Eric Hartline-Imagn Photos
Don’t look now, but the Los Angeles Kings are quietly climbing the ranks of the Pacific Division and the Western Conference overall. The Kings earned an overtime/kickoff point on Saturday in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators, and are now just four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights at the top of the Pacific.
LA has gone 8-1-2 in their last 11 games, and their 10-2-1 home record is one of the best in the NHL. There’s still a lot to be excited about for the Kings, and things could get even better.
Speaking of which: Star defensive end Drew Doughty is still out of the lineup and is being counted as month-to-month. Doughty broke his ankle in late September, though The defenders of the healthy Kings stepped up in his absenceand LA is now the NHL’s third best defensive team with a 2.55 goals against average. And if Doughty returns, the Kings will be significantly better.
That’s it Good job by LA GM Rob Blake, who has built a deep Kings team. Then there’s Kings coach Jim Hiller, who probably doesn’t get enough credit for what he’s done with this Los Angeles team. But if he keeps this up, Hiller should get good support when it comes to the Jack Adams award as the NHL’s top coach. (There will be other Jack Adams contenders, of course, but Hiller has guided the Kings to relevancy, and he’s gotten LA off to a good start through the first third of the season.)
To be honest – after a few years of believing in the Lord, we switched to “show me, don’t tell” this organization. But LA has shown they can beat anyone. They’ve beaten Minnesota, Dallas, Ottawa and Winnipeg in the last month or so, and they’ve handled their business with wins over teams like Anaheim, Philadelphia, the New York Islanders and the New York Rangers. More importantly, they haven’t lost two or more games in a row since November 11-13 – and even then, they’ve only lost two games in a row in that short span.
The Kings are still a mixed bag – their power play is 28th overall in the league at 14.9 percent, but their penalty kill is eighth overall at 82.5 percent. Their goaltending is also a mixed bag, with starter Darcy Kuemper (2.40 goals-against average, .911 save percentage) and backup David Rittich (.890 SP and 10-7-0 record) sharing netting duties.
Los Angeles may not have a talented group built around them, but they have stars including Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala and captain Anze Kopitar – the latter of whom is averaging better than a point per game (27 assists and points per game). 37 in 33 games) — The Kings have enough talent to at least be a playoff team if not a Stanley Cup runner. And somehow, this Kings team has proven itself to be greater than the sum of its parts.
In the easiest Pacific division, LA has a good chance to lock up home ice advantage in next spring’s Stanley Cup playoffs. Kings are finding ways to win, and soon, people will have Kings on their radar. And if that shines through for the Kings, it will be interesting to see how they handle the pressure.
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