“We were pretty terrible," Strome said frankly. "That was our worst game, even dating back to last year that I can remember. Dosty was great and we found a way to get a point. I know that [at] game four, you don’t really want to be hanging your hat on getting a point, but hopefully, these are the ones that add up down the road. We found a way on the 6-on-5. It was kind of gritty. Dostal was great, but this is one we probably want to burn and not look at again.”
"He's a really good goalie," added Terry of Dostal's stellar night in net. "He was our best player and it wasn’t close tonight. He stood on his head. Maybe the positives [were] just for the amount that we had to defend tonight. I thought our D-zone structure was okay for the most part. They’re going to have their space and time because of how dynamic some of their players are. It fell apart for us with the breakouts. Forwards not working to get into spots for the D or whatever it was. We just didn’t seem connected on breakouts. It seemed like that was kind of the reason we were hemmed [in] a lot.”
Dostal, pressed into a starter's role in the absence of the injured John Gibson, faced 49 shots, the third-most in his young NHL career, as Anaheim struggled to execute clean breakouts from its defensive zone.
“We weren’t breaking the puck out," Terry said. "It’s one of those things where if you get hemmed in your end for a while you can barely get the puck out and you have to have a bad change for the next line coming on. It’s just kind of a snowball effect. I felt like [Colorado], give them credit, they do it better than anyone at getting changes, especially at altitude making guys have to defend a lot. I think just better breakouts and better changes. Setting up the next line was kind of what we were missing.”
Despite the long night a mile high, Dostal's brilliance and Terry's clutch goal helped Anaheim collect points for the the third time in four games, now standing at 2-1-1 on the young season.
"I wish there was one or two things I could point out that we need to turn the page on, but I think that one’s a result of, I don’t think it’s a lack of effort, just a lack of execution, lack of focus," Strome said. "We’ve just got to learn from that. Dostal was great. He deserves a huge pat on the back. We got a point, but we've got to change next game.”
That next game is against Anaheim's fiercest rival, the first of four meetings this season with LA. The Kings enter play Sunday at 2-1-2, returning to California after a lengthy east coast road trip to start the season.
"I think our team played really good defense and obviously goaltender David Rittich\] played unbelievable," [forward Alex Laferriere told Kings Insider Zach Dooley after a 4-1 win in Montreal. "I think just our resilience as a team, I think our penalty kill was something we wanted to focus on and I thought they did an unbelievable job tonight keeping them off the scoreboard. I think it just goes to show our resilience."
The Kings continue to tweak their defensive lineup early in the season without franchise icon Drew Doughty on the blue line. Doughty, who has led LA in ice-time each of the last 15 years, suffered a fractured ankle in the preseason on an awkward collision with former teammate Tanner Pearson. In Doughty's absence, the Kings have turned to a pair of top prospects, Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke, for increased roles on the right side.
“The first three games that I had, it wasn’t really my game, I didn’t play that well, I take accountability on that,” Spence told Dooley this weekend. “I think [LA coach Jim Hiller] sitting me out against Toronto, I think it was just a kind of a reset button for me to clear my mind, not putting too much pressure on myself. I think when I was playing in Montreal, before the game, I just kind of wanted to play my own game, not think about it as much, just have fun and I think that was the biggest thing that happened during that game, is just to relax, you’re just playing the game that you love. So, I think I had a pretty solid game, but at the same time, it’s only one game, so I just want to be pretty consistent from now on and go.”
