Before last week, the high-flying, high-scoring Los Angeles Kings were winners of seven of their past eight games, making them one of the hottest teams in all of the National Hockey League.
But every season has its ups and downs, so perhaps the Kings were in for a dry spell. LA has gone 1-1-2 in its past four games, and has fallen slightly to third place in the Pacific Division.
All four of the Kings’ matchups in the past two weeks have been on the road, bringing them to seven consecutive contests away from Los Angeles, which may be contributing to their struggles, as most of their recent hot streak took place on home ice.
The Kings began the road trip in Pittsburgh on Dec. 17 against a Penguins team that will likely be in the mix for one of the last playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. It was a very evenly fought matchup, as the teams had the same amount of shots on the night with 31, and the scoring went back and forth all night long.
The Kings started the game extremely fast with a goal within the first 30 seconds. They relentlessly attacked Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic with several shot attempts right after the opening puck drop, which led to a golden opportunity for right winger Adrian Kempe to poke one right into the goal to open the scoring for the Kings.
The Kings’ lead held until a little over six minutes into the second period when the Penguins knotted the game at 1 on a two-on-one breakaway.
True to the back-and-forth nature of the game, the Kings regained the lead on a breakaway of their own. Center Alex Turcotte sped ahead off a turnover and slammed a shot into the top of the net to give the Kings a one-goal lead once again.
But the Penguins would knot up the game once again with a handful of minutes left in the third period, and once the game hit overtime, it was subject to whoever could make one more play. The Penguins threw the puck towards the net and got a good bounce, which was all they needed to send their home fans home happy with a 3-2 overtime victory.
The Kings picked up a point for their efforts but left the contest frustrated that they couldn’t come away with the win after leading for much of the contest and never trailing until that final goal in overtime.
Fortunately, their second game in Pennsylvania two nights later, on Dec. 19 against the Philadelphia Flyers, was much more successful. The Kings were having some bad déjá vu initially, as the goal spread was the same as their game against the Penguins. They took 1-0 and 2-1 leads for the Flyers to knot the game up each time, and then Philadelphia took a 3-2 lead late in the second period.
Fortunately, on this night, there was a whole lot more hockey to be played after the Kings’ opponent took a 3-2 lead. And, all of the hockey left favored the Kings. Captain Anže Kopitar scored a goal in the waning seconds of the second period to knot the game back up and give the Kings momentum heading into the third period.
They capitalized on that momentum immensely. The third period was all Kings, as they scored four more goals to run away with a 7-3 victory.
Kopitar and left winger Kevin Fiala each had two goals for the Kings to fuel the offensive outburst, and they left the state of Pennsylvania with three points, a solid start to the road trip.
The Kings then traveled to Nashville to take on the Predators, who are middling at the bottom of the Central Division. The Preds had control of the game early, jumping out to a 2-0 lead and holding that lead until midway through the third period.
The always-gritty Kings battled back for two goals in the third period, however. Right winger Quinton Byfield broke the Kings’ scoring drought off a good feed from left winger Warren Foegle, wristing the puck into the goal and pumping his fist in excitement afterward. Byfield’s recent play has been encouraging for the Kings. He started the season slow but now has four points in his last five contests.
The goal gave the Kings life, and a few minutes later, right wing Alex Laferriere scored off a rebound to tie the game at 2 for the Kings.
The game went into overtime, but the Kings would ultimately drop another contest that went into extra time and by the same score of 3-2. It ultimately was another good bounce for the opposing team, as Kings’ goalie Darcy Kuemper put in a valiant effort trying to stop the Preds’ attack, but the puck bounced off his glove and behind him where Nashville defenseman Nick Blankenberg poked the puck into the goal for his first goal of the season and a Predators’ win.
The Kings then had to try to wash the disappointment of picking up only one point instead of two out of their mouths quickly as they immediately headed to Washington D.C. for their game against the Capitals the next day.
The Kings fought hard to open the game. After falling behind 1-0, the always-productive Fiala scored on the power play in the second period to knot the game at 1. But the road trip seemed to wear on the Kings. They outshot the Capitals 26-21, so effort was never in question, but they simply fell victim to a much more efficient Capitals attack that was just a bit more rested, as well as a great performance from Caps goalie Logan Thompson. Washington took control with two more goals while the Kings came up empty, dropping their second straight in as many days by a score of 3-1.
Ultimately, the Kings don’t have too much to be concerned about despite their middling two weeks. They would have liked to have the wins against Pittsburgh and Nashville, but the two unlucky bounces in overtime are just the way that hockey goes sometimes.
They managed to salvage four points on the four-game portion of the long road trip despite tallying only one win, so things truly could have been worse. They also weren’t blown out at all and remained in every game until the very end.
They have a great opportunity to rebound with a Christmas break followed by a five-game homestand. The Kings are 10-2-1 at Crypto.com arena this season, so they have a great opportunity to start a new winning streak to open the new year. The only area Kings fans will have for concern is if the losing continues during the homestand. Watch for the Kings’ offense specifically to look to rebound after being held to two goals or less in three of their last four contests.
The Kings will open the homestand on Saturday at 2 p.m. versus the Edmonton Oilers.