The Week That Was, The Week That Is - 2/27

The Week That Was

Quickly, the Kings were forced to put their overtime loss behind them and less than 24 hours later they were back on the ice. This time against the New York Islanders, the Kings jumped out to a lead and held onto it. Scoring the game's first three goals, the Kings depth showed up in strong order. Leaning on a strong second period, the Kings potted all three of their goals in the middle stanza. Beginning with Phillip Danault, the center netter his 15th goal of the season on his 30th birthday to give the Kings the 1-0 lead. Next, it was Arthur Kaliyev who doubled the Kings lead, tapping in a beautiful backdoor pass from Rasmus Kupari. Continuing the second period scoring was Gabriel Vilardi who buried a one-timer from the high slot, scoring the eventual game-winning goal. Two Islanders goal would follow after the Vilardi tally, but the Kings would hold off the late surge by the Islanders to earn the two points.
Closing out the last week, the Kings and Rangers faced off in a Sunday matinee in the world's most famous arena. Under the lights of Madison Square Garden, the Kings fell into a 3-0 hole just 24 minutes into the game. Jonathan Quick started his second consecutive game for the Kings, but was pulled after surrendering three goals on seven shots. The Kings fought back, cutting the deficit to 3-2 with a Viktor Arvidsson and Matt Roy pair of goals, but lost the momentum after getting scored on 44 seconds after making it a one-goal game. A fifth Rangers goal followed and the Kings lost 5-2 after 60 minutes elapsed.
Notable News From The Week That Was:
- Anze Kopitar (2-1=3), Sean Durzi (1-2=3) and Phillip Danault (1-2=3) tied for the team's leading scorer on the week. - Pheonix Copley and Jonathan Quick each started two games this past week. Copley went 0-1-1 and Quick went 1-1-0. - The Kings power play went 1-for-8 in the in their lone game, placing them 3rd in the NHL (25.6%). - The Kings penalty kill went 8-for-14 in the lone game, placing them 24th in the NHL (75.4%).

The Week That Is

The Kings have three games on schedule this week. First, the Kings will conclude their five-game road trip with a stop in Winnipeg before they head back to Los Angeles for a pair of home games on Thursday and Saturday night. Two of the Kings three opponents are well outside of the playoff picture while the Jets are currently holding onto the first wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Beginning with those Jets, the Kings catch a sputtering Winnipeg team that has lost five of their last six games. The Jets will be closing out a three-game home stand when the Kings come to town having been outscored 9-1 in the first two games. One matchup to keep an eye on will be the Kings third ranked power play (25.6%) versus the Jets second ranked penalty kill (84.7%). They say to have a good penalty kill, your best killer has to be your goalie and that's true for the Jets. With one of the top goalies in the NHL, Connor Hellebuyck is 26-18-1 with a .923 SV%. One standout player for the Jets is defenseman Josh Morrissey who has already set a career high in assists (48) and points (59). A new look for the Jets will be in uniform come Tuesday when Nino Niederreiter suits up after being acquired by Winnipeg for a 2024 second-round draft pick this past weekend.
Following the conclusion of a 10-day, five-game road trip, the Kings will return home for a game on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens. The 25-30-4 Canadiens sit at the bottom of the Atlantic Division with a -51 goal differential and lost to the Kings 4-2 in the team's first meeting on December 10th, 2022. Without their young star Cole Caufield for the remainder of the year due to season-ending shoulder surgery, the Canadiens will also be without Evgenii Dadonov whom they traded to the Dallas Stars on Sunday. The Canadiens retained 50% of Dadonov's $5M salary and received received 25-year-old Denis Gurianov in return. Gurianov has recorded nine points (2-7=9) in 43 games with the Stars this season. As a team, the Canadiens have been led by captain Nick Suzuki who has notched 46 points (
The Kings third and final game this coming week will take place on Saturday against a very different looking St. Louis Blues team. With the trade deadline coming up this Friday, March 3rd, the Blues have already moved multiple big pieces including captain Ryan O'Reilly (TOR), Vladimir Tarasenko (NYR), Noel Accari (TOR) and Ivan Barbashev (VGK). The Blues have lost five straight games (0-3-2) and sit sixth in the Central Division with a record of 26-28-5. Offensively, Jordan Kyrou leads the Blues with 54 points (25-29=54) in 56 games.
All three games this week can be seen on Bally Sports West or Bally Sports +.
Upcoming games this week:
- 2/28 @ Winnipeg Jets @5:00 - 3/2 vs. Montreal Canadiens @7:30 - 3/4 vs. St. Louis Blues @7:30