The LA Kings were back in Newark this afternoon, as they hit the ice for practice at the Prudential Center, in advance of tomorrow’s matchup against the New York Rangers.

The Kings had 13 shots on goal last night.

The last time the Kings had fewer shots on goal was November 21, 2002.

Of those 13, nine came at 5-on-5.

The last time the Kings had fewer shots on goal, 5-on-5, was October 27, 2008.

This isn’t exactly a crazy piece of analysis here, but the stories about the last couple of wins, with what went well against Washington and New York, kind of spelled out why the Kings lost against the Devils. In those first two games, the first line was on the ice for multiple goals for. Artemi Panarin scored three times. Adrian Kempe scored twice. Alex Laferriere had three assists. All three had points in both wins. Against New Jersey, that line didn’t get one, though Kempe did have the assist on the only goal they did score.

I don’t say that to malign the first line. Even in a scoreless night, they looked dangerous at times. I say it because outside of that line, the Kings just aren’t consistently getting enough offensive possession or chances, which has led to the lack of scoring. It’s just not sustainable to rely on multiple goals every night from one line.

The one goal they did get yesterday came from Scott Laughton, who snapped a six-game drought for the second, third and fourth lines in the 5-on-5 scoring department, with a goaltender in the net, that is. Laughton’s goal was his second in three games on the trip, though the first came against the empty net in Washington. Outside of him, though, it just hasn’t gone in for those lines.

It begs a simple question to me, which is what I asked Peter Laviolette earlier today.

When you have one line that is gelling and producing, but three that haven’t on a consistent basis, how does he see the balance between not fixing what isn’t broken and the need to fix what is? The Panarin/Laferriere/Kempe line has been good but does splitting up say Panarin and Kempe – theoretically – potentially help the group produce more overall? I don’t know if it does or not. There’s probably not a clear answer, but here is Laviolette’s thought process –

“Yeah, I mean, you’re right and there’s a couple pieces that are out of the lineup that could help move things around as well, and so that makes it a little bit more challenging. It’s good sign to see Quinton out there today, practicing with the team, so that’s a boost right there. He’s a he’s a big player for us. Hopefully, he continues to make improvements. I think that last night, there was not as much offense as we had in the in the Islanders game and that team does a good job of creating, they’re a top team at generating offense. There were times, especially again in the second period, where we had to be better. For me, if we’re playing defense, we’re not playing offense. We’ve got to find a way to get it behind them, stay in the offensive zone and generate. I believe that the other lines can generate and even Panarin’s line last night with Kempe and Laf, I feel like they could have generated a little bit. I don’t feel like we put enough at their net, with regard to quantity, with regard to quality and so, therefore, it’s a group effort. Do we need contribution from the top line? We do, but we need contributions from others as well. We need to get people healthy back in the lineup and all those things, I feel, can boost the offense.”

FWIW, I appreciated the detail in which he answered the question. There are a lot of layers to it, some that I think cross over into other areas that need to be addressed. For today, it did not seem like there were any drastic changes, which I think is what you’d infer from his answer had you not watched practice. It’s also easy to bring up that the Kings need more production, but if your question is, are the pieces here capable of more production than they have been, Laviolette feels they are, as he stated in his answer. As such, here’s how the team aligned during today’s skate –

Panarin – Laferriere – Kempe
Moore – Haula – Zuccarello
Armia – Laughton – Ward
Lee – Helenius – Perry – Wright
Byfield

Gustafsson – Clarke
Edmundson – Doughty
Anderson – Dumoulin
Ceci

Kuemper / Forsberg

One reason in the column of not breaking that line up is that forward Quinton Byfield was back on the ice today, however it was in a non-contact jersey for most of the practice.

The line of Moore, Byfield and Zuccarello is what was envisioned when the Kings moved Laferriere up, but they only played a handful of shifts before Byfield’s injury in Washington. If he’s back, I believe that’s the line the Kings want to see together right now to function as a second scoring line. If Byfield is out, there’s only so much you can do. When he did mix in, Byfield was on that second line. I think that Haula is the guy who the Kings feel they can move around and that’s been his role early, seeing time with different players, on different lines, at different positions.

As Laviolette detailed in his above answer, Byfield’s presence was encouraging. He didn’t take the first runthrough on line rushes, but he did take repetitions with the top power-play unit and he also did work on some contact situations in more of a controlled setting, which was also encouraging. What I mean by that is the contact came from a coach, not in the heat of a drill with his teammates. Controlled. So, while he was in the red, he was tested as well, which feels like a good sign.

Unsure if Byfield is an option for tomorrow’s game or not. If not, it seems like we’ll see the big line stay together and then see the pieces shuffle a little bit from there, with forward Taylor Ward potentially an option to check in, as he skated with line three today.

Changes or no, everyone agrees that there isn’t enough going, so that falls on those involved to produce, both in the chances they are getting and by getting more chances than they have.

Forward Trevor Moore, a 30-goal scorer in the NHL, has just one goal in nine games and it was a shorthanded tally. He took ownership last night for the full group, saying that beyond that top line, it starts with him to lead the way with scoring in other areas.

“It’s been all year. It starts with me. I’ve got to figure out a way to put the puck in the net. We need more offense from more guys. It starts with me.”

It isn’t just about Moore, though. He’s a veteran player and a leader who is shouldering it, which I respect He might atop that group of players who the Kings need more production from, so I get why he put it that way, but it’s a group, not just him. When you take Kevin Fiala and Quinton Byfield out of the lineup, the way the pieces slot into place creates a situation where a lot of guys need outproduce the roles they were originally expected to fill, because the roles they are actually filling come with different expectations.

Take Moore for example. It’s not that Moore hasn’t shown he is more than capable of scoring at a second-line clip in his career. There’s an easy world to see where he plays on the second line for this team, even at full strength, as he did in past seasons. But when you’re missing two main cogs of the top-six, it puts way more onus on the guys who are left. That’s Moore and forward Mats Zuccarello.

Zuccarello, who was just shy of a point-per-game last season, felt similarly to Moore on that front. He took ownership of on himself and the players to deliver more.

“We’ve got to play better,” he said. “Everyone is working hard, but we’re not getting the offense that we’re wishing that we’d get. That’s on us, who are supposed to provide that with some scoring. It’s just not been there offensively, for sure.”

From the blueline, the Kings have four goals in nine games. One was Erik Gustafsson’s power-play goal, another was Brandt Clarke’s goal playing 3-on-3. Two goals – Brian Dumoulin’s in Colorado and Clarke’s against Edmonton – have come 5-on-5.

While it’s naturally more of a job for the forwards to score goals, the defensemen have to contribute as well. Team captain Drew Doughty had maybe the best chance of the first period and led all Kings skaters – comfortably – with nine shot attempts in Newark. He could’ve been the one to get things going and didn’t. From there, there were just too many stretches of the Kings defending on their heels, which is limiting the overall number of looks.

“We’ve got to play in the offensive zone more, we have these stretches of being dominated in our d-zone and we need to fix it,” Doughty said. “I had some chances last night and I didn’t score. I’ve got to put them in, that’s it.”

It’s coming from a number of directions, all leading to the same conclusion. Doesn’t feel like there are any big personnel shakeups coming in terms of a player joining the roster, so the Kings have to figure it out with the pieces in place. Byfield’s return would certainly help, but that’s far from confirmed.

Morning skate tomorrow from MSG, before the Kings visit the Rangers. Have notes on the power play and the second periods as well, which are two additional areas of concern. Then it’s off to Chicago for the season’s first back-to-back, before coming home for a seven-game homestand. For all that has not felt right, the Kings are 2-1-0, with a chance to make this a good trip. The Rangers have not yet lost on home ice this season, so a big challenge ahead.