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SHOCKING FINISH
The Kings picked up their second win in a row for the first time this season when the defeated the top team in the league, the Shockers in Overtime. Stefano Palazzolo's redirection in the opening minute of OT moves the Kings out of the cellar in the division.
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April 10, 2012- It’s not really the time to start breaking out the champagne yet, but there is a reason to celebrate for the Kings--their 3-2 overtime victory over the hot playing, division leading Shockers. The Shockers came into the game in first place tie with Last Call, putting up wins in their last 4 games. The Shockers also hold one of the league leaders in points in Tim Moore, whose 53 points in 16 games is tops in points per game at 3.3.
For the second game in a row, the Kings called upon Brian Golden in between the pipes. His impressive first game with the Kings saw him turn away all but 1 in a 4-1 victory over Trade Deadline. Golden would be impressive again, giving the chance for the Kings to hang in the game and take advantage of an opportunity when it arises.
Although no scoring through the first period, the Kings would have to be very happy with the result of that opening period. Their last match-up, the Shockers netted 4 goals in the first period on route to a 10-0 thrashing of the Kings. The play of the game might have happened in that first period, when Golden snuffed the Shockers in what looked like a for sure goal. Golden went one on one when he was able to get a piece of the puck on the breakaway, followed by smothering the puck on the goal line before it could bounce in.
Not even a minute into the period, the Shockers would strike first with a goal off the stick of Tim Moore. Moore's goal is his 31st of the season, and 1 behind the league leader. However the Kings remained posed and did not panic when going down first. A couple of minutes later, the Kings evened the score with Victor Chavez's first goal of the season. Mike Goodey was parked behind the net, where he passed it in front to the open Chavez who ripped the shot over Shockers goaltender Adam Wasserstrom.
The Kings would take their first lead of the game with 3:58 remaining in the second period after Mike Goodey put in his team leading 16th goal of the season. After being denied on his first breakaway attempt, Goodey made sure his second attempt was going to find its way in. The Kings would end the period with a 2-1 lead.
Moving into the third period with the lead was a territory the Kings did not find themselves in too many times this season. However their play up to this point deserved the lead but must maintain their pressure and defense for 14 more minutes. The Kings were doing an excellent job on zeroing in on Moore, who was so far held to only 1 goal in the game. However it was Moore's speed that leads to a penalty and powerplay opportunity for the Shockers.
The Kings were 17 seconds away from a successful penalty kill and retaining their 1 goal lead. It was a solid kill in the Shockers only powerplay opportunity in the evening. However after the Kings lined up to make a few blocked saves on one side of the ice, the puck squirted free to the left side of the rink where Chris Gathercole found the open net to tie the game at 2. Both teams would play conservative down in the final minutes, as the two teams found themselves going into overtime.
It did not take long for the game to find a hero of the night. Just 22 seconds into overtime, the Kings would upset the top team in the league. Bert Weinheimer was in the corner low, spotting Darren Chavez at the point. Chavez unloaded on a shot, which was redirected by a skate and headed directly to Stefano Palazzolo who was parked off to the right side of the net. Palazzolo tapped in the redirected shot for his 5th goal of the season and the Kings 4th win of the season.
It is starting to come together for the Kings as of late. After posting a 1-12-1 record through the first 14 games of the season, the Kings are 3-2 in their last 5. Even in the losses, the Kings have had much improvement in an overall team game since the Las Vegas tournament. One not to mention Darren Chavez's return, which has only been part of 1 loss for the Kings this year, and the recent play of goaltender Brian Golden who has only let up 3 goals in the 2 games played. Mike Goodey extended his goal streak to 6 games, posting 9 goals in that time span. The team as a whole has been playing a very responsible game, and hopes to be peaking at the right time with the playoffs around the corner.
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