LOS ANGELES — While the Kings haven’t been playing their best hockey, they’ve still managed to keep themselves in the thick of the playoff race.
Heading into the All-Star Break, the Kings have a 3-5-2 record in their last 10 games. Nonetheless, they have a chance to turn things around in their upcoming time off and firm up their playoff chances.
The Kings’ three opponents this week were all Central Division teams: the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators. Los Angeles went 1-1-1, falling to the Avalanche in a rout, taking the Blues to overtime and losing, and picking up an important victory against the Predators.
Right from puck drop, spectators could tell the Avalanche would dominate. Colorado lit the lamp three times in the first period and Los Angeles hardly had an answer the rest of the way. Left winger Kevin Fiala mustered Los Angeles’ only goal in the second period, a one-timer to the top left corner of the net from an Alex Laferriere pass to the top of the circle. But it was nowhere near enough. Forward Logan O’Connor recorded back-to-back goals and the Avalanche grabbed an easy 5-1 win.
The Kings’ next task was the Blues, in what proved to be an evenly matched game. The two teams traded goals back-and-forth in the first two periods, before netminders David Rittich and Joel Hofer held down the fort in the third, sending the game to overtime. With just under four minutes left in the additional period, though, LA had trouble transitioning to the defensive zone and Blues center Brayden Schenn wristed in the game winner, off the right post. Los Angeles grabbed a point in the loss, but conceded its fourth straight defeat, allowing St. Louis to cover ground in the Wild Card race.
Heading into the Kings’ Wednesday night bout with the Predators, both teams sat level at 54 points, making their contest especially huge considering the upcoming break. Right winger Carl Grundstrom scored LA’s first goal of the game, notching his eighth of the season in transition to put the Kings up one in the first.
The Kings doubled their lead with an early second period goal from a particularly special source: 2019 first-round draftee, center Alex Turcotte. The 22-year-old scored his first career NHL goal off a dish from winger Trevor Moore, sending the puck past goaltender Juuse Saros from a tough angle. After a goal from the Preds’ Filip Forsberg, center Trevor Lewis restored LA’s two-goal lead in the third, with Turcotte recording his first career assist as well.
Nashville scored again, but Fiala put the game out of reach by scoring on the empty net, closing the game out 4-2 in the Kings’ favor. Fiala reached 43 points this season, now tied with winger Adrian Kempe for the team lead.
The Kings will enjoy some time off before their next game. In the meantime, though, goaltender Cam Talbot will represent Los Angeles in the 2024 All-Star Game in Toronto. It will be Talbot’s second career All-Star nod and the Kings’ seventh different All-Star representative in the last 11 seasons.
While this week wasn’t all gravy, the Kings still possess the Western Conference’s top Wild Card spot. Upon finishing their mini-break, Los Angeles will take on the Edmonton Oilers in a highly anticipated matchup and try to make progress in the division. Edmonton has won its last 16 games, but only leads the Kings for third in the Pacific by three points due to their slow start to the season.
If they hope to slow down the red-hot Oilers, Los Angeles must continue to improve its defensive game. Allowing five goals against the Avalanche, especially with All-Star Talbot between the pipes, was unacceptable.
The NHL All-Star game will take Saturday at 3 p.m. at Scotiabank Arena. The Kings will resume play one week later at home against Edmonton.