The Los Angeles Kings blew an incredible opportunity to take a 2-1 series lead over the San Jose Sharks by letting a 4-0 lead turn into a 6-5 overtime loss on Tuesday. According to Helene Elliott the Los Angeles Times, Kings coach Terry Murray understands that the Kings could have, and probably should have, put this one away.
"We did this to ourselves," Coach Terry Murray said, bemoaning the fact that the game became a track meet of rushes each way. "That's the game they wanted to play after getting down, 4-0, and we obliged them."
Needless to say, when you get a 4-0 lead like that, it behooves you to just sit on the puck for as long as you can and prevent the other team from getting too many shots on the goal; without losing your aggressiveness. The Kings, however failed to retain possession for extended periods of time, but also lost their aggressiveness going to the goal. It was a perfect recipe for a comeback. According to Fox News, Dustin Brown shared the sentiment.
"We had a good first, but it's the playoffs and we didn't do the things that made us successful in the first two games and the first period," Kings captain Dustin Brown said. "We needed to get the puck deep and just move the puck and we made some good plays, but a lot of that was the result of not getting the puck deep. So we have only ourselves to blame."
It will be difficult for the Kings to put this one behind them, and their ability to do so will probably dictate the rest of the series.