Kings hope Drew Doughty’s imminent return helps solve road woes
After splitting a pair of games on home ice, where they’ve been all but invincible this season, the Kings set out on the road again, where they’ve been decidedly more vulnerable, for a five-game voyage that’ll begin against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
The Kings’ home-and-away disparities have been drastic to date.
They have a league-best .816 points percentage at Crypto.com Arena, but are precisely .500 at every other venue combined. Their power play has been nearly twice as effective at home. They’ve outscored opponents by well over a goal on home ice, with worse numbers at both ends giving them a negative differential on the road.
At home, they’ve won six of nine games in which they’ve trailed or been tied at the second intermission, including three comebacks like the one they had against defending champion Florida on Wednesday. Meanwhile, on the road, they’ve mustered just one rally and won only four of 18 games when they were down or even through 40 minutes.
A key difference on this trip, their last of four tours of five games or more in 2024-25, will be the presence of top defenseman Drew Doughty. He broke his ankle in the preseason and has yet to play this year, just the second time in his career, which has sprawled across three different decades, that he’s missed significant time due to injury.
“I don’t have a date, but it’s not going to be too long,” coach Jim Hiller said after the Florida game.
Following their prior performance, a 5-1 faceplant against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hiller outlined a preliminary plan for reintegrating the “popular, energetic” Doughty once he got the green light to return to game action.
“We just want to get him in and get him in for 10 or 12 minutes. We’ll see where it goes from there. He hasn’t played hockey in a long time. We won’t be able to figure that out for some time,” Hiller said.
The Associated Press’ Dan Greenspan expressed skepticism that Doughty, he of the indefatigable motor and mouth alike, would stay under such a strict minute restriction.
“That’s a good point, that’s fair. You can hold me to it,” Hiller responded. “You’ll probably win that one, to be honest with you.”
While Doughty’s return at an as-yet identified point on the journey will give the Kings an emotional boost, they will face a challenging series of opponents, beginning with the Blue Jackets.
The Kings dispatched Columbus 5-2 back on Nov. 9, but a recent six-game win streak helped propel the young Jackets into the wild-card race. They would have held the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference had the season ended Friday morning.
The Carolina Hurricanes, who put up five goals in the second period of a 7-4 win over Columbus on Thursday, will also be on the slate, as will the Detroit Red Wings.
Though the Kings ran roughshod over the Wings in L.A., Detroit has reversed its fortunes with a 9-4-1 surge since former Kings bench boss Todd McLellan was hired to replace Derek Lalonde.
They’ll face the reigning champs again in Florida, where they’ll also tangle with the formidable Tampa Bay Lightning, winners of two recent Stanley Cups of their own.
For Columbus, center Sean Monahan will ride the wave of a four-game scoring streak across which he’s accumulated eight points as part of a broader stretch with 16 points in nine appearances.
Zach Werenski’s 53 points pace the Blue Jackets offensively, and he’s one of just two defensemen – the other is Vancouver star Quinn Hughes – to lead his team in scoring this season.
Kings at Columbus
When: 4 p.m. PT Saturday
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
TV: FDSNW