In their two wins across three games under new coach Jim Hiller, the Kings have managed to frustrate two of the most talented stars in the league, with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and New Jersey’s Jack Hughes breaking their sticks on the bench in disgust.
This weekend, their back-to-back set will give them the opportunity to consternate more marquee players as they visit David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and the Boston Bruins on Saturday and Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.
In Thursday’s gritty, penalty-laden victory over the Devils, the season debut of Viktor Arvidsson lifted the Kings and sunk Hughes a bit. He agitated Hughes into matching minors, after which a vexed Hughes appeared to mouth “people pay to watch me play” during a war of words in the penalty boxes. After their infractions expired, Arvidsson’s backcheck hindered a partial Hughes breakaway, agitating him further and leading to him snapping his stick.
“He’s a ball of fire, and he plays with a lot of passion,” said Hiller of Arvidsson.
“He was easy to find, wasn’t he? He had five shots, he led us in shots and they were chances, he was dangerous. I saw Arvy, that’s Arvy,” Hiller added. “He’s competitive, he found his way to the penalty box. He made that line really dangerous. It’s good to have him back.”
From one of their smaller, pluckier players who missed the Kings’ first 50 games to one of their bigger, more casual forwards that underperformed for most of them, Pierre-Luc Dubois was more immersed in the fight Thursday. He drew three infractions against New Jersey and nearly set up Quinton Byfield for a goal.
“He’s skating. He drew three penalties, and you don’t draw three penalties unless you’re involved,” Hiller said of Dubois, adding that he “seemed to be finding his groove a little bit.”
While Byfield didn’t convert on that chance, his tip-in attempt turned puck recovery and shot from point-blank range…
Read the full article here
