Jim Fox: It wasn’t pretty but Kings persevere and win, 1-0

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Editor’s note: The Kings aren’t televising tonight’s game against the Senators, but FS West TV analyst Jim Fox has agreed to share his thoughts and insights from rinkside in Ottawa, the city where he played junior hockey. This is his fourth and final post of the night. To read his pregame post, click here, for his post from the first period click here, and for the one from the second period click here.

OTTAWA -- Taking better care of the puck was the major objective for the Kings in the third period. The Senators picked up the pressure in the second, but the Kings were guilty of a few unforced errors that led to a few quality chances for the Senators.

The Kings fell back into a very passive approach on attack. Lately when the Kings have been effective, it has been because they are getting the puck to the net with the first open opportunity. I presume Coach Terry Murray and the coaching staff are preaching a more north-south approach in the third, with an emphasis on shots at the net, with traffic. Usually this is a chicken-and-egg type of situation. When the shooter doesn’t shoot, he often says it was because there was no traffic. Players away from the play say they don’t drive to the net to create traffic because no one is shooting the puck. Right now it would be selfish for any Kings player to shoot as soon as the opportunity arises.

With only 30 seconds on the power play to start the third, the Senators go with their big line intact, but Daniel Alfredsson takes an interference penalty and the Kings have the extra man. The red-hot Kings power play has cooled off in this game as Ottawa has controlled the middle of the ice.

This is also a homecoming for Kings forward Derek Armstrong, an army brat who spent some time growing up in Ottawa.

Alexander Frolov with a persistent attack gets a one-handed chip on the puck for the best chance with four minutes gone in the third. Brian Elliott, the Senators’ goaltender, was looking behind himself as he lost the puck. Jarret Stoll then followed up with a chance at the crease as the Kings put back-to back chances together for the first time since the first period. You get the feeling that the first goal will win this game.

Brad Richardson, whose name was misspelled on his uniform jersey during the first two periods, has the “D” back for the third period.

Wayne Simmonds goes off for tripping Dany Heatley on a neutral zone backcheck. Good hustle by Simmonds but more discipline is needed as he gets his stick into the skates of Heatley just as Heatley passed the center red line.

The Kings stay at home in a tight box/diamond as the Senators look very predictable with the man advantage. Many of the dangerous chances have come after hard and fast bounces off the back boards to the front of the net.

Frolov gets a half-breakaway but can’t get a good shot off under pressure. Another strong penalty kill for the Kings, keeping most everything to the outside. Ottawa was standing still with little movement on the power play.

There’s 9:10 remaining and still no score. Both teams are playing it tight, with few if any outnumbered attacks. This is the type of game where a big faceoff win is needed.

Big save by Kings’ goaltender Jonathan Quick on Antoine Vermette, the best chance of the period for the Senators, who are getting most of the chances with decent shots, but they are coming form far enough out that Quick is getting position to make the stops.

The Kings’ Drew Doughty goes end to end with one of his take-it-and-go rushes and draws a hooking call against Vermette with 5:36 to go. Doughty shows again that he is an impact player who wants the puck on his stick with the game on the line. I don’t think it is too much of a stretch to say that so far this season Doughty might be the Kings’ best player -- and he is only 19 years old.

Once again the Senators control the middle of the ice and the Kings cannot get it to a quality scoring area. The best chance comes when the puck bounces off the back boards to Kyle Calder in front and he bats it out of the air. When the Kings have had a chance to get it on net from the middle, the Ottawa defense has blocked just about every opportunity.

The puck is in behind the net and Michal Handzus, making like Mikhail Baryshnikov, spins on a dime and sweeps in a forehand jam with 2:39 remaining. It’s time to practice holding the lead again. Handzus is not known as a quick player, but he looked as quick as anyone with quick feet and hands to get it through the goaltender.

Ottawa pulls the goalie with 1:17 remaining and on a dump-in Kings defenseman Jack Johnson interferes with the forechecker by changing his skating plane and making contact with the forechecker. It is one of the toughest decisions a defenseman has to make but Johnson was guilty on that one. Credit has to go to Ottawa for a smart dump-in with all kinds of speed going after the loose puck.

Six-on-four skating with the goaltender pulled. The Senators control the play with puck possession but can’t get an open play, with the Kings collapsing down low.

The pressure is on with 38.7 seconds remaining and the Kings use their timeout to try and settle things down. The faceoff is so important here: Since the Kings are shorthanded, they don’t have to worry about icing if they can win the draw.

Stoll vs. Vermette.... Vermette cleanly wins the draw. Stoll loses the draw but comes up with a huge block with 10 seconds remaining and the puck bounces to center. He pays the price to help the Kings get two points.

Once the game entered the third period, it felt like a first-goal-wins situation. Ottawa never did get an open look in front with the goaltender pulled. The Kings stayed at home when they needed to but were aggressive when it was time to jump the puck. Especially 19-year-old Doughty, who was extra-aggressive defending in the last minute. It tells you a lot when the Kings’ coaching staff goes with Doughty late in the game.

In a continued trend, the Kings once again bounce back after a disappointing loss. Coming into the game all the focus was on the Senators and how they would react with their new coach Cory Clouston behind the bench. They never were able to get any sustained pressure going all night and the Kings managed the puck well except for the occasional sloppy play in the second period. Quick gets the shutout. He didn’t face a lot of shots but he looked under control all night.

That’s it for now -- it’s back to work for the rest of the trip.

-- Jim Fox

Jim Fox is in his 19th season as the Kings’ TV color analyst on FS West. He spent his entire 10-year NHL career with the Kings, and at the start of this season ranked eighth on the club’s scoring list, eighth in assists and ninth in goals. He has also been the Kings’ director of community relations. He lives in Redondo Beach with his wife, Susie.