The Week That Was
It was a week of runs for the Kings as they began with a three-game road trip before ultimately closing out the seven-day span on home ice in a Sunday matinee. Going 2-2-0 on the week, the Kings bounced back after back-to-back road losses on Monday and Tuesday with a pair of wins in the latter half of the week. Earning four out of a possible eight points on the week keeps the Kings in the Wild Card position for the playoffs, but trail the Vegas Golden Knights by just one point for the third seed in the Pacific Division with one game in hand.
The week started in Edmonton with a big matchup against the Oilers. With the winner holding onto sole possession of the third seed in the division at the time, it was the home team that came out victorious 4-2. After playing a close to perfect two periods, it was two mistakes that ended up in the back of the Kings net after 40 minutes, resulting in a 2-2 score heading into the third period. With goals on the night from Trevor Moore (22) and Alex Laferriere (8), it was the Oilers that won the third period. Scoring 1:25 into the period, Evan Bouchard found the back of the net with a one-timer from the point, benefitting from traffic in front of the Kings net. Despite pressuring the Oilers all night and outshooting their opponent in every period, the Kings couldn’t find the back of the net in the third period. Late in regulation, the Oilers found an insurance goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and pulled away for a 4-2 victory.
One night later, it was deja vu all over again. This time in Calgary, a scoreless 20 minutes began the night. Scoreless halfway through the game, the fireworks popped off in the latter half of the second period as the teams combined for four goals in an eight minute span. Phillip Danault broke the ice with a blast of a slap shot for his 11th goal of the season with 7:52 to go in the middle frame. The short-lived lead lasted just 48 seconds, as Andrew Mangiapane evened the score with a beautiful individual play of his own for his 12th goal of the season. Less than a minute after the game-tying goal came another Flames goal, this one from Blake Coleman. Late in the second period, the Kings got a boost from Kevin Fiala as the Swiss forward picked the corner with a backhand goal with just 1:06 to go. All knotted up at 2-2 entering the third period for the second straight night, the Kings again allowed two unanswered goals in the final frame and fell 4-2.
0-2-0 to begin the important three-game Canadian divisional road trip, the Kings put together potentially their best 60 minutes of the season and defeated the Western Conference’s top team, the Vancouver Canucks 5-1. Holding the Canucks to just 14 shots in the first two periods, the Kings jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 40 minutes. Beginning with a Drew Doughty one-timer from the point for his 14th goal of the season, the Kings carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Doing the same in the middle period, Anze Kopitar extended the Kings lead with the help of Quinton Byfield’s 27th assist and Doughty’s 500th career assist. The Doughty helper made him the 36th defenseman in NHL history to reach the mark and the first Kings defenseman to record 500 assists in franchise history.
Up 2-0 entering the final 20, the Canucks quickly gained momentum as Brock Boeser netted a power-play goal for the home team just 2:55 into the period. Short-lived, the Kings responded less than two minutes later with a power play goal of their own from Kevin Fiala and went on to pot another two goals in the period. With goals coming from Trevor Moore and Brandt Clarke, the Kings left Canada on a higher note and returned to Los Angeles for a Sunday afternoon game against the New Jersey Devils.
There, the Kings again left fans with that deja vu feeling. After a pair of losses when entering the third period tied 2-2 earlier in the week, the Kings flipped the script and closed out the week with a pair of convincing 5-1 wins. This one coming on home ice against the Devils, the Kings had to fight back from an early deficit to win this bout. Former Shark and the always a pain in the side of the Kings Timo Meier struck just 15 seconds into the game after a fortuitous bounce off of the glass presented the golden opportunity for the Devils. Despite the early deficit, the Kings were unphased and continued to play confident and effective hockey for the second consecutive game. Danault erased the Devils lead eight minutes into the game with a breakaway goal, beginning what would be an afternoon to remember for the center. Late in the first period, the Kings took a 2-1 lead after Pierre-Luc Dubois forced a turnover and set up Laferriere for his ninth goal of the season. Enter period two and the Kings added two more goals. Danault found the net for the second time in the game, following up a contested rush by Moore and Matt Roy. After a few moments of chaos, it was Roy who found an incoming Danault, who upon receiving the pass buried the puck into a vacated net. Fiala added to Kings lead with a perfectly placed wrist shot on the power play and sent the Kings into the final 20 up 4-1. Finding the back of the net once more was Danault, who recorded his second career hat trick and first with Kings.
