Drought Resistant

Wow. What a game. Those were two elite NHL teams out there on the ice in San Jose tonight and it's still hard to believe that the Los Angeles Kings are one of them. The Kings skated up and down the rink with the Sharks all game long and saved one of their best efforts for this important matchup. The Kings are playing with incredible confidence right now... how confident are they?

The Kings are so confident, they can blow snot rockets while they celebrate a goal being scored.
Stay classy, Randy Jones!

Coach Murray rolled the dice on this one by dusting off Kings backup goaltender Erik Ersberg and throwing him into a game against the NHL's #2 overall team. Sure, Coach Murray's reasoning was sound enough... he felt that the more important game is Thursday's game at home against Phoenix... but even Erik Ersberg was surprised by the decision to start him tonight.

"I'm starting against whom?
Shouldn't we wait until we play Edmonton?"

But lil' Erik Ersberg played his heart out tonight. Throwing himself in front of everything the Sharks came at him with... and the Sharks came at him strong and often the entire game, taking 34 shots against the young Swede. Ersberg did his job... he made the saves when he needed to and kept the Kings close. Sure that Manny Malhotra goal was one he should have saved... but who gives a shit... the Kings beat the Sharks!

"Could you get Quick's autograph for me? My kid loves him."

The Royal Half Whipping Boy™ Teddy Purcell came out of his shell tonight with a beautiful power play goal, thus justifying Coach Murray keeping him in the lineup during a 27 game goalless streak. Purcell was pretty much the only dude not named Scuderi or O'Donnell to not score in the last 27 games.

"Okay, I finally scored one. So you said you'd give me Rachel Hunter's number.
Nope."

As a fan of a team, you always hope that your best players will step up in a big game. And by step up, I mean break a 14 game goal scoreless streak. Welcome back to the NHL, Anze Kopitar. You want to see what the exhale of a deep sigh of relief looks like in Slo-Mo?

Oh thank god.

Kopitar's goal was off a beautiful pass from newly 20-Year-Old, Drew Doughty. This was one of Doughty's best games yet. I have a question to the hockey world... when do we start talking about Drew Doughty as a potential Norris Trophy candidate? Cause he's kinda leading NHL defensemen with 8 goals.

From Prince to King is the wrong analogy. It sells Drew too short.
How about "From King to Atilla the Hun."

That 3rd period was quite a doozy with enough back and forth play from both teams to make your hair turn blue.

Must be the San Jose player's wives section.

And the 3rd period was a perfect time for Fox Sports West HD to unveil their latest breakthrough in television advertising... covering the lower half of the screen with an ad!

Hmm... I wonder if Drew Doughty gets a discount?

And then, wouldn't you know it, with Teddy Purcell and Anze Kopitar breaking their futility streaks... Captain Dustin Brown just wanted to get in on the action a little bit with this game-winning goal, his first in 15 games.

Sure, Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov was definitely off his game tonight and really didn't look solid at all. But the Kings took advantage of that and won the game. Want to know what it looks like when a young team that is having fun wins? It looks like this:


I mean how could any Kings fan in their right minds not be happy with this game?

Maybe it's because they didn't make the Ice Girls?

Check out the great Fear the Fin and Couch Tarts and see if they say "shit... the Kings are finally good." Thought this was an important game? Well, Thursday at Staples Center, the Phoenix Coyotes come into town a mere 4 points behind the Los Angeles Kings. Michal Handzus... I believe it's your turn!

Wow... this graphic was from 5 games ago... and they didn't even include Teddy Purcell.