The wild, wild West

Want to know how difficult it is to make up ground in the Western Conference? After their Jan. 20 loss to Phoenix, the Kings were in 12th place in the West, five points behind eighth-place Colorado. Since then, the Kings have gone 7-0-2. That’s 16 out of a possible 18 points, and that has allowed them to pull even with eighth-place Minnesota (although still in ninth place because of total gams played). Because while the Kings are 7-1-2 in their last 10, seventh-place San Jose is 7-2-1 in its last 10, Minnesota is 8-2-0 in its last 10 and 10th-place Calgary is 7-1-2 in its last 10. On the other hand, divisions are getting tighter, top to bottom. This morning, only three points separate Pacific Division-leading Dallas (68 points) from the fifth-place Kings (65 points).

Around this point last season — after the Kings had played 56 games, the Pacific Division was separated by 22 points, top to bottom, and the ninth-place team was 11 points behind the third-place team. This season, that gap is three points. The fun continues today, as St. Louis hosts Vancouver, Phoenix hosts Washington and Colorado hosts Calgary.