Drew Barrymore

Kings Beat Avalanche 3-1 To Remain In Playoff Hunt

The LA Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Saturday to remain in 8th place in the Western Conference.

Alec Martinez played the role of hero for the Los Angeles Kings when he scored the game’s go-ahead goal in the second period and the Kings defense held Colorado to just 10 shots as they won 3-1 to remain tied with the Winnipeg Jets for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
 
“We did a good job of clogging up the neutral zone,” said Martinez who was also superb on defense. “We took away some time and space, had a few break downs here and there and Quickie came up huge for us. We definitely can play better hockey, but I’m obviously happy with the outcome.”
 
Dwight King and Marian Gaborik also scored for the reigning Stanley Cup Champions who have now won two consecutive games at home, albeit against the bottom feeders of the conference.
 
Jeff Carter had two assists for the Kings (39-25-14) who swept the season series with Colorado 3-0. LA has won five straight against the Avalanche overall and their last loss was in November of 2013.
 
“Their goalie was phenomenal,” said Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy. “They’re a team that has a lot of depth, it’s a team that knows how to win and obviously they protect the puck very well. They play well against us and you have to give them credit for that.”
 
Ryan O’Reilly scored for the Avalanche (36-31-12) who were officially eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Jets beat the Vancouver Canucks earlier in the day.
 
“Our guys have been working hard all year, we’re out of the playoffs, but we’re certainly not going to give up,” added Roy. “We want to continue to improve as a team and look to preparing ourselves for next year.”
 
King got his team on the board in the first period when he found himself in the right place at the right time. Carter intercepted a Colorado pass and sprinted down the right hand side of the net for a two-on-one. Carter opted to shoot, but his rebound went right to King who scored for LA.
 
The Avalanche tied the game in the opening minutes of the second period in similar fashion. After a Kings turnover, Gabriel Landeskog shot from the left side of the ice on Jonathan Quick, but the puck ricocheted behind the Kings goalie where O’Reilly was able to tip it into the empty net. It was the only goal Quick would surrender as he made nine saves on the night.
 
Stanley Cup hero, Alec Martinez, saved the day for the Kings ten minutes later when he scored twice on one play. Martinez slammed Tyler Toffoli’s rebound into the net so fast that it hit the cross bar and bounced back so Martinez shot it in again for good measure. Only the first goal counted, but it was big enough to get the Kings the win.
 
“I thought the first one went in but I looked at the ref and he was shaking his head so I just tried to put it in again for good measure I guess,” joked Martinez of the play.
 
Gaborik beat Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov with a wrist shot from the top left circle with 1:56 left in the game to put the game out of reach.
 
Varlamov made 23 saves in the loss.
 
 
Game Notes:
Ronda Rousey and Drew Barrymore were in attendance and the two blondes were shown on the jumbotron via a split screen during the game. The 10 shots allowed by the Kings tied a franchise low. 
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