Ilya Kovalchuk has carved out a career firing pucks from the left side of the ice on the power play. In his prime, he was considered as dangerous as Alex Ovechkin.
Kovalchuk was in lots of places in his Kings debut. But he wasn’t at his usual left-point position on a disjointed power play that went zero for five against the San Jose Sharks. The Kings abandoned that four-forward setup they used in preseason, and coach John Stevens said that he’s open to going back to that.
Special teams usually don’t fall under scrutiny after one game, but it was a big topic considering how poorly the Kings executed it Friday, especially given that Kovalchuk is expected to bring a finishing element.