That all came to an abrupt halt in Game 2 of the Western
Conference finals, as Carter recorded a natural hat trick and displayed
outstanding efforts in all three zones of the ice while leading L.A. to a
4-0 shutout of the Phoenix Coyotes. In recording the club’s first
postseason hat trick since Wayne Gretzky’s unforgettable performance
against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the 1993 Campbell
Conference Finals, his efforts lifted the Kings to their third
consecutive 2-0 series lead in advance of heading back to Staples Center
for Game 3.
“I was happy with my game tonight,” Carter said. “We
played all situations and I thought we did a fairly good job of limiting
their chances. They had a few at the end there, but I thought our line
and our penalty killing units and whatnot did a good job.”
Carter’s
three goals also were good for his confidence, and for the notion that
he’s a big-game player who can be expected to contribute. Entering
Tuesday’s action, he had averaged .73 points per game over 516 regular
season games and only .44 points per game over 57 playoff contests.
“I'd
love to be scoring every game,” Carter said. “They haven't come that
easily for me the last little while here. It's something that I've been
working on in practice, trying to get to the net during the game, get a
couple greasy ones. I was lucky enough tonight.”
Carter’s
effectiveness wasn’t limited to his scoring. He got ample special teams
time Tuesday, helping a Los Angeles team that hasn’t allowed a power
play goal since the first round to its 26th consecutive penalty kill.
Effective on the forecheck and quick on the backcheck, frequently
serving as the first forward back into the defensive zone, his 200-foot
play slowed Phoenix in the neutral zone and contributed heavily towards
another spotless defensive effort.
“He’s certainly getting
good opportunities, so it's good to see him cash in," Sutter said. "He had a couple the
other night, really good ones, and then tonight early, he had one, too,
where he was cutting in on the power play.
“You know it’s coming. Guys like that, it’s percentages, right?”
“Oh, it's real similar,” Carter
said. “Same thing when we were in Philly there. Basically had to battle
right down to the last game. Shootout there to make it.”
“When
you're in that kind of position, (it) just kind of rolls over into the
playoffs. Whereas, if we were locked in there a little while in the
season, you might sit back a bit, get a little complacent.”
Complacent
doesn’t seem to be in the vocabulary of a team that tied NHL records by
winning its seventh consecutive road playoff game — and ninth
consecutive road game spread over two postseasons. The 2010 Blackhawks
and 1982 and ’83 Islanders were the most recent teams to accomplish such
feats.
“That’s what we came here to do, was to win two games,”
Carter said. “I thought we did a fairly good job both games. I still
think we have some room for improvement, which is obviously a good thing
being up 2-0.”
