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Furious Kings Coach Reveals the Real Reason the Penguins Won
Photo credit: Edit from MayorsManor.com
Kings coach Jim Hiller was not happy after his team blew the lead and lost, and he pointed to the Penguins' top-notch goaltending as the reason for the loss.
The Los Angeles Kings experienced a difficult 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday after surrendering a 2-0 lead, revealing many of their early-season ills.
The Penguins' goaltending was the biggest news as Arturs Silovs made 30 of 32 saves for a .938 save percentage. He was steady, productive, and handled rebounds well, stopping Los Angeles all night.
Jim Hiller, coach of the Kings, credited the Penguins' goaltending as the reason Pittsburgh won the game.
"You've just got to find a way to put it in the back of the net and again, give the goalie credit," Hiller told reporters after the game.
"Three posts, we beat him on those, so three posts and then some really good saves by him where we had what we like to call him Grade-A's when you're kind of that tight with the goaltender and he beat us," Hiller said.
"Even (Alex Laferriere) at the end on the shorthanded (chance) had a good look right from in tight and the goaltender made the save," he added
"Three posts, we beat him on those, so three posts and then some really good saves by him where we had what we like to call him Grade-A's when you're kind of that tight with the goaltender and he beat us," Hiller said.
"Even (Alex Laferriere) at the end on the shorthanded (chance) had a good look right from in tight and the goaltender made the save," he added
It wasn't just goaltending, as the Kings struggled on the power-play
Special units proved decisive. Even reducing their penalty minutes to two, from their league-leading average over the first five games, the Kings were unable to take advantage of the power play.
Their two chances amounted to minimal pressure in offense and perpetuated a pattern of not being able to come into the zone cleanly.
To add more salt to the wound, the Penguins scored shorthanded on the first NHL goal of Filip Hallander. It was a gut-punch play that demonstrated the Kings' in-between effort on both sides of the special teams.
Now at 1-3-1 and sixth in the Pacific Division, Los Angeles is in trouble early. The team has displayed moments of high-quality hockey, but continues to have trouble breaking down and blowing opportunities.
With most games on the road upcoming, the Kings will have to get refocused before their sluggish start becomes much more difficult to overcome.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 17 | 83 ANSWERS Furious Kings Coach Reveals the Real Reason the Penguins Won Was Pittsburgh's goaltending elite last night? | ||
| Yes | 51 | 61.4 % |
| No | 32 | 38.6 % |
| List of polls | ||