The Week That Was
The Kings earned four points last week in their three divisional games as they put together a record of 2-1-0. With a road win to start the week and a home win to conclude the week, the Kings continue to keep themselves in contention for the Pacific Division crown. Now 30 games into the season, the Kings hold a record of 19-7-4 and are tied with the Vancouver Canucks for the division’s top point percentage (.700%).
A victory in San Jose started the week off on a good note as the Kings defeated the Sharks convincingly last Tuesday night. Winning 4-1, the Kings held the Sharks scoreless for 58:41 before a late power-play goal got the home team on the board. It was all Kings in their first of four meetings between themselves and the Sharks this season, outshooting their opponent by more than double, 39-16. Kings fans witnessed another power-play goal by captain Anze Kopitar, his team-leading sixth goal with the man advantage to open the game in the first period. What followed was another common occurrence this season, a 15th goal by Trevor Moore in the second period, giving the Kings at 2-0 lead. Rookie Alex Laferriere added to his goal total with his fourth tuck of the season in the second period with a beautiful tip on a Jordan Spence point shot, even further separating the teams on the scoreboard. Entering the final 20 minutes up 3-0, the Kings’ other Trevor, Trevor Lewis provided the icing on the cake with a full-ice empty net goal from their own defensive zone on the penalty kill.
The Kings win over the Sharks also marked the first win for David Rittich in the black, silver and white. Rittich made his team debut for the Kings in place of the injured Pheonix Copley and stopped 15 of 16 shots.
Following the win in San Jose, the Kings flew home for the second half of a back-to-back. Up against the Seattle Kraken, a team the Kings had defeated in the previous week in a nine-round shootout in on the road, the away team won this matchup again. Ultimately falling to the Kraken 2-1 at home, the Kings only mustered up one goal on 43 shots. After a scoreless first period that saw the Kings outshoot the Kraken 20-8, Seattle’s Brandon Tanev netted the game’s first goal 5:19 into the middle stanza. Tanev pounced on a loose puck in front of the Kings net and beat goalie Cam Talbot on his own rebound to snap a 10-game goalless streak. Another monkey off of a Kraken forward’s back came in the third period as Jordan Eberle put Seattle up 2-0, snapping a 12-game goalless drought. The Kings pushed back after falling behind by a pair of goals and Blake Lizotte eventually cut the Kraken’s lead in half with a shorthanded goal with 12:00 to go in regulation. The Kings continued to push, but the Kraken kept the puck out of their net the rest of the game and held on to earn two points.
Three nights later, the Kings saw the Calgary Flames for the first time this season. In an eventful game, offense came early for both teams. Quinton Byfield opened the game’s scoring 1:01 into the game with a one-timer from the point off of a set play from a face-off win. The Kings initial lead last just 1:46 as Rasmus Andersson benefitted from a fortuitous bounce off of Matt Roy’s shin pad that deflected into the Kings net. Pierre-Luc Dubois then gave the Kings the lead again as a Flames penalty expired late in the first period. Dubois deflected a point shot from Spence for his sixth goal of the season. Into the second period, a Blake Coleman shorthanded goal evened the game at 2-2, but Alex Laferriere posted his third goal in five games to put the Kings back up by one. Moore extended the Kings lead to 4-2 late in the second period with a beautiful individual play to snipe Flames goalie Jakob Markstrom, extending his team lead in goals with 16. Now 30 games into the season, Moore sits one goal shy of tying his career high 17-goal season in 2021-22.
The third period saw one goal each from team as a power-play goal brought the Flames temporarily within one, but a Byfield empty netter sealed that game for the Kings, bringing the final score to 5-3.
Notable News From The Week That Was:
- The Kings hold the NHL’s second best goal differential (+36), trailing only the Vancouver Canucks (+46).
- The Kings continue to be stingy on defense are remain first in the NHL in defense, leading the league in goals against per game. The Kings average 2.37 goals against per game.
- Anze Kopitar’s four-point week was good enough for the team lead. Kopitar picked up a goal and three assists.
- The Kings power play went 1-for-10 in the three games, placing them 19th in the NHL (20.0%).
- The Kings penalty kill went 10-for-12 in the three games, ranking them 1st in the NHL (86.6%).
The Week That Is
We continue along with the divisional battles this week. Closing out their December schedule, the Kings will face off against three more divisional opponents. The Kings will conclude their stretch of seven straight games against divisional foes as they host the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, followed by traveling to Las Vegas for a battle against the Golden Knights on Thursday and then will head back home for their first bout this season with the Edmonton Oilers this coming weekend.
Beginning with a rematch from last week, the Kings and Sharks will go head-to-head for the second of four times this season. This game taking place in Los Angeles, the Kings will look to improve their home record of 6-6-3. Meanwhile, after finding their footing and playing .500 hockey earlier in the season after starting 0-10-1, the Sharks have lost five straight games and have been outscored 23-9 during that time. The losing streak has moved the Sharks back into the basement of the NHL standings with a 9-22-3 record.
One night after their game against the Sharks, the Kings will travel to Las Vegas for a date with the reigning Stanley Cup champions. The Golden Knights currently sit second in the Pacific Division with the second most points in the NHL (47). The Kings do have a higher point percentage than the Golden Knights as they’ve played five less games and only trail their neighbors to the East by five points (42). This will be the third and final meeting between the two clubs this regular season as each team has picked up one win. Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill was placed on injured reserve on Dec. 21st after getting injured 6:25 into his first start after returning from two and a half week hiatus due to injury. In his place is Logan Thompson who has been solid, posting a 10-5-3 record. Like the Kings, the Golden Knights have been stingy defensively, ranking 7th in goals against per game (2.71). One reason why is the Golden Knights ability to block shots. Former King Brayden McNabb ranks second in the NHL in blocked shots with 100. Offensively, all eyes should be on Jack Eichel. Eichel is the only Golden Knight averaging over a point per game with 39 points (15-24=39) in 35 games.
Lastly, the Kings will host the rivaled Edmonton Oilers over the coming weekend in a rematch of the last two playoffs series’s. Having yet to play the Oilers this season, this will be the first of four meetings between the two teams. The Oilers started the season slow and fired Head Coach Jay Woodcroft after a 3-9-1 start. Since then, the Oilers have hired Kris Knoblauch, gone 12-6-0 and are five points out of the playoffs. The biggest reason for the Oilers turnaround are the performance’s they’re getting in net. In their first 13 games, the Oilers ranked 30th in the NHL in goals against per game (3.92). Since the coaching change, the Oilers have ranked 14th in the league in GA/GP (3.06).
While there have been changes within the Oilers organization, one thing has not Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are back at it, filling the stat sheets night after night. McDavid has notched 44 points (12-32=44) in just 29 games and Draisaitl has 35 points (14-21=35) in 31) games.
Upcoming games this week:
- 12/27 vs. San Jose Sharks @ 7:00 (Bally Sports West)
- 12/28 @ Vegas Golden Knights @ 7:00 (Bally Sports West)
- 12/30 vs. Edmonton Oilers@ 7:00 (Bally Sports West)
