3 takeaways from Saturday's early NHL games; the Kings return to form
That the Corsi juggernauts are steamrolling again, that the Maple Leafs defense is still iffy, and that the Islanders are legit were among the major takeaways from the NHL's early games on Saturday night.
Here are three things you need to know:
The return of the Kings
The Los Angeles Kings struggled in the opening month of the season.
With an aging bottom-six forward group and a depleted defense corps, the Kings were unable to control play in the manner we've come to expect. While Vezina-caliber play from Jonathan Quick kept the club afloat, they were beginning to be widely described as a pretender.
Well, the Kings are back - and showed it in a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday. Los Angeles absolutely throttled the Coyotes in puck-possession, and out-shot them 37-17. Though the Coyotes led for a stretch, this one was never close:
(Courtesy: hockeystats.ca)
Coyotes coach Dave Tippett summed it up best when he admitted that "we got outcompeted on the puck."
Sure sounds like the Kings of old.
The Kings have managed a 58.3 percent score-adjusted Corsi For percentage in the month of December. They're back to being a super elite team.
Toronto's defense isn't good enough
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a good deal of success this season, but are still far too reliant on superb goaltending and timely finishing from their arsenal of talented offensive wingers.
When it comes to the spine of the team though - through the middle of their forward group, and along the blue-line - this Maple Leafs side too often lacks the structural soundness required to play the sort of shutdown hockey required to sustain success over 82 games.
The Maple Leafs were taken to school Saturday night by the Philadelphia Flyers' Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux in a 7-4 loss that was far too reminiscent of last season's April collapse.
The Islanders are elite
The New York Islanders required a trio of late goals to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning. That's mostly a credit to rookie goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has been near dominant in his first week of NHL hockey.
Though the Islanders had to rally to come away as victors on Saturday, they handily controlled the contest - outshooting the Lightning 48-21.
With Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic and Lubomir Visnovsky back in the lineup, this Islanders team looks poised to be a bona fide contender this spring.