The Los Angeles Kings made a statement against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 6-0 win on Feb.11 on the night Dustin Brown gets his jersey retired in the rafters of Crypto.com Arena.
The team put on quite a show for Brown going up 2-0 early in the first period with goals by Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Alex Iafallo.
Adrian Kempe got a natural hat-trick in the second period. Kempe would then made headlines in the league as scored a fourth goal in the third period, becoming the first King in team history to score four straight goals in a game.
Not only that, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was ejected from the game. Defenseman Mikey Anderson cross-checked Crosby from the back and was whistled a penalty and as Anderson made his way to the penalty box, Crosby skated towards Anderson and started chirping at him.
Both players were given 10-minutes for misconduct but Crosby would keep yelling at the officials and was then thrown out of the game.
The Kings would go on to win the game 6-0 with a shutout by goaltender Pheonix Copley, his first with the Kings and second in his career.
Former teammates of Brown were in attendance such as Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez, Kyle Clifford, Jarret Stoll, Jeff Carter, Rob Scuderi, Matt Greene and Mathias Nordstrom.
Brown number became the seventh to be retired in the clubs history. Brown was talking about stories he had throughout his years playing for the Kings.
He said that his first game in LA he didn’t know that there was parking for the players underneath the arena and payed $20 for the public parking.
“I always wanted to retire a King,” Brown said. He also mentioned how much it was a dream for him to win the Stanley Cup as he chokes up in emotion and how much it meant to play with one organization.
Brown said that his only hope is when people see his jersey up in the rafters they won’t only think about his achievement but ‘our’ achievement’ as in the franchise and the fans.
After his jersey was put up, the team had a surprise waiting for Dustin and that surprise was none other than the Stanley Cup itself.
The roar in excitement as the cup makes its way to Brown and he hoists it above his head in the same spot he first hoisted it in 2012, becoming the first King in franchise history to hoist the Stanley Cup.
One last thing that was done for Brown was the unveiling of his statue in front of Crypto.com Arena. The statue is depicting Brown with a full husky beard hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2012.
The team made sure it would be a night to remember for the fans, the players and most importantly Dustin himself.
Now when fans pass by the stadium they will find the statue of Brown giving back memories of the years he gave the City of Angels two Stanley Cups and when they attend the games they will find number 23 hanging in the rafters for generations to come.
