Kings hit the road looking to save their season
LOS ANGELES –– Battered physically but lifted emotionally, the Kings took to the skies for their final long road trip of the season, and one that could save their campaign.
Interim coach D.J. Smith has a group thinned by injuries and trades working diligently, but the results have been mixed. The same is true however, for the Seattle Kraken, the last playoff qualifier in the West presently, as well as the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators, who are chasing Seattle along with the Kings. The Winnipeg Jets have more momentum, but a wider gap to close.
Though the Kings have been the NHL’s third worst team at home by points percentage, after having a dream season at Crypto.com Arena last year, long journeys like their upcoming five-gamer have kept them afloat, just three points back of the final Western Conference wild card.
On three prior tours of five games or more this season, the Kings collected 25 of a possible 32 points aggregately. That’s good for a .781 points percentage, significantly higher than their overall mark of .516 and their meager .422 at home, where they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on Saturday.
“We have to refocus our work ethic and effort, and that’s a hard one,” Smith said following a late-game meltdown against Montreal. “But you’ve got to let it go and we’ve got a huge road trip coming.”
Among Kings forwards, only Adrian Kempe and Alex Laferriere have played in all 62 games. Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko were both lost for the year. Joel Armia is currently sidelined and Quinton Byfield just returned from an upper-body injury. Phillip Danault, Warren Foegele and Corey Perry were all traded. Captain Anže Kopitar has been revitalized of late, but was still on track for several career lows and has already missed a career-high 15 games, similar to the 13 for which Trevor Moore was unavailable.
Laferriere has been a bright spot of late, scoring in consecutive games and three of his past four following a swath with just one goal in 14 games, including eight straight without tallying. General Manager Ken Holland recently said he views Laferriere as a right wing, despite spending considerable time at center this season. The numbers bear that out, with 12 of his 16 goals coming in games where he skated on the flank.
The Kings will start their trip in Columbus, squaring off with the Blue Jackets in Monday’s makeup game, then book it to Boston for a bout with the Bruins on Tuesday. After two days off, they’ll hunker down in the Big Apple for three matches in four nights against the Islanders, Devils and Rangers.
Like the Kings, Columbus made an in-season coaching change. Unlike the Kings, they didn’t wait until the last possible instant to do so. Since Rick Bowness took over for Dean Evason, the Blue Jackets have gone 13-2-2, tying the Ducks for the NHL’s best points percentage during that span. They’ve pushed upward from the Metropolitan Division basement to within two points of a playoff spot. Even as a last-place team, they beat the Kings at home on Dec. 22.
Boston will reunite the Kings with former assistant coach and Ontario Reign bench boss Marco Sturm, after the Bruins won in overtime back on Nov. 21. The Bruins lead Columbus by two points, narrowly on track to return to the postseason in Sturm’s first year. The Kings promoted Jim Hiller instead of Sturm two years ago, and calamity ensued. Unexpected free agent departures, trade requests and a playoff fold for the ages defined Hiller’s tenure more than a successful regular season in his only full year at the helm.
The Kings lost 4-1 to the Devils in their prior meeting but fared well against the Rangers, winning 4-3 against former goalie Jonathan Quick on Jan. 20, and topped the Islanders, 5-3, on Thursday in a seesaw affair territorially.
The Islanders are the only one of three New York metro area clubs on pace to play in the spring, and they just added one-time Kings prospect Brayden Schenn at the trade deadline.