Notable News From The Week That Was:
- The Kings hold a record of 8-4-0 under Interim Head Coach Jim Hiller.
- Cam Talbot made three of the four starts this past week and went 2-1-0, stopping 86 of 91 shots (.945 SV%).
- Viktor Arvidsson, Mikey Anderson, Adrian Kempe and Carl Grundstrom all remain sidelined due to injury.
- Kevin Fiala lit the scoreboard up this past weekend with eight points (3-5=8) in the four games this past week.
- The Kings power play went 2-for-10 in their four games, placing them 9th in the NHL (22.87%).
- The Kings penalty kill went 9-for-10 in their four games, ranking them 1st in the NHL (86.2%).
The Week That Is
With three games on the schedule this week, the Kings will continue with their current five-game home stand and will remain in LA. Coming up, the Kings are set to play in a rematch of last Thursday’s game against Canucks on Tuesday, followed by the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
Beginning with the rematch against the Canucks, it’ll be the second of four meetings this season between the two teams and the first in LA. Dating back to last season, the Kings have won their last three meetings against the Canucks and have outscored them 12-2. Despite leading the Western Conference in points with a 39-17-7 record, the Canucks have struggled as of late. Going 2-5-1 in their last eight games, the Canucks have given up an average of 3.88 goals per game during that span. While struggling to keep the puck out of the net as of late, the Canucks offense remains dangerous. Currently sitting in a tie for third in the NHL in goals for per game (3.58), the Canucks are led by the quartet of JT Miller, Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes and Brock Boeser who all average over a point per game. Notably, Quinn Hughes leads the NHL in assists (59), points (71) and ranks second in the NHL in plus/minus (+32).
The Kings second game of the week will be take place on Thursday night against the 25-31-3 Ottawa Senators. Scheduled to play the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, the night before, the Senators will play the Kings on the second half of a back-to-back. So far this season, the Senators are 3-3-1 in that situation. Currently one point ahead of the Eastern Conference’s bottom team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Senators could be without their captain Brady Tkachuk who left their previous game due to a lower-body injury. Tkachuk has been deemed day-to-day. Also up in the air will be the availability of former King Joonas Korpisalo, who has missed multiple games due to illness. One player the Kings will see is Tim Stutzle, the third overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Selected one pick after the Kings took Quinton Byfield, Stutzle leads the Senators in assists (42) and points (56).
The Senators also play a very open game as they rank in the top 10 in shots for and shots against.
The Kings will be idle on Friday, but it could be active day in other ways as the NHL Trade Deadline ends at 12 PM PST.
The Kings will close out the week’s games with another Western Conference heavyweight in the Dallas Stars. Two points behind the Canucks for the top record in the Conference, the Stars head into the matchup having earned points in seven of their last 10 games (4-3-3). The Stars defeated the Kings on January 15th in their only previous meeting this season by a score of 5-1. Like the Senators, the Stars will play the Ducks the night prior and will be on the second half of a back-to-back. They’ve gone 4-3-2 in the previous nine instances this season. As a team, the Stars rank fifth in the NHL In goals per game. Getting offense up and down the lineup, the Stars have seven players with double digits goals this season, including five players with at least 20 goals. Lastly, the Stars will have a new face in their lineup in Chris Tanev. Tanev was acquired from the Calgary Flames this past week in a three-team trade.
Upcoming games this week:
