Anyone else starting to miss FINAL – Kraken 9, Kings 8 (OT)?
Okay fine, not really.
But it would kind of feel like a nice change of pace from what we’re seeing right now, which is the exact opposite of that game.
I’ve felt for a bit that there are some similarities in feel between this season’s Kings team and that 2022-23 team which lost the 9-8 game to Seattle. Completely opposite reasons leading to the same feeling, in terms of a team that has yet to find its way now two months into the season.
That team was simple. It took that long to start playing the right way. This year’s team, the reasoning is different. Actually, completely different. It’s scoring goals, not preventing them. Opposite logic, but we’re sitting here asking the same kinds of questions from different angles. What will it take for this year’s team to find its way?
In 2022, it was actually a couple of weeks after 9-8. It took a 7-0 thumping in Buffalo, followed but a gutsy, 3-2 win in Boston. For whatever reason, those two games got the Kings on track. It clicked. Was hoping the 3-1 Chicago loss, which was the worst game the Kings have played this season, would be the same medicine. Hasn’t been the case. Two good wins followed, but back to the same against Seattle and Calgary. It’s not as simple as to say get blown out to figure it out. But offensively, just like the defensive game in 2022, the Kings need something to change.
Here are three quotes pulled from last night’s post-game interviews.
Anze Kopitar – “We’ve got to find ways to score more goals.”
Brian Dumoulin – “Obviously the puck’s not going in.”
Jim Hiller – “We just didn’t generate, again.”
Pretty common theme.
Over the last month, the Kings have played 13 games, posting a record of 5-3-5. I think using a month’s worth of games is enough of a sample to draw conclusions on what we’re seeing. A week is fickle. A month, when trends are continuing, is enough to look at.
By the numbers, here’s where the LA Kings are at right now offensively in that time.
They’ve scored two or fewer goals in nine of those 13 games. One goal in six of those games. The Kings are averaging 2.23 goals-per-game in that stretch with a power play that’s clicking at 10.3 percent. Both of those numbers rank 31st in the NHL. It’s extremely simple. This team is not scoring enough goals.
The glass half full approach here is that of a team that’s collected a point in 10 of its last 13 games. No team has allowed fewer goals in that span overall and at 1.92 goals-against-per-game, the Kings are third best in the NHL. Over those 13 games, the Kings have allowed two or fewer goals nine times, Six times, they allowed one or fewer goals in regulation.
I think that’s actually what makes it more frustrating at times. With the great defensive foundation the Kings have, they don’t need to score five per night to win. But they have to at least flirt with three. Even two would’ve won last night. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to focus on the glass half full approach. Even though the Kings are sitting in a playoff spot, on pace for just shy of 100 points, there’s clearly something missing. If they needed five to win every night, okay. But most nights, three would be enough. Three goals in every game this season and the Kings would be leading the Pacific Division.
So, we’re not talking about finding several extra goals per game, as nice as that would be. We’re talking about one on most nights, maybe two. That’s attainable. But where to begin?
First things first, the power play is obviously in the largest spotlight. And it has to be. The Kings surrendered a shorthanded goal last night that was extremely preventable and once again, the power play didn’t provide either a goal or much momentum to build off of. This season, the Kings rank 32nd in power-play goals per/60 and 1st in shorthanded goals against per/60, meaning most goals against. Says it all right there.
The Kings did score once against Seattle, off the rush, but when we look at the aforementioned last month, the Kings have only scored four power-play goals, tied for the second fewest in the league in that span. Two of those goals were scored off the rush. Heck, maybe the rush should be the primary focus here? Run forward lines and let the Kings attack where they are more comfortable? I don’t know. Simplification seems to be the primary area of improvement identified by the players but the Kings actually rank middle of the pack in terms of shot attempts and shots on goal in power-play situations, so it’s not like it’s simply a matter of more shots. I get it. Shot volume can lead to rebounds, which lead to high-danger opportunities on second and third chances. But it can’t just be a matter of shooting more. The Kings are moving Adrian Kempe around the zone into different positions but there does not seem to enough looks for the team’s most dangerous shooter. Personnel has moved around enough times now to know the issues are greater than who is playing when, where and with who. I won’t claim to have the answer. But the power play is around rock bottom right now.
What’s becoming equally as concerning, though, is the 5-on-5 offense. Reason being, the power play struggled for 60 games last year, but the Kings were one of the best 5-on-5 scoring teams in the NHL. They finished the season seventh in 5-on-5 scoring per/60. They’re 30th this season. The underlying numbers are really quite similar from last season to this season. The only numbers lower are related to shooting percentage or goalscoring. An area the Kings rank towards the bottom of the league is in unpressured shot attempts from the slot, both in terms of overall quality and hitting the net. That’s the most dangerous area of the ice and the Kings are both not getting there enough and also not scoring enough when they do get there. Not a great combination.
There’s clearly been a focus and an emphasis on shooting and scoring during the limited practice time the Kings have. Those concepts are being reinforced during off-ice instruction, certainly. The right things are being said. Seeing the right things in practices. But the lack of scoring persists. And I’ll say this. The Kings got away with it against Calgary and Seattle to collect two points. But those performances will be punished this coming week. Dallas, Florida and Tampa Bay all on the road with travel, three games in four nights. That’s a murderer’s row of the team that is second in the NHL in points, the defending champions and the team leading the Atlantic Division. With all due respect to Calgary and Seattle, two very hardworking teams, they aren’t exactly high-octane offensive teams. Last night’s showing from a Kings perspective loses all three games on this trip. Too many mistakes, compounded by a lack of scoring. The team is capable of better and they’ll need to find it, with three big games on the docket this week.
The Kings have to find ways to score more goals on this trip than they have over the last month. Thus far, the results have been good enough to keep the Kings where they need to be. But the schedule is about to ramp up, this week and into January. Team performances need to ramp up alongside of it.