They’re going to suffocate you once they have the lead and they won’t give up too many chances.
That’s exactly what happened on Thursday, the Kings turned up the heat and had a much better second half of the game, but couldn’t quite complete the comeback.
On the positive side of things, the way the Kings created offense and the determination was improved compared to previous tight games against the league’s best.
In the past, against the league’s best teams, the Kings haven’t seemed willing to grind out wins. To get into the dirty areas of the ice and score greasy goals.
That wasn’t the case Thursday, Anze Kopitar’s goal came through two layers of traffic and the Kings were engaged physically all night.
Vegas is a heavy, nasty team and Los Angeles stood up to them for the most part.
As Todd McLellan put it, that’s a championship-caliber team and it’s good for the Kings to play that level of opponent.
If they can fix their slow starts, they can go toe-to-toe with that team and grind out a result.
They just have to find a way to come out with the same intensity they finish with.
The Kings have proven they belong in the same conversation as Cup contenders like Vegas, and they’re right there, they just need that extra boost to get them over the line.
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