The Week That Was
The Kings perfect 3-0-0 week has put themselves in strong contention to begin the playoffs with home ice advantage. Defeating the Winnipeg Jets, Utah Hockey Club and the all-important Edmonton Oilers all in regulation this past week, the Kings officially clinched their fourth consecutive playoff appearance, have moved four points clear of the aforementioned Oilers for the coveted second seed in the division and are now five points shy of catching the division leading Vegas Golden Knights. As we head into next week, both the Kings and Oilers have six games remaining in the regular season, while the Golden Knights have just five games to go.
Game Recaps:
Notable News From The Week That Was:
- Adrian Kempe (2-2=4) and Andrei Kuzmenko (2-2=4) each put together a strong week and led the Kings offensively.
- Kempe remains as the Kings top goalscorer after adding another two goals to his name this past week. Kempe currently has 33 goals on the season, leading Kevin Fiala by three goals for the team lead.
- Kempe also remains as the Kings lead point-getter with 64 points (33-31=64) in 76 games this season. Hot on his heels is linemate and captain Anze Kopitar, who has 62 points (19-43=62) in as many games.
- Darcy Kuemper extended his streak of allowing two goals or less to 13 games this past Saturday becoming just the fifth goalie in NHL history to accomplish this feat since the NHL’s expansion era (1967).
- Kuemper currently leads the NHL in GAA (2.03), is T2nd in SV% (.922) and T3rd in shutouts (5).
- The Kings power play went 0-for-6 in the four games. The Kings power play remains ranked 28th (16.1%).
- The Kings penalty kill went 5-for-6 on the kill across the four games. Their penalty kill now sits at 81.6%, good for 6th in the NHL, up from eighth last week.
The Week That Is
The Kings will play regular season games number 77, 78 and 79 at home this week. Set to begin the week with a pair of divisional opponents who have been eliminated from playoff contention, the Kings will then close out their week on Saturday against a dangerous Western Conference playoff opponent.
The Kings start the week with a Monday game against the Seattle Kraken. Still only having played two of the four regular season games against the NHL’s newest franchise this season, the Kings and Kraken will meet once more up in the great northwest next week. With the season series currently split 1-1-0 for each side, the Kings will be looking pick up their second win on home ice versus the Kraken this season. Currently 2-0-0 in the month of April, the Kraken’s 13th ranked offense (3.03 GF/GP) has been clicking since the turn of the calendar. Having outscored their opponents 10-1 in the last two games, the Kraken enter Monday set to play in their third game of a five-game road trip that will conclude their travels for the 2024-25 season. The road has treated the Kraken well as of late as they’ve averaged 3.55 GF/GP in their last nine games away from home. Leading the way offensively for the Kraken as of recent has been former 40-goal scorer Jared McCann. Coming into Monday having put together back-to-back three-point games (2-4=6) and having recorded at least one point in six of his last seven games, McCann leads the Kraken with 58 points this season (20-38=58). In his career with the Kraken against the Kings, McCann has recorded seven points (5-2=7) in 12 games.
With two off nights between games, the Kings will then face the Anaheim Ducks for the fourth and final time this season. Having won two of the three prior meetings against the Ducks, both teams have picked up their respective wins against the other on visiting ice. Despite their victory at Crypto.com Arena earlier this season, the road has not been a favorable place for the Ducks, especially as of late. The Ducks are 2-6-2 in their last 10 road games and are averaging 3.8 goals against during that stretch. One bright spot for the Ducks in the second half of the season has been the emergence of the 2021 third overall draft pick Mason McTavish. Dating back to his last 21 games, McTavish has notched a team-leading 22 points (7-15=22). Not far behind him during that stretch has been the second overall pick from 2023 draft, Leo Carlsson. In the last 21 games, Carlsson has recorded a team-best 10 goals and has 19 points (10-9=19).
The Kings final game on this week’s schedule will take place Saturday afternoon against the Colorado Avalanche. Winless against the Avalanche this season (0-2-0), the Kings have been outscored 8-2 in those two games, but both games have been played in Denver. A top-10 team on the road, the Avalanche are 22-16-1 away from Ball Arena and are averaging 3.13 GF/GP, the 8th best road offense in the NHL. Leading the way offensively for the Avalanche is no other than the ultra dangerous duo of the NHL’s leading scorer in Nathan MacKinnon and the top producing defenseman in the NHL Cale Makar. Beginning with MacKinnon, the 29-year-old center has an NHL-best 83 assists and 115 points, while Makar just became ninth defenseman in NHL history to score 30 goals in a season. Makar, 26, has 91 points (30-61=91) this season which ranks 9th in the NHL among all skaters and is 17 points clear of the next defenseman Zach Werenski. Nine points shy of the century mark, Makar has a chance to join Erik Karlsson (2022-23) as the only defensemen since 1991-92 to reach the triple digits feat.
Upcoming games and events this week:
- 4/7 vs. Seattle Kraken @ 7:30 (FanDuel Sports Network West)
- 4/12 vs. Colorado Avalanche @ 1:00 (FanDuel Sports Network West)
All Kings games can be heard on the ESPN LA App.
