L.A. Kings plotting a rise to power Sutter wants more time with the man advantage with Sharks up 3-1
If Darryl Sutter uses more than 10 words to answer a question from the media, it’s usually because he’s wrapping things up and the last seven are: “Thanks, I’ve got a plane to catch.”
But the Los Angeles Kings head coach finally had something to say the day after the San Jose Sharks rode three power-play goals to a 3-2 victory and a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 series lead Wednesday night.
Sutter doesn’t have a problem with the penalty calls — in fact, he wanted to see a couple more.
“The referees missed some calls,” he said after a team meeting at the Kings’ practice facility. “The theme today is San Jose’s power play, but the theme for me is why didn’t we have more? We have a good power play, too.”
When the Kings were swarming San Jose’s end after closing it to 3-2 in the third period, Sutter definitely thinks there was some obstruction that nobody wanted to whistle down.
“There were missed calls in the third period,” he said. “When it was 3-2, there should have been some calls, clearly. There’s two hooking and tripping penalties they have to call. That’s all you ask — that it be even. There’s not one team (cheating) more than the other one.
“We might have (scored) last game and been playing till 3 this morning if they give us one more, but we didn’t get the call.”
The man advantage has been a major factor in this series. Fiveon-five, the Kings have outscored San Jose 5-4 so far, but the Sharks are doing all their damage on the power play, scoring six goals on 18 chances (counting a Game 1 goal that came one second after a Kings penalty expired).
The Kings have three goals on 13 chances.
In a hard-fought high-stakes series like this one, Sutter doesn’t think there should be a five-penalty difference.
Sutter, who talks to the series supervisor every game, has expressed his concerns over Game 4.
“It wasn’t a bitch mode or corrections officer mode,” he said. “It was: What do you think? But it is what it is. It’s the first round and they go from whatever number (of referees) it is to who they feel are the 20 best. Those guys are trying to get another round too, so it’s not easy for them.”
The Sharks, of course, like the way things are being called.
“All series long (the Kings) tried to be physical and I’m glad they’re clamping down on the after-the-whistles stuff,” head coach Pete DeBoer said. “But other than that, it’s a hard-fought series and we found a way to cash in on the opportunities we got.”
No question the Sharks power play is something to be wary of. Even when it went zero for five in Game 3 — their only loss of the series — it looked scary.
“It’s weird the confidence we feel on our power play,” Sharks centre Logan Couture said. “Every night we expect ourselves to go out and score a goal.”
Going forward, the Kings realize they’ll have to be on their best behaviour.
“We scored two five-on-five goals last game and they scored three on the power play, so it’s common sense to stay out of the box,” Marian Gaborik said.
“It is what it is. We’re not making excuses. We’re not blaming refs. We have to play our game and play hard like we can and try to have five guys on the ice.”
That’s the fine line L.A. will have to walk in Game 5 Saturday. They’ve made a nice living playing on the edge in the postseason and don’t want to play scared, but they don’t want to let six or eight minutes of power play time undo a 60-minute effort.
“There were a few games where special teams were the difference, and that’s why it’s 3-1,” said Vincent Lecavalier, who thinks these playoffs are being called tighter than usual.
“I feel they’ve been calling more than during the season for sure. I don’t know if they had a meeting or whatever, but you see it around the league, there’s been a lot of penalties called. It’s on us to stay disciplined and keep our sticks down, skate, try not to take those penalties.
“We can still be the L.A. Kings and be physical — it doesn’t take anything away from that. A hooking penalty is not L.A. Kings. We still have to be physical and disciplined.”