Waking up with the Kