Doughty is more than halfway past his point total last season, when he scored 35 (seven goals, 28 assists) in 67 games. His offensive production dipped from 60 points in 2017-18 to 45 the following season.
"Maybe I didn't have best couple of years and this year it seems I'm playing great because I'm getting points and I am playing well, but it's the guys around me and the team being better and guys putting the puck in the net when I pass them the puck," Doughty said. "I know everyone thinks I had a bunch of [lousy] years there, but I was still playing at a high level. I was still playing as hard as I possibly could. Maybe the numbers weren't showing up, but unfortunately if you're in the bottom of the standings and not scoring a lot of goals, your points aren't going to show up."
Younger players have accepted increased roles. Mikey Anderson has played on the top defense pair with Doughty most of this season, and the 21-year-old has scored six assists in 29 games and is averaging 21:05 of ice time per game, third behind Doughty and Kopitar (21:31).
Center Gabriel Vilardi has been playing on the second line with forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Jeff Carter, and the 21-year-old rookie has scored 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 31 games.
"We're going in the direction where we're on the uprise of a rebuild, so we need every one of them," Kopitar said. "They've been good, and hopefully they continue developing and playing good for us and scoring goals and putting up points. I think we can all be pretty pleased with how the young guys have played this year, but we're going to need them to continue playing like that and raise the bar again."
Goalie Calvin Petersen is 6-6-4 with a 2.45 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in 17 games (16 starts) sharing time with veteran Jonathan Quick (6-6-2, 2.91, .898 in 14 starts).
"I think starts with our vets, they're having success, pushing the pace with this team, and then I think we have a lot of young guys, including myself, who are hungry to have a foothold, have a permanent spot and make a difference," the 26-year-old said. "It's a good combination in that regard. It's great opportunities all around for guys to have success and we're happy to be in the mix here, and hopefully our best hockey is yet to come."
Vegas Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer said the Kings' turnaround has been noticeable.
"They're a dangerous team, hard to play against, they're better than their record and their goalie (Petersen) gives them a chance every night," DeBoer said. "They have a nice blend of veterans who know how to win, who have won Cups, with Doughty, Kopitar, Brown and a wave of young guys will skill coming up underneath."
The competition for a playoff berth is fierce in the West, and it will be a grind the rest of the way. But the Kings are feeling better about their game and are finding success as they rebuild.
"The most important thing right now is we're in the mix," McLellan said. "We're there, we're swinging with the big boys, we've earned the right to be respected around the League. … I think individuals are growing as we move forward and there's still a lot of learning to do."