Kings desperate to find offensive spark with backs against wall

LOS ANGELES – As the Los Angeles Kings prepared for Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round, D.J. Smith said they earned a little puck luck.   

“This team, I think, deserves a bounce. I think we’ve worked for it, but you can’t just wait for that,” the Kings’ interim coach said on Wednesday. “You have to go out there, play with detail, play just a little harder than them and have a little more confidence at home.”

But the Kings didn’t get a bounce in their 4-2 loss against the Avalanche at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday. Instead, the Avalanche got the bounce early at 5:29 of the first period, when captain Gabriel Landeskog’s long-range shot hit the end boards, bounced off Kings goalie Anton Forsberg’s skate and into the net. Then, the detailed game the Kings played through the first two periods eluded them in the third.

Now the Kings are down 3-0 in the best-of-7 series and on the brink of first-round elimination for the fifth consecutive season. Game 4 is in Los Angeles again on Sunday (4:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, FDSNSC, truTV, TNT, ALT, TVAS2, SNP, SNW, SN360).

As desperate as the Kings will be to extend the series, the Avalanche will be just as motivated to finish it.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s important. We’ve got a team down, you want to keep them down, and if you have an opportunity to close it out, you want to do that,” Landeskog said. “Having said that, the fourth one is always the toughest one. So, we’ll make sure we get our rest here tomorrow and Saturday, and then get back at it.”

Meanwhile, the Kings were once again wondering what they have to do to get an edge on the Avalanche. Through three games, the Kings have led the Avalanche for just three minutes, 21 seconds, and that was when Artemi Panarin’s power-play goal gave them a 1-0 lead at 13:04 of the third period in Game 2.  

“We keep saying we’re right there, but I think each guy, including myself, we have to give a little bit more,” Kings forward Quinton Byfield said. “We’re doing the right things, but we just have to dig in a little more.”

The “more” they have to do is score. The Avalanche haven’t blown out the Kings at any point, but they’re scoring in various ways. On Thursday, they came through with even-strength and short-handed goals. When they’ve gotten chances, they’ve capitalized.

“We have to keep doing a lot of the things we are doing. Obviously, we have to clean up giving up some of these chances that we’re giving up and we’d like to get more than two goals,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “We have one (goal) in the first two (periods), and two tonight, and unfortunately against this team, I don’t think that’s enough.”

No, it’s not, and there haven’t been enough even-strength goals for the Kings, either. Trevor Moore’s goal at 5:55 of the second period, which tied the game 1-1 at the time, was only the second even-strength goal the Kings have gotten against the Avalanche in six games (three in the regular season and three this postseason).

Their last even-strength goal against Colorado came from defenseman prospect Angus Booth at 8:32 of the second period of their 4-2 loss to the Avalanche on March 2. It was Booth’s only game with the Kings this season.

“It’s the playoffs. It’s hard to score 5-on-5,” Smith said. “If you look at the analytics, and what we’re creating and what we created tonight, it’s a pretty big number. In the regular season, we were scoring at a really good rate. We’re getting those looks, we’re just not capitalizing.

“We had more O-zone time than they did tonight. That doesn’t happen very often, probably, for them. We’re keeping pucks alive. Give them credit, though. They’re a really good defensive team and we just haven’t found a way, or maybe haven’t gotten a bounce, to score some of those ugly goals. We’ve been there. We’ve had tips, (Samuel) Helenius had an unbelievable tip. Give Wedgewood credit. Both goalies in the series have been unbelievable. Give Wedgewood credit. This guy looks like he’s putting his name on the circuit as a big-time goalie. Now they’ve got to beat us one more time.”

The Kings are running out of time. Smith said to expect them to play their best game of the series on Sunday. If they don’t, their offseason begins.

“I think both teams are really good defensively. That’s what I think. They’ve been a little more opportunistic than us with their chances,” Smith said. 

“Honestly, the first two periods tonight are our best two, probably, of the series. As physical as we can be within the rules and creating stuff. Our fourth line was all over it. They had scoring chances, they finished checks, they created momentum. There were a lot of good things to like. You don’t like the result and it’s tough to swallow, but I can tell you we’ll be prepared and those guys will be ready to play. We have to look at it, probably make a few changes, and see if we can spark something.”