Ringing In The New Year With A Blowout!

Pre-Game:
- The Kings host the Chicago Blackhawks and I'm pretty excited to see Kane and Toews. During the pre-game warmup, I'm at the Chicago end right up against the glass taking pictures, and all of sudden, a puck hits me in the hand. After the initial shock, I realize that it somehow got through the netting and glass and, wouldn't you know it, I just got a free puck! Sweet!

Definitely still frozen when it hit me on the hand.

- The Kings start JJ, Blake, Brownie, Kopi, Nagy, with Barbs in goal. My thought before the game was, "What the heck is Nagy doing on this opening lineup?" I would eat my words by the end of the game.
- Crow is announced to resounding boos still.

1st Period:
- First 12 seconds = BAD
- Hawks Goal - Lapointe gets it past Barbs at 2:54. Boo.
- Three minutes into the game and Chicago already has 7 shots on and the Kings have registered zero.
- Brownie draws a hooking penalty and the Kings are on the PP. Kings Goal - Preissing (5) gets a rebound off a shot from Nagy at 4:02.

The first of many celebrations

- Tuomo Ruutu and Manchester Boy draw penalties at 5:07, interference and high sticking, respectively.
- Vish pushes Toews into the boards and he goes to the bench in visible pain. He doesn't return for the rest of the game.
- So this is where they announce that they take an assist away from Toews on their goal and change up assists for the Kings' goal. Are they hot-boxing the scoring booth or what?
- Koci takes down Sully and Giuliano gets rocked. Zeiler's energy is definitely missing from the Kings' physical play.
- Hawks Goal - On the PP Little Patrick Kane gets a pass down low and then immediately passes it across the crease in front of Barbs, Sharp gets it, and snaps it in at 11:01. I was disheartened at this point, except for the fact that I have Patrick Sharp on one of my fantasy teams.
- Kings Goal - The Hawks fail to clear it and Nagy (6) gets it in at 11:14. The Kings now have 2 goals on 5 shots.
- Kings Goal - I HEART SULLY. The Kings are on a PP; the passing is crisp and they look good. At 13:24 Sully (10) gets a pass from Brownie on the left side, takes to Khabibulin, and backhands it in (GWG).
- Kings Goal - Nagy (7) gets on the board again at 15:35. The Invisible Pair puts something together getting assists for themselves.
- Goalie change for Chicago. The Wall is taken out letting 4 goals in on 10 shots. Lalime is in and is about to get annihilated.
- Kopi gets ROCKED and his helmet and stick go flying. He's recovering on the bench and is out on the next shift. Whew.
- The Kings set up this beauty of a play but Modry fumbles at the end. Kopi tips the puck out of his zone, Brownie gets it in the neutral zone and banks it off the boards in front of the Hawks bench, Sully gets the pass and gets across the blue line. He hesitates to pass, but when he does, Modry is there to fumble it and the chance is lost.
- Handzus still sucks at taking faceoffs.

End Of The First Period:
- Kings 4 - Hawks 2 (Shots 11-19)
- The Kings decide they want to continue their streak and try for 3 in a row.
- Mr. Inconsistent has already netted two goals. Invisible Pair has 2 assists and 1 goal collectively.
- My Sophomore Stud has a PP goal.
- I wasn't in the arena for the announcement of the scratches, but I'm assuming they are Cammy (still with the ribs), Dallman (sucks and broken foot), and Klemm (just plain sucks).
- So I have to introduce the "Munchie Man" to you. This guy sells candy in the sections by the press box and is loud and proud. To get people's attention he yells things like, "Munchies!! Who's got the munchies!?!" and "Get your munchies here! The Southern California cuisine!!" If you see this guy, say hello because he's super nice.

2nd Period:
- Kings Goal - Fro (5) scores at 28 seconds in. The Kings are working it; everyone's moving and making a difference.
- I'm still waiting to see something exciting from Kane.
- Ratti and Koci get in a fight and I'm pumped. Ratti is definitely excited to throw down. It ends after some solid fisticuffs and they both receive 5 for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct.
- Kings are on the PP a minute later. There was a guy sitting behind me who kept yelling to give it to Stuart. I was definitely thinking, "NO! DON'T GIVE IT TO STUART!! HE SUCKS!!"
- 7:55 left - Kopi gets slammed into the boards in front of the sin bins and JJ takes the puck all the way to Lalime by himself.
- The Kings are setting everything up nicely and getting pucks to the net. Problem is, they can't finish most of these plays. Doesn't matter that it's 5-2 Kings right now. Finish your plays!
- At 13:46 the Kings are on the PP again. I kept my eye on Calder for this PP; I just felt like something was going to happened, and I wasn't wrong. Lalime didn't like Calder's screen and so he shifted to the right side of the net. He got Nagy's pass, moved it to Fro (6) who was open on the left side of the crease, and it's 6-2. This set up was so clean that a goal was predictable.
- The rest of the period is much the same. The Hawks get a couple of good shots on Barbs, but Barbs is SOLID tonight; he looks focused and his movements are controlled.

End Of The Second Period:
- I can confidently say that the Kings have played a full 40 minutes.
- Kings 6 - Hawks 2 (Shots 22-26)

3rd Period:
- Kings Goal - 28 seconds in and Nagy (8) gets his hat trick on a pass from Fro. I thought this was a good rush into the Hawks zone by Army, Nagy, and Fro. Fro (at the goal line) passes it back to Nagy with Army supporting the play the whole way. Yeah, secondary scoring!

Hats everywhere!

- So Koci is PMSing tonight or something. He gets a 10-minute misconduct in the first minute.
- Kings Goal - At 5:18 Brownie (19) takes advantage of Chicago's utter breakdown in the neutral zone. He grabs up the puck, stickhandles it, and throws it behind Lalime. Too easy. Kings up 8-2.
- Tempers are flaring up and Chicago is not happy. Adam Burish gets 2 minutes for high sticking, 2 minutes for roughing, a 10-minute misconduct, and a game misconduct. To this I say, "Later, Slut." Preissing gets 2 for roughing too.
- Kings Goal - The Kings have a 5-on-3 and Vish (4) gets a goal from passes from Calder and Fro at 7:40.
- It's here where I sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the game. IT'S OVER.
- Sully gets a 5-minute match penalty in the last minute of the third. A Hawk limps over to the bench doubled over.

Did this rush lead to a goal? I dunno, probably.

End of the Game:
- Kings 9 - Hawks 2 (Shots 26 - 34)
- The Kings absolutely dominated the neutral zone. They didn't allow the Hawks to put anything together after their second goal in the first period.
- The energy in the arena was high and so were the Kings goal total.
- Ratti definitely made it known that he would F you up in a second if you even held his gaze for too long.
- Interesting stat: Chicago came into the game tonight with the #1 PK in the entire NHL. The Kings converted 7 PPs into 5 PP goals. Things that make you go "hmm."

What a way to ring in the new year.

P.S. Did anyone catch this AMP Energy commercial during the Winter Classic? It has Ryan Miller and J.S. AUBIN throwing Yo Mamma jokes at each other. I think I might have died when I first saw this. Not only has J.S. been playing decently lately, but he's doling out Yo Mamma jokes?? Yo-Mamma-ween? AMAZING.