once in a while you do,” Sutter said. “We’ve already done it several times this season. What’s wrong? I can’t score, and then when they do …. Hey, it happens. That’s the way it goes, but easy goals-against have hurt us since Christmas.”

Sutter referred to losses Wednesday to the Vancouver Canucks and Thursday to the Edmonton Oilers, when the Kings weren’t as sharp as they needed to be at either end of the ice. Returning to a cool, rainy Southern California seemed good for what ailed them, however.

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Marian Gaborik is back with the Kings and other notes from Saturday’s practice

Notes from the Kings’ split-squad practice Saturday …

–Injured winger Marian Gaborik was back in El Segundo. He didn’t speak to reporters about the broken foot he suffered while playing with Team Europe in the World Cup of Hockey. He was wearing a protective walking-boot style cast on his right foot and needed the aid of crutches to get around the training facility.

–Jonathan Quick practiced with the B Group of players, but it remained to be determined when he would make his exhibition debut in goal, according to assistant coach David Payne. Quick could play in Sunday’s exhibition against the Ducks at Honda Center. Or it could come in exhibitions Friday or Saturday in Las Vegas.

–There’s no exact timetable for the return of Drew Dougty, Anze Kopitar and Jake Muzzin from the World Cup, Payne said. The three are due some rest and recovery time after Doughty and Muzzin’s Team Canada defeated Kopitar’s Team Europe in the two-game World Cup final. They mighty not play in any exhibitions.

–The Kings’ A Group, which includes Jeff Carter, will face the Edmonton Oilers in an exhibition Sunday in Vernon, British Columbia. Darryl Sutter will coach the team. The Kings’ B team faces the Ducks with Payne and Mike Stothers, coach of the Ontario Reign of the AHL, behind the bench at Honda Center.

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Kings vs. Kings lineups (spoiler: not many veterans are playing)

The Kings vs. Kings scrimmage Sunday afternoon in Ontario is short on veterans. Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin are with Canada in the World Cup in Toronto. Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik are with Team Europe. Game 1 of the final round between Canada and Europe is Tuesday, so they won’t be back for exhibitions Monday against Arizona or Wednesday against the Ducks.

Goaltender Jonathan Quick (Team USA) also isn’t playing Sunday

Among the top prospects, the Kings’ white team features forwards Adrian Kempe and NIc Dowd. The black team features forwards Andy Andreoff and Michael Latta.

Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, Jeff Zatkoff are scratched.

 

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Kings training camp questions (part 5)

5. How will the World Cup impact training camp?

Quick and general manager Dean Lombardi will be back sooner than anticipated. Team USA was eliminated from the World Cup with a loss to Canada on Tuesday in Toronto and played a meaningless round-robin finale Thursday against the Czech Republic. Doughty and Muzzin might be away for a while longer. Canada is expected to reach the championship round. Gaborik and Kopitar advanced with Team Europe and there’s no telling how far they might go after finding their game after a lackluster series of preliminary games. It’s uncertain how their absences might impact the Kings’ training camp. Avoiding injuries is on everyone’s mind during the World Cup and the Kings cannot afford a serious (or even a minor one) one to any of their top players, especially Doughty and Kopitar.

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Kings training camp questions (part 1)

1. Who will fill the Kings’ many vacancies on defense?

Drew Doughty won the Norris Trophy last season as the NHL’s top defenseman, an honor many believed was a season or two or more late in coming to him. Jake Muzzin took strides last season toward becoming an elite defenseman. Rob Scuderi was acquired in order to provide depth and veteran leadership while Matt Greene was sidelined by an injury. If there’s one question about the Kings that looms above all the others going into training, it the one about their second and third pairs. As in, who is going to fill those slots? Alec Martinez is a serviceable No. 3 or 4 defenseman, as are Scuderi and Greene. Who are the No. 5 and 6 defensemen on the Kings’ depth chart? The Kings signed veteran Tom Gilbert from the Montreal Canadiens and Zach Trotman from the Boston Bruins during the off-season.

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Kings open training camp Friday in El Segundo

Here’s the Kings’ schedule for the first three days of training camp:

Friday: Group A practice begins at 10 a.m. at the Kings’ practice facility in El Segundo (555 North Nash Street). Group B practice beings at 2 p.m.

Saturday: Group B practice begins at 10 a.m.; Group A starts at 2 p.m.

Sunday: Kings vs. Kings, Citizens Business Bank Arena, 3 p.m.

There are 64 players expected to attend camp, although some will be delayed because of their participation in the World Cup in Toronto (Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin for Canada, Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik for Team Europe and Jonathan Quick for Team USA). The breakdown of the groups wasn’t announced.

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Drew Doughty’s numbers take a beating in the L.A. Kings’ last two games

Kings defenseman Drew Doughty had a second consecutive rough game during Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. He took a key penalty in the third period that led to the go-ahead power-play goal for the Canucks’ Radim Vrbata. He also had a defensive rating of minus-3 in a team-leading 24:54. He also assisted on the Kings’ only goal, a power-play strike by Marian Gaborik in the second period.

Doughty also was a minus-2 in the Kings’ 3-2 overtime loss Wednesday to the Ducks, which was far from his best game of the season. He and Gaborik collided in a defensive breakdown that led to Ryan Kesler’s winning goal in OT. Doughty and Gaborik both went to cover defenseman Hampus Lindholm, leaving Kesler with plenty of open ice to set and fire a shot from low in the right faceoff circle past Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick.

Overall, Doughty’s plus-minus rating has dipped to plus-1.

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Stadium Series: L.A. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty sets a outdoor ice time mark

The Kings’ Drew Doughty played 32 minutes, 1 second during their 2-1 victory in a Stadium Series game Saturday at Levi’s Stadium, a record for the most minutes in an outdoor game. It’s likely to last only as long as it’ll take for Ryan Suter to make his outdoor debut next season for the Minnesota Wild.

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Morning reading: A look at the L.A. Kings from the Great White North

Typewriter

Damien Cox of Canada’s sportsnet.ca, one of the best in the business, offers a few thoughts about the state of the Kings leading into the March 2 trade deadline. It’s worth a look. Here’s the link: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/deadline-decisions-can-kings-afford-to-boost-blueline/

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Pregame reading: Los Angeles Kings at Columbus Blue Jackets

Kings defenseman Alec Martinez. (Photo by John McCoy Daily News)

Kings defenseman Alec Martinez. (Photo by John McCoy Daily News)

KINGS AT BLUE JACKETS

Faceoff: 4 p.m. TV/Radio: FSW, 790-AM

Defenseman Alec Martinez is said to be day-to-day because of concussion-like symptoms after he took a hard hit Saturday. The Kings ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory Saturday over the then-Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning, the fourth stop on their five-game trip. Martinez was injured in the first period. A victory today over the Blue Jackets would enable them to salvage their trip and give them back-to-back road wins for the first time since defeating the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 26 and then the Phoenix Coyotes on Dec. 4. The Kings are 22-18-12 overall, but 6-12-6 on the road after ending a four-game losing streak away from Staples Center on Saturday. Only the lowly Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers, with five apiece, had fewer road victories at the start of business Sunday. Defenseman Drew Doughty scored his first goal in 14 games Saturday. Justin Williams scored twice against the Lightning, ending a seven-game drought without a point. The Blue Jackets are 23-25-3, and will welcome Marian Gaborik back to Columbus for the first time since trading him to the Kings last March.

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