Tuesday night's game against the Boston Bruins didn't appear to be anything special at first glance. The Los Angeles Kings won 2-0 and weathered a tough forechecking storm in a game that was billed as a potential Stanley Cup Final preview.
But there were a few key items in this game. One newsworthy, two defining.
The newsworthy item was the return of Alec Martinez. Finally, the defense unit has a healthy body to spare and the result was exactly as expected by coach Darryl Sutter.
"Whenever guys come back from injury they always have a lot of energy," Sutter said. "I thought the pair was really good, Robyn (Regehr) and Marty. He was cleared yesterday but I wanted to make sure about the contact part. Still, the execution part was there. The skating-shooting-passing part has to be there for the whole team and I thought Marty was good."
Martinez didn't give himself marks quite as high as his coach did. He played 19 minutes and had two shots on goal but also two giveaways he was unhappy about. But most importantly, he felt strong physically and insisted that his finger was no longer a problem.
"As for my game, I'm not too happy," he said. "I had to shake off a little rust there but I know I can get better the next game."
This game was quintessential L.A. Kings hockey. It wasn't high-scoring or fast-paced, but it was a physical, grinding style of hockey that the Kings have found success with. In recent games, they had gotten away from it. Whether it was trying to play to Chicago's special teams game or run up the score against Anaheim, there were lapses in concentration and a distance from the fundamentals that this team is based on.
Against Boston, the Kings went back to their roots.
"That's how we play," said center Anze Kopitar. "It's not the flashiest, but it's effective."
If this was a preview of bigger things to come in the spring, this is the type of hockey the Kings will play to get there. There was the play on the loose puck in the slot by Kopitar that led to Tanner Pearson's first-period goal, the amazing stick save by Jonathan Quick to prevent a tie game in the third period and the physicality displayed when the Kings matched one of the most physical teams in the Eastern Conference hit-for-hit.
"I think there was a little more detail in our game tonight than there was last game," Sutter said. "We played the way we had to. It's not always about the result, it's more about the process of trying to do it right and working at it."
Boston has two games left in its Pacific Division swing, but the Bruins will head up to the Bay Area empty-handed. It's not just a numbers game anymore. The Western Conference is still exerting its dominance over its counterpart.
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Sutter remembers Jean Beliveau
The sad news in the hockey world reached the Staples Center during the first period. Legendary former Montreal Canadien Jean Beliveau passed away at the age of 83. Although their paths only crossed a handful of times, Le Gros Bill, as he was known, was a player that Sutter greatly admired growing up.
"As a boy growing up, we got two channels: Channel 3 and channel 5 and I remember those Toronto-Montreal (games)," Sutter said. "I always remember him as a classy player. Even when I was a boy, I remember so well how elegant he was on the ice. He was a great player, he won a lot of championships and was a great captain."
