The San Jose Sharks were ready to go. The L.A. Kings, well, not so much.
The Kings fell behind by five goals by the end of the second period, spelling the end to the evening for goalie Jonathan Quick, and resulting in a 6-3 loss. The Sharks lead the best-of-seven first-round series 1-0. If it’s any consolation, the Kings did outhit the Sharks 69-52. So, there’s that.
“We weren’t ready to go from the start. Just trying to play catch up, we were really sloppy,” said Kings’ captain Dustin Brown, as per LA Kings Insider.
“When you’re sloppy against a team like that, and they’re good on the forecheck and can cause turnovers when you’re not sharp, they’re going to get a lot of chances. It could have been a lot more. Quickie made some big saves.”
Oh, the play of the Kings goalie.
His game lasted 40 minutes. It wasn’t until the third period began that the team in front of him finally managed to get back into the game, scoring three times to cut San Jose’s lead to 5-3 at one point.
Earlier in the first period, San Jose forward Mike Brown sent Kings’ defenseman Slava Voynov into Quick, resulting in a scrum behind the net. Not the most polite way to welcome the L.A. netminder to the series.
But head coach Darryl Sutter didn’t seem too pleased with the play of Quick, who allowed five goals on 28 shots. On the play of his goalie, Sutter turned his answer to the decision to pull Quick.
“I think I could’ve made the decision earlier,” said Sutter.