The Week That Was
After a two-week NHL hockey hiatus due to the midseason 4 Nations Face-Off, the Kings resumed game play over the weekend on Saturday. Kicking off the unofficial second half of the season with a promising win over the Utah Hockey Club, the regulation victory pushed the team’s point streak to five games. Still sitting pretty in third in the Pacific Division at 30-17-7 with 67 points, the Kings trail the Edmonton Oilers in the standings by five points with the games in hand and are four points ahead of the fourth place Vancouver Canucks, also with three games in hand.
Game Recaps:
Notable News From The Week That Was:
- The break served the Kings well as defenseman Mikey Anderson returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing the team’s previous four games due to a finger injury. Anderson logged 21:19 of ice time on Saturday and deposited the empty net goal from 195 feet to solidify the victory for the Kings.
- Drew Doughty returned from 4 Nations Face-Off with a gold medal and after not stepping on the ice with the team prior to Saturday’s puck drop, Doughty logged 21:40 time on ice. Doughty also scored his first goal of the season with his patented one-timer from the point and led the way offensively with a team-high three points (1-2=3).
The Week That Is
Having yet to lose in regulation in February (4-0-1), the red hot Kings will put that streak on the line this week as they will face a trio of Western Conference playoff teams in their four-game week. Beginning Monday, the Kings will see the division leading Vegas Golden Knights at home, followed by hosting the aforementioned Canucks before packing their bags and traveling to the central time zone for a back-to-back in Dallas and St. Louis.
The Kings haven’t seen the Golden Knights since October when they split a pair of games. Each team was victorious on their home ice and potted six goals on their way to two points. Now set for bout number three of four on the season with the Golden Knights, the Kings have a prime opportunity to cut into their rival’s division lead. Despite the two-week break, the Golden Knights haven’t allowed the Kings to catch up in the standings as of late because they’ve earned points in seven of their last 10 games (5-3-2). One player the Golden Knights have leaned on since the new year has been Tomas Hertl. Hertl ranks third in the NHL in goals with 10 in 14 games since January 17th. Having seen the Kings 44 times in his career, Hertl has also found the back of the net against his Monday opponent plenty, having notched 15 goals and 15 assists. Another forward the Kings will have to account for on Vegas is the newly signed Brandon Saad. Saad departed from the Blues midseason and inked a deal with the Golden Knights on January 31st. Now five games deep in his new threads, Saad scored the game-winning goal on Saturday for the Golden Knights and has three points (2-1=3) with his new team. The Kings and Golden Knights will meet once more following Monday's game and it’ll be in Vegas on March 9th.
The Kings will meet the holders of the conference’s final Wild Card’s spot two night laters, closing out their extended six-game home stand. The Canucks enter the new week coming off of a pair of 2-1 regulation road losses (@VGK, @UTA) to start their post-break schedule. Ranking 27th in team offense across the league, the Canucks have just one 20-goal goalscorer currently and it’s their offseason signing Jake DeBrusk (21). One big reason for the Canucks slow two-game start to the resumed schedule is the oblique injury of captain Quinn Hughes. Hughes, who has a team-high 59 points (14-45=59), leads all NHL defensemen in assists, but has not played a game in month of February and is currently considered day-to-day. Another key player that the Canucks will be without and have been without for much of the year is starting goalie Thatcher Demko. Demko, who has appeared in just 17 games this season was placed back on injured reserve (lower body) on Sunday, February 23rd and is considered week-to-week. Next up in goal for the Canucks has been one of their bright spots this season, Kevin Lankinen. Lankinen, who signed a one-year, $875k deal late this offseason just signed a five-year extension worth $22.5M ($4.5M) on February 21st. Lankinen enters Wednesday’s game having appeared in 35 games with a 2.52 GAA and .907 SV%. This will be third and final meeting between the two teams as each club has earned a regulation victory away from home.
The Kings will travel to the Lone Star State following Wednesday’s clash with the Canucks. Set to play the Stars in the first half of a back-to-half, the Kings will look complete the three-game season sweep over Dallas after having struggled mightily against the men in green in the years leading up to 2024-25. Both Kings victories over the Stars this season have come in impressive come-from-behind efforts. Now slated for the season series finale, the Stars are led offensively by the rejuvenated 34-year-old Matt Duchene. Duchene leads the Stars in points with 59 (23-36=59) in 57 games and notched a three-point night (2-1=3) in February’s game against the Kings. Also a threat on the offensive end will be the recently acquired Mikael Grunlund. Now six games into his Stars tenure, Granlund has four assists, including a helper against the Kings in that February tilt. Granlund slots into the Stars top lines with 49 points (15-34=49) in 58 games this season.
The Kings last leg of hockey this week will take place in St. Louis with a Saturday night tilt against the Blues. Enterprise Centre, the home of the Blues has not been kind to the Kings as of late as they’ve lost three of their last for games in St. Louis. Hoping to change that narrative, the Kings will be tasked with trying to get puck past 4 Nations Team Canada starting goalie Jordan Binnington. Coming off his gold medal at the 4 Nations with Doughty, Binnington returned to NHL action and shut down the high scoring Colorado Avalanche, stopping 28 of 29 shots in a 3-1 win on Sunday. With the trade deadline looming in early March, the Blues currently find themselves five points out of the playoff picture. Whether they become a buyer or seller at the deadline could very likely be determined by their upcoming week. This is the first of three games between the two clubs with the following pair of matchups taking place in Los Angeles.
Upcoming games and events this week:
- 2/24 vs. Vegas Golden Knights @ 7:30 PM (FanDuel Sports West)
- 2/26 vs. Vancouver Canucks @ 7:00 (TNT, TruTV, max)
- 2/28 @ Dallas Stars @ 5:00 PM (FanDuel Sports West)
- 3/1 @ St. Louis Blue @ 5:00 PM (KCAL) All Kings games can be heard on the ESPN LA App.