Angeles Analysis – At The Break

Honestly, it’s bananas to me that we’ve reached the holiday break. This makes no sense whatsoever, but the season opened in Buffalo feels two weeks and five months ago, all at the same time. That game doesn’t even feel like this season. It also feels like we just broke training camp. Hard to describe, but I’d be inclined to say the start to the season has flown by at an exponentially quick pace.

This past trip was certainly the most taxing the Kings have had yet.

3-2-2 on the road. Same record the Kings had in their first seven games played this season, which were also all on the road. In total, the Kings have now played 21 road games, the most in the NHL this season.

I don’t think the two seven-game trips are really all that comparable, though, despite the same length and same record.

For starters, season-opening trip was really a five-game trip, followed by one-off trips to Vegas and Anaheim. The Kings played five games on the East coast, following a pair of preseason games in Quebec City, and then visited Vegas and Anaheim for standard one-game trips. This trip here in December was seven straight games, all on the East Coast, all in different cities.

I think the 3-2-2 records were also vastly different.

Back in October, the Kings got smoked 6-2 in Toronto and 6-1 in Vegas. Not competitive games. Their wins were over Buffalo, Montreal and Anaheim and really, only the win over the Canadiens came in convincing fashion. Buffalo was a Darcy Kuemper masterclass. Anaheim was solid enough, but a 0-0 game in the third period.

This trip here? 3-2-2 is probably the lowest it could have been. Yesterday’s loss in Washington, personally, I thought the Kings played really well. On the first goal against, Alex Turcotte broke his stick on a clearing attempt. One pass later, goal. The second, Warren Foegele had a full-ice clear on the penalty kill, until it hit an official and dropped down right in the offensive zone. Seconds later, goal. I thought the Kings were the better team in that game, something you couldn’t say in any of their four losses on the season-opening trip, overtime or regulation.

All-in-all, the regulation loss in New Jersey last week was a competitive game, even if the Kings were probably outplayed in the whole. Overtime losses in Pittsburgh and Nashville were consistent in that the Kings had great stretches but did not play 60 minutes. Two points from those games was probably deserved, even if the Kings had a clear chance at more. The win over the Rangers was dominant and the Kings never really felt threatened against the Islanders, before they pulled away from the Flyers on Thursday.

I guess, all of that to say not every 3-2-2 is built the same. The season-opening 3-2-2 was probably a better record than the Kings played. This trip here, I think the Kings outplayed their record. They also did so under far more difficult circumstances. The Capitals game was a scheduled loss in so many ways. Second half of a back-to-back, which was also the end of a 3-in-4, a 4-in-6 and a 15-day trip. Lots of travel in between The Kings could’ve rolled over. Instead, they wound up playing perhaps their best game of the trip, even in defeat.

Washington leads the NHL in points percentage and I thought the Kings outplayed them over the final 40 minutes, and across the game in total. They didn’t get the reward, but Jim Hiller said it was perhaps the proudest he’s been of his team so far this season. He expressed a ton of excitement coming in. He knew it was a challenge, but he also knew his team would meet it. At the end of that trip, with five days off staring his team in the face, to deliver that kind of performance, I’d be proud too. In October, I don’t think that type of confidence would have been exuded. It certainly is now.

At the holiday break, the Kings sit nine games over .500, on 43 points, at 19-10-5. Last season, at the same point in time, the Kings had 42 points on 19 victories and three fewer games played. Last season, the Kings were seven points back of the Pacific Division lead. This season, the number is just four points.

I don’t know, but for me, the momentum feels different this year. The Kings started off last season 16-4-4. They went 3-3-0 from that point on heading into the break and we all know what happened next. This season, it feels like the Kings are building upwards. This season’s Kings didn’t have a three-game winning streak until their final three games of November. From that point on, the Kings went 8-2-2 heading into the break. That’s not to say every game was perfect, but they played three separate games against the NHL’s top team in terms of points percentage, winning twice, and outplaying their opponent all three times. Something to be said for that. The Kings played six of those games against teams currently occupying playoff spots by points percentage and went 4-2. Feels like this season’s team is trending up, after a middling start. Last season’s team felt like it was returning to the pack, after a high-flying one.

Now, it’s a well-deserved break. This trip pushed a lot of players to their limits and everyone will earn the next four days away from the rink, spent with family and friends in a variety of different places throughout the country. Then it’s back on the ice on Friday, before a big divisional game against Edmonton on Saturday.

The Kings will come out of the break with five consecutive games at home, their longest homestand of the season to date and their second longest overall this season. The opponents include Edmonton and Calgary, divisional rivals currently in playoff spots, and New Jersey and Tampa Bay, both currently sitting in playoff spots in the East. A home record of 10-2-1 will be put to the test against quality competition. Kings will get their time off, recharge, and hopefully hit the ground running coming back to it, because points will be equally important then as they were entering the break.

I dunno Insiders. Feeling pretty good about the team right now. Perhaps it’s too much of a good feeling coming out of a 3-1 loss on the road. Perhaps it was broadcasting the game and the excitement coming from it. Perhaps it’s just the time off upcoming, spending the holidays with family for the first time since 2019. Just feels different with this team right now than it did even a month ago. Few days off to evaluate, and then right back to it.