For the Kings to break out of their season-opening rut, the change they need has to come from the top of the lineup.
You can disagree with fourth-line decisions or 12/6 versus 11/7 looks. And that’s fine. But ultimately, the 18th man in the lineup on a given night isn’t the reason the Kings have lost five consecutive games to begin the season. To move forward, it’s those atop the lineup who need to deliver more. And they know that.
“I'm not seeing [the lapses] from our fourth line type players, I'm seeing it from our top players,” defenseman Drew Doughty said. “That's why we're losing games. Your top players need to be your best players every night and not just have flashes of brilliance. They need to play 60 minutes.”
Doughty is the team’s captain and leads all defensemen in time on ice, so it starts with him. As he acknowledged.
After Tuesday’s loss to Edmonton, Doughty addressed the team in the locker room. The crux of what he said was that the Kings aren’t playing badly for 60 minutes, but there are inexcusable lapses in their game right now, lapses which are directly costing the team goals and wins.
It’s not just one player, but in this league, it’s your top guys who decide games on most nights. With the Kings trailing 1-0 in the first period, it was Doughty’s turnover that led to a penalty and a power play that Edmonton scored on. It wasn’t the only lapse in the game, either and over the first five games, those types of moments have been all too magnified. If the Kings were getting demolished each night, the conversation would need to be different.
Right now, there continue to be solid stretches within games, being dismantled by lapses the other way. Coupled with the team’s inability to score goals and those moments are setting the team back every night.
“It's just a mindset,” Doughty said. “Every single player has to take ownership of how they're playing. Play harder, not get lazy in moments, not cheat in moments, play the right way. If everyone does that together, we’ll be fine.”
Now, lapses do happen for every team. They’re unavoidable at times.
When you only score one goal, those lapses become impossible to overcome. There has to be a balance on that front, too. The Kings can’t just go out and outscore their mistakes, as we saw in Colorado and San Jose, but they have to score more than they have in the three games since.
A big part of the changes made this summer were designed to put the puck in the back of the net more than last season. There were early steps forward. The overtime loss in San Jose suggested that while the Kings remained a work in progress, this was a team that looked substantially more dangerous. Three goals over the next three games suggests otherwise.
So, while the lapses and the issues within games are hurting the Kings, so is the team’s inability to score goals.
For forward Adrian Kempe, he takes ownership of that area.
Kempe is the team’s best goalscorer and has buried just once in the first five games, a power-play goal against the Sharks. He understands he’s had looks, including a great chance to win the game in overtime in Vegas. Kempe leads the team in all categories when it comes to shooting the puck. Per Natural Stat Trick, Kempe tops the charts in shot attempts, shots on goal, scoring chances and high-danger chances. Even around the NHL, on a per/60 basis to remove games played as a variable, Kempe ranks in the Top-10 in shot attempts and scoring chances. So he’s been around it.
So far, though, it’s just the one goal to show for it, along with two assists. As the Kings look to get in the win column tomorrow, Kempe is one who needs to drive the bus offensively.
“The games we've played, we've worked really hard, but I think working hard in my own case isn't good enough, I have to score goals to produce,” Kempe said. “That's how you win games. It's hard to win when you score one goal a game. I can only speak for myself but I haven't been good enough so far. Looking forward to bouncing back, hopefully step up in those situations……I think we’ve worked really hard, just haven't had that final touch to get some more goals. It's costing us right now, so it’s definitely on myself to be better in that area.”
Scoring droughts happen for every player and Kempe has been a streaky scorer at times. He’ll go on tears, often even coming during times when the Kings are struggling to score as a team, and he’s averaged 35 goals over the last five seasons. He didn’t forget how to score.
Per NHL Edge data, Kempe has been in the right areas of the ice.
He ranks in the 88th percentile in time spent in all three zones and rates highly in individual chances in most areas as well. It’s only a matter of time for Kempe to get going, but when you’re winless early in the season, time isn’t always something the Kings can afford. He knows that and wants to lead the way tomorrow against the Bruins.
“You just need to get one and then you relax a little bit more,” he added. “I try not to think about just the goals too much, but I think you look at last game, we had tons of shots and for myself, looking at the game afterwards, I think it's just that final play or touch that is kind of missing right now. We're shooting the puck and getting some tips and all that kind of stuff and those are going to be goals that you can score throughout the whole season. I think right now, we’ve just got to connect on a few more plays, the final play or final shot. Just got to get on the board and then hopefully we keep moving in the right direction from there.
The Boston game is the last at home before the Kings hit the road for five straight, including four on the East Coast. Last season, in a similar position, the Kings got on the plane with a record of 1-3-2. Currently sitting at 0-3-2, they could get to the same place with a win tomorrow. But it won’t come easily against a Boston team that’s won five of its first seven to begin the season.
Doughty wasn’t much interested in the quality of opponent excuse. If you want to be a good team you have to beat good teams and the Kings haven’t done that.
“It’s just not good enough,” he added. “The excuse of saying we played some good teams, I mean, we want to be one of those teams, right? So, we can't be using that excuse.”
Whether it’s the 1974-75 Washington Capitals, the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens or the 2026-27 Boston Bruins coming into town, the Kings need a win, regardless of how you shake it. They will most likely need to score more than one goal to do so.
1-3-2 isn’t good, but it’s better than being winless through six games, heading onto that plane tomorrow morning.
“This next game is vital to our season,” Doughty said. “Obviously, the biggest game of the year, without a doubt. We need two points and we're going to get it, I truly believe that.”
For the Kings to get it done, they’ll need their leaders to lead the way.
