The Week That Was
The Kings returned home for the week for the holiday break after concluding their season-long seven-game road trip on the East Coast. Once the mandated break concluded, the Kings laced up their skates and went 2-0-0 in back-to-back weekend games against the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers.
Game Recaps:
Notable News From The Week That Was:
- Warren Foegele (2-2=4) and Quinton Byfield led the Kings in scoring this past week’s pair of games.
- Adrian Kempe notched another goal over the weekend, giving him a team-leading 17 goals on the season. Kempe leads the Kings by three goals over Kevin Fiala.
- Anze Kopitar snapped a three-game pointless drought over the weekend to maintain his team lead in points. Kopitar now sits with 39 points (12-27=39) in 36 games.
- Darcy Kuemper remains unbeaten in regulation since he returned from injury. Kuemper started one game over the weekend and defeated the Oilers 4-3 in overtime, making 24 of 27 saves. Kuemper is 5-0-2 since returning from injury.
- The Kings power play went 1-for-2 in the two games, moving up one place to 26th in the NHL (16.7%).
- The Kings penalty went 2-for-3 in the two games, dropping one place to 12th in the NHL (81.3%).
The Week That Is
Following the two home games this past weekend, the Kings have a pair more of home games this week. Taking place on Wednesday and Saturday, both games will come against Eastern Conference opponents who are well within the playoff picture as it currently stands.
The Kings first game of the week will come against the Eastern Conference’s best team, the 24-12-3 New Jersey Devils. Having seen the Devils recently on their season-long seven-game mid-December road trip, this will be the second and final time these two teams face off against each other this season. The Devils defeated the Kings 3-1 in their first meeting back on December 12th behind a pair of third period goals that proved to be the difference. Now on home ice, the Kings will look to even the season series in a place where they’ve defeated the Devils three of the last four times. Both playing winning hockey as of late, the Kings and Devils have each won six of their last 10 games with the Kings (6-2-2) earning one extra point than Devils (6-3-1) during that time. The Devils are elite on both ends of the ice. Beginning with their talented scorers, two players have separated themselves from the pack. Jesper Bratt (14-33=47) leads the Devils in points, while Jack Hughes (15-31=46) trails Bratt by a point, but also ranks second in the NHL in power play points (5-27=20). Also heating up is the King killer Timo Meier. Meier has notched three goals in his last five games and has seven goals in his last four games against the Kings. On the other end of the ice, the sure-handed Jakob Markstrom has stabilized the Devils goalie position and ranks second in the NHL in wins (19) and goals against average (2.11 GA/GF). Markstrom has been on a role lately winning six straight starts, while going 9-0-1 across his last 10 outings.
Following the Devils game, a weekend date with the always dangerous Tampa Bay Lightning awaits the Kings. The Lightning currently hold the top Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference with 42 points thanks to a 20-12-2 start 34 games into the season. Come Saturday, the Kings will be tasked with quieting the NHL’s top offense. The Lightning average an astonishing 3.94 goals per game this season and are led by all-world winger Nikita Kucherov. Kucherov is well on his way to his third consecutive 100-plus point season and the fifth of his career as he’s notched 54 points (17-37=54) in just 34 games. Kucherov’s 54 points ranks third in the NHL. Now without Steven Stamkos, who called Tampa Bay home for 16 seasons, the Lightning have reloaded and gone slightly younger with the 30-year-old two-time 40-goal goalscorer Jake Guentzel who put pen to paper on a seven-year, $63M ($9M AAV) deal over the summer. Guentzel’s availability is yet to be determined for the game against the Kings as he exited a game against the New York Rangers on December 28th and missed a game the following day. That said, the injury isn’t expected to be long term. One player that has been healthy and is currently in the lineup is Brandon Hagel, who has been on a heater as of late. Hagel enters the week having notched points in seven of his last eight games (5-5=10). As a team, the Lightning rank third in the NHL on the power play at 26.9% with Kucherov leading the league in power play points with 22 (2-20=22). This will be the first of two meetings between the clubs with the Kings traveling to Florida later this month on January 30th.
Upcoming games and events this week:
- 1/1 vs. New Jersey Devils @ 3:00 PM (FanDuel Sports West, NHL Network)
- 1/4 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning @ 6:00 (FanDuel Sports Network)
All Kings games can be heard on the ESPN LA App.
