Kings v. Coyotes - Scoring Chances

This was Dustin Penner's first game as a King, and so Terry Murray spent quite a bit of time trying things out with both Wayne Simmonds and Justin Williams getting some time alongside the duo of Penner and Anze Kopitar. I thought that Penner and Kopitar worked well together in their first game, and I imagine that we'll see quite that pairing stick together for at least the next few games. The only goal of the game, which came on the power play, featured all three of the good OilKings with Ryan Smyth starting the play to Anze Kopitar, who then moved the puck cross-ice to Jarret Stoll at the point. Stoll's slapper eluded Bryzgalov who had no chance to see the puck because that lazy tub of lard, Dustin Penner, was just standing in the crease doing nothing (except screening the goalie). It'll be really interesting to see what the Kings do with both Smyth and Penner on the power play since both guys usually play in front of the net; it may allow them to use a lot of movement in the middle of the ice with one guy moving in as another moves out, which might be very effective.

As for the other OilKing, Matt Greene is just as I remember him. The guy is huge, and he sure can hit, but he took two minor penalties and was outchanced handily. Yep. That's Matt Greene. On the other hand, Drew Doughty is a treat to watch. One of my favorite plays in the game was Doughty rushing the puck up ice and into the Coyotes zone, drawing the attention of pretty well every man in a white jersey. He then deftly passed the puck to Justin Williams for a great scoring chance. Doughty is just a very good player.

It was also fun to see two teams with contrasting defensive styles in the Kings and Coyotes. When they got into even the slightest hint of trouble in their own zone, the Coyotes all collapse toward the scoring chance area and completely give up the points, and the Kings have a couple of pretty good point-men (Doughty and Johnson), so it's not like giving up the points is giving up nothing. The Kings, on the other hand, usually kept their forwards quite high in the defensive zone in order to cover the points and stay ready for chances to break up-ice. Definitely an interesting contrast.

Anyroad, scoring chances are after the jump, and the next game is this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. MST against the Cancuks. The GDT will be up shortly.

For those who'd like a definition: a scoring chance is defined as a clear play directed toward the opposing net from a dangerous scoring area - loosely defined as the top of the circle in and inside the faceoff dots, though sometimes slightly more generous than that depending on the amount of immediately-preceding puck movement or screens in front of the net. Blocked shots are generally not included but missed shots are. A player is awarded a scoring chance anytime he is on the ice and someone from either team has a chance to score. He is awarded a "chance for" if someone on his team has a chance to score and a "chance against" if the opposing team has a chance to score. Finally, a big thanks to Vic Ferrari for making the whole damn thing possible with his awesome scripts.

Scoring Chances for NHL Game Number 20966