The Week That Was, The Week That Is - 2/12

The Week That Was

The Kings played just one game last week, but it sure was a big one. Under newly appointed Interim Head Coach Jim Hiller, the Kings defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 on Saturday night to pull within three points of their Canadian rival in the standings.

Going up against an Oilers team playing in their third game in four days and on the second half of a back-to-back, the Kings seemingly had the energy advantage for the full 60 minutes. A 2:1 shot advantage for the Kings in the first period didn’t result in a goal or lead, but provided the momentum for a result-filled second period. Striking for a pair of goals just 49 seconds apart, the Kings took a 2-0 lead 3:27 into the second period. Beginning with a heavy wrist shot by Pierre-Luc Dubois from the half-wall position on the power play, the Quebec native notched his 11th goal of the season to give the Kings the game’s opening goal. Seconds later, Quinton Byfield stripped Connor McDavid of the puck in the defensive zone and sent himself and Trevor Lewis into the Oilers end on a 2-on-1. There, Byfield found the veteran forward backdoor for his seventh goal of the season.

Entering the third period up by two goals, the Kings doubled their lead across the next 20 minutes of play. On a night to remember for the 21-year-old Byfield, the former second overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft potted a pair of goals to conclude a three-point night. Byfield first put the Kings up 3-0 with a precisely placed wrist shot off of a rebound from a Vladislav Gavrikov point shot, before ultimately ending Edmonton’s night with an empty net goal. Byfield's three points marked his ninth multi-point effort of the season, tied for second in the league this season by a skater 21 years of age or younger and trailing only Lucas Raymond (11). Also, by logging the 69th, 70th, and 71st points of his career tonight, (24-47=71), Byfield becomes the 14th skater in Kings history to record at least 70 career points before turning 22 years old.

Not to be overshadowed, David Rittich picked up his first shutout in a Kings jersey, stopping all 26 Oilers shots. Rittich has now earned a point for the Kings in five straight starts (3-0-2).

Notable News From The Week That Was:

• The Kings continue to hold the NHL’s best penalty kill (87.7%)

• Interim Head Coach Jim Hiller picked up his first career win as the lead bench boss. He holds the record of 1-0-0.

• The Kings also added former Ottawa Senators Head Coach D.J. Smith to the staff. Smith will take on the duties of the Kings 5-on-5 play.

• Quinton Byfield’s three-point night led the way offensively for the Kings.

• The Kings power play went 1-for-2 in their game against the Oilers, placing them 15th in the NHL (21.5%).

• The Kings penalty kill went 5-for-5 in their game against the Oilers, ranking them 1st in the NHL (87.7%).

The Week That Is

The schedule returns back to normal this week as the Kings have left town to begin a four-game East Coast road trip. With one win and one game played under Interim Head Coach Jim Hiller and his staff, the new bench boss will take on a recent opponent in the Buffalo Sabres, along with a weekday game against the New Jersey Devils before an earlier than normal weekend back-to-back versus the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins.

People often talk about how “timing is everything” in life. This upcoming game on Tuesday night in Buffalo just might be one of those instances. Going back to their previous tilt against the Sabres on January 23rd, the Kings surrendered an early two goal lead and ended the game with the Sabres scoring four unanswered goal to defeat the Kings 5-3 in Los Angeles. That loss played a large part in the dismissal of Head Coach Todd McLellan according to General Manager Rob Blake just days later in his media meeting following the coaching change.

Now traveling to Buffalo for the last meeting of the two teams this season, could it be a revenge game? While players often dismiss the extra want and focus of trying to right a wrong or make up for the past, this game comes at an intriguing time. The Sabres enter Tuesday’s game 5-5-0 in their last 10 games, but have lost both of their games since returning from the All-Star break. The Sabres hot hand begins with JJ Peterka, who notched a three-point (2-1=3) and +4 showing against the Kings in January. Another player who has had success against the Kings is Alex Tuch. With seven points (4-3=7) in his last seven outings versus the Kings, including the game-winning goal in January, Tuch is another person to watch. Lastly, from a personnel perspective, the always dangerous blueliner Rasmus Dahlin has had a great season year-to-date, ranking second among defensemen in the NHL in goals (13) and eighth in points (39).

Two nights later, the Kings will travel to New Jersey to face the 25-21-4 Devils. The team that was commonly included in the Stanley Cup contender talk heading into the season currently sits six points outside of the playoffs. In large part due to injury, key players like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Dougie Hamilton, Timo Meier and Ondrej Palat have all missed at least 10 games this season. Now getting healthier, J. Hughes returned to the lineup two games ago, along with the now healthy Hischier, Palat and Meier who are also playing. J. Hughes currently ranks fifth in the NHL in points per game, averaging 1.33 PPG across 34 games (15-30=45). Former King fan favorite and first-year Devil Tyler Toffoli currently leads the team in goals with 21 and has 34 points across 49 games this season. Currently without defensemen Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler and Brendan Smith, the Devils will look to maintain their third ranked offensive zone possession allowed. On the contrast, the Kings will look infiltrate the Devils defensive zone with their 11th ranked offensive zone possession, averaging 7:03 per game.

Moving to Saturday's game, don’t stay out too late on Friday and set your alarms as puck drop against the Boston Bruins is at 9:30 AM. Currently holding the top seed in the Eastern Conference and trailing only the Vancouver Canucks by three points in the Presidents' Trophy race, the Bruins are Stanley Cup contenders once again. Saturday morning’s game will conclude another season series for the Kings, having previously lost to the Bruins 4-2 on October 20th in Los Angeles. Sitting at 32-11-9, the Bruins are led offensively by last year’s 60-plus goalscorer David Pastrnak. On pace for 52 goals this season, Pastrnak ranks third in the NHL in goals (33), ninth in assists (42) and third in points (33-42=74). Pastrnak also leads the NHL in shots on goals (275), 22 more than second place.

Also carrying two of the NHL’s top goalies, the Bruins have leaned on both Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman heavily with middle of the pack defensive stats. With an expected goals against ranking 14th in the NHL, the work of Ullmark and Swayman have the Bruins ranking third in goals against.

Closing out their week and four-game road trip, the Kings will play the second half of a back-to-back afternoon game in Pittsburgh on Sunday. Looking to turn their record on the second half of a back-to-back around, it currently sits at 1-6-0. The Penguins threat always starts with Sidney Crosby who ranks ninth in the NHL in goals (28) and holds a +17 plus/minus. Crosby also factors in heavily for the Penguins with the top faceoff win percentage in the NHL at 55.6%. Crosby himself ranks in the top-10 with a 59.4 FOW%.

Holding a record of 23-19-7, the Penguins sit seven points outside of the playoffs with much of the reasoning being their inability to score. It hasn’t been from a lack of opportunity though. The Penguins rank second in the NHL in expected goals for, but are 25th in the category that matters, goals for per game. Ranking second in the NHL in shot attempts, fourth in slot shots and third in inner slot shots, the Penguins have struggled to find the back of the offense despite throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the opposing goalie. Whether it’s a microcosm of the Penguins season or not, upcoming unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel ranks first in the NHL in expected goals this season (32.98) and is sixth in the league in inner slot shots (72), but sits tied for 23rd in goals (22).

Upcoming games this week:

• 2/13 @ Buffalo Sabres @ 4:00 (Bally Sports West)
• 2/15 @ New Jersey Devils @ 4:00 (Bally Sports West
• 2/17 @ Boston Bruins @ 9:30 AM (ABC/ESPN+)
• 2/18 @ Pittsburgh Penguins @ 3:00 (Bally Sports West)