The Honda Center was rockin’ last night (we were there) but LA Kings netminder Martin Jones shut down the Anaheim Ducks in 9 shootout attempts to pick up the win in his NHL debut
The Anaheim Ducks home record was 10-0-0 before Martin Jones made his NHL debut Tuesday night at “The Pond.” Not only was it a tough matchup but a even bigger stage to place the rookie who was called up from the Manchester Monarchs once starter and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Quick went down. His AHL record last year with them was 27-25-4 with a .919 save percentage. He not only showed he could be a valuable addition to the lineup but could be the next young goalie to shock the hockey world.
Jones was able to do something that Ben Scrivens and even at times Quick has had trouble with this season and over the years by winning a shootout against a higher ranked team on their home ice. Scrivens has improved his after regulation gameplay winning some key matchups against the top-ranked Sharks at San Jose in a shootout and an OT win in Vancouver over the Canucks. Yet the previous two games before that had lost in overtime over the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche both at home.
Jones has a lot more games to prove he is up to par with Scrivens top-ranked NHL statistics but it was a promising win considering the shootout went 9 rounds before anyone had scored. It was amazing for the fans to witness as the rookie battled Jonas Hiller to get his first win in his first NHL game. Dwight King ended the game with the game-winning shootout goal as Jones shut down former King Dustin Penner and company.
The promising aspects of this win were not the amount of shots saved during regulation (27) since the Ducks only had one shot during the shootout. It was the maneuvering by the rookie during the 6 power plays and the 10 very close shots during the 3rd period that made his performance one for the ages. He did allow 2 shots in goal one being a power play goal by Corey Perry early in the 3rd.
Other scores worth noting were by Jeff Carter who gave LA the lead in the middle frame, unassisted. He has started to come back to his elite shooting status that impressed the NHL last season. Look for more impressive wrist shots on goal by Carter if he stays healthy. Another encouraging game by Dustin Brown with his 5th goal of the season after seen debuting the Stadium Series grey jerseys early that day by the Kings social networks. No doubt that game will be a nail bitter with a extremely hard decision by Sutter on who to put in front of the net for the Kings.
LA goes on to face the lowly New York Islanders at home next before beginning a 4-game roadtrip – facing the Canadiens (16-9-3), Maple Leafs (14-11-3), Senators (11-13-4), and the top-ranked Blackhawks (20-5-4). The most exciting of these matchups being in Chicago where the Kings haven’t played since the heartbreaking Western Conference Finals last season where they lost the series to the Blackhawks 4-1. Revenge is probably still in the heads of the Kings players and it wouldn’t be surprising to see these teams along with Anaheim facing off for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season.
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