The Week That Was, The Week That Is - 3/27

The Week That Was

The Kings then had four days between games before a Saturday matinee with the final placeholders of the Western Conference playoff spot. The early start for the Kings and Winnipeg Jets didn't effect the home team as Kings again snatched the early lead with Arvidsson continuing his what would become a memorable week, scoring just 1:22 into the game. A pair of power play goals, one by each team followed in the second period, before Doughty continued his hot scoring streak with the separator just 27 seconds into the third period. Doughty's goal marked his seventh of the season and was his third goal over a four-game span. Despite a Jets third period push, the Kings held them off of the scoresheet and Arvidsson sealed the game with an empty net goal for his 22nd of the season.
Then, 18 hours and 30 minutes later, the Kings were back at Crypto.com Arena to face the St. Louis Blues. With both teams on the second half of a back-to-back, the Kings again came out firing. Jumpstarting the offense early, Arvidsson took a pass from Kevin Fiala, who returned to the Kings lineup after a six-game absence due to injury, and fired a wrist shot past Joel Hofer just 27 seconds into the game. Things snowballed for the Kings and the offense continued to roll. Four more Kings goals ensued in the first period (Alex Iafallo (12), Adrian Kempe (35), Viktor Arvidsson's (24) and Trevor Moore (9)). The five-goal period marked the second time this season that the Kings have reached that number in a period.
Up 5-1 entering the second period, the game was far from over. The Blues took over the period and netted three goal to make it a one-goal game going into the final 20.
The game suddenly got tight, but fear not, Kempe scored his second goal of the game and 36th on the season. The extremely timely goal marked a new career-high in goals, surpassing his previous high from last season. A Kasperi Kapanen goal 8:11 into the period brought the game back within one, but in typical Kings fashion, as we've seen so many times this season, they quickly responded as Drew Doughty scored just 39 seconds later. The Doughty goal is his fourth goal in five games. Now up a pair heading into the final minute of the game, the Blues again made it interesting and scored with 49 seconds to go. That would be all though. Kings won 7-6.

Notable News From The Week That Was:
- Leading scorer for the Kings this past week was Viktor Arvidsson, who recorded seven points (5-2=7) in the three games - Arvidsson's spectacular week gained the Swede league-wide honors as he was named the NHL's First Star of the Week. This recognition is the second Star of the Week honor Arvidsson has received (Third Star on Feb. 12, 2017 with NSH). - Leading scorer for the Kings Kevin Fiala returned to the lineup on Sunday vs. Blues sfter missing the previous six games. In his return, Fiala tallied two assists, including the primary assist on Arvidsson's game-opening goal just 27 seconds into the game. - Joonas Korpisalo made one start for the Kings this past week, making 25 saves in the 4-1 road victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Korpisalo is now 4-0-1 with the Kings and holds a .929 SV%. - The Kings power play went 7-for-12 in the in their three games, moving them up four places from last week to 2nd in the NHL (25.7%). - The Kings penalty kill went 8-for-12 in the three games, placing them 23rd in the NHL (75.4%).

The Week That Is

Having closed out their seven-game homestand on Sunday, the Kings now set out for an extremely important four-game road trip against divisional opponents. The Kings will close out a pair of season series (CGY, SEA) and will play their third of four tilts against third-seeded Edmonton Oilers and the red hot Vancouver Canucks. With just nine games to go in the season, there will be plenty of so-called four-point games with eight of the nine opponents being divisional opponents.
Beginning Tuesday night, the Kings face off against a 33-26-15 Calgary Flames team that currently sit four points out of the final playoff with eight games remaining in their season. Having played each other just eight day earlier, the Kings now lead the season series 2-1 after the dominant 8-2 victory last Monday. Former King and fan-favorite Tyler Toffoli continues to stay hot with seven points (3-4=7) in his last five games. Pushing for that last playoff slot, the Flames have picked up points in seven of their last 10 games (5-3-2), having closed the gap by three points during that span. A number to look for in Tuesday's game will be 4. The Flames are 23-1-3 with the score at least four goals. On the contrast, the Kings have been great at not allowing four goals in games, having kept their opponents to two goals or less in nine of their last 11 games. That said, it's worth noting that the Kings are coming off of that high scoring 7-6 game against the Blues.
Two nights later, the Kings will take on Alberta's other team, the Edmonton Oilers. Currently ahead of the Oilers by five points in the standings, the Kings will have two opportunities to separate themselves from Edmonton for at the very least the two seed and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. We should probably lead with Connor McDavid when talking about the Oilers right? We will. McDavid currently averages just under two points per game (60-79=139) and has reached the 60-goal mark (in 72 games) for the first time in his career. McDavid joins Austin Matthews (60, 2021-22), Steven Stamkos (60, 2011-12) and Alexander Ovechkin (65, 2007-08) as the only four players to have reached the milestone this century. After addressing McDavid it seems mandatory to follow with Leon Draisaitl, and rightfully so. Draisaitl ranks second in the NHL in points (45-67=112) and has outscored McDavid over the past five games (1-11=12).
As a team as a whole, the Oilers join a pool of red hot teams in the Western Conference and are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. It'll be a battle of the top two power plays in the NHL as the league-best Oilers are clicking at a 31.6% rate. As it stands, the Oilers are second in NHL history in power play percentage, trailing the 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens (31.9%). Going into the game, the Kings have won the prior two meetings this season.
Onto the weekend's slate of games, the Kings will have a back-to-back for the second straight weekend. Beginning with the Saturday night game back in the states, the Kings will take on the 40-24-8 Seattle Kraken. Current holders of the first wild card spot in the Western Conference, the Kraken will provide one of the league's top offenses. Ranked fourth in the NHL in scoring, the Kraken average 3.51 goals per game and have the best offense at 5-on-5. Where the Kraken struggle is on the special teams. Currently, the Kraken are the only team among current playoff holders to rank in the bottom 10 on both the power play (24th) and penalty kill (26th). Likely Calder Trophy winner Matty Beniers is one to watch for. Centering the Kraken's top line, Beniers has notched 50 points (20-30=50) in 70 this season.
Closing out their week, the Kings will head back north and take on the Vancouver Canucks. Out of the playoffs? Yes. Red hot and playing good hockey? Also yes. The Canucks are 11-2-0 in their last 13 games, including a shootout defeat of the Kings on March 18th. Under new Head Coach Rick Tocchet, their best players are playing their best hockey. Elias Petterson ranks seventh in the NHL with 93 points (35-58=93) this season. Petterson has also had extreme success against the Kings, with 19 points (8-11=19) in just 11 games with a plus-9 plus/minus. Brock Boeser has also had similar success against the Kings with 18 points (13-5=18) in 14 career games. This will be meeting three of four between the two teams, with the season finale taking place on April 10th back in Los Angeles, the Kings second to last game of the regular season.
Upcoming games this week:
- 3/28 @ Calgary Flames @ 6:00 (Bally Sports West) - 3/30 @ Edmonton Oilers @ 6:00 (Bally Sports SoCal) - 4/1 @ Seattle Kraken @ 7:00 (KCOP-13) - 4/2 @ Vancouver Canucks @ 5:00 (Bally Sports West)