Hermano here.
How many of you barfed when you heard Willie Mitchell was
injured and would be replaced by Matt Greene for Game 7? Just me?
Greene was a straight-up liability in Games 1 and 2, failing to clear
pucks when he needed to and routinely blowing coverage outside the crease. But you know what? Greene did his job tonight. Blocked shots, boxed guys out during
rebounds, and cleared the puck when necessary (save one or two times which
caused me to regurgitate the donuts I was shoving into my mouth to keep from grinding
my teeth into a powdery dust). I gotta
give it to him, he played a helluva game.
But you know who was my first star of the game... besides Quick (for robbing Marleau
in the second period and single-handedly keeping the Kings in the game for
pretty much the entire… game) and Kopitar (for his dangled game-winner and
feeding Brown off the opposite board for the empty-net insurance goal)?
Tanner Fucking Pearson.
He played out of his mind and had one of the sickest feeds to Toffoli
for the third goal. Don’t get me wrong,
Toffoli finished like a champ, but it was Pearson’s speed, hustle, vision, and
touch which led to that goal. Since
getting the nod in Game 3, I’m positive everyone who hasn’t been watching the
Kings on a regular basis has been like “Woah, who is this kid?!” He’s got “Chris Johnson breakaway” speed and
his vision/hockey IQ is off the charts.
Regardless of what happens in the rest of the postseason, I’m looking
forward to his development next season.
I mean, he’s definitely earned himself a spot on the squad next year,
right? Am I seeing things?
But as much as I want to credit the Kings for executing
when necessary, blocking key shots, clearing away critical rebounds, and never
giving up, tonight’s loss is less about what the Kings did and more about what
the Sharks couldn’t do. Going 0 for 6 on
the power play is not gonna win you shit.
[Wait…….. THAT’S JAMIE KOMPON’S MUSIC!!!] Erasing Games 1 and 2 from your memory, you have to know
that Quick is going to return to form, especially after getting the shutout in
Game 5 and only allowing 1 goal in Game 6.
So you have to capitalize on the power play and the refs today were
handing out gifts, left and right.
Granted, the elbowing penalty against Couture was a sweet embellishment
by Muzzin, but it seemed like the refs were getting swayed by the hometown
crowd by the second period. Credit to
Jim Fox for calling hooks when there were hooks and not losing his cool. Had San Jose scored on any of those
touchy-feely hooking calls, I would’ve thrown my throwback Miller Lite can
through my friend’s $6 billion TV. And
yes, Miller Lite is my drink of choice, obviously.
As much as I’d like to spend the next five hours trolling
Sharks fans, it was a damn good series and I’m just happy the Kings fought back
and prevailed. There’s no use repeating
the same “choke” jokes when a team has literally suffered its most crushing
defeat in franchise history. So, I guess
that’s where I draw the line. Anyone who
knows me knows that the Sharks are my absolute least favorite hockey team BY
FAR – more than the Canucks, way more than the Ducks. But I reserve five hours of trolling on a Wednesday
night for one franchise and one franchise only: FUCK THE CELTICS.
And now, your LA Kings Cup Run Chart:
Much love till my next post.
