AVS LIVE: Second-period analysis against Kings

LOS ANGELES – Stay out of the box. That was probably one of coach Jared Bednar’s messages to his Avs players after the second period here at Staples Center against the Los Angeles Kings.

Three penalties – two of which came 38 seconds apart and allowed the Kings to get back into the hockey game with a 5-on-3 power-play goal – hurt the Avs in what finished a 2-2 score after 40 minutes.

Tyson Jost and Greg Pateryn took penalties that put the Kings on the 5-on-3. The Avs almost killed the first penalty off, but Drew Doughty beat Hunter Miska with a shot to cut a 2-0 deficit in half.

Then, with 2:49 left in the period, P.E. Bellemare took another penalty, and the Kings tied it up fairly quickly. Miska was beaten to the short side on the shot.

The Avs had some great scoring chances in the period, but Jonathan Quick was good for the Kings. The Avs also overpassed a bit too much. Sam Girard, for instance, had a walk-in chance down the right side but elected to dish off the puck instead and it was broken up.

The Avs had a few too many bad passes in the period, too. Ryan Graves was guilty of one bad turnover, and he iced the puck well after the Avs had killed off the second penalty on the 5-on-3. In short, the Avs weren’t all that great in the fundamentals in the period, even though they still played well at times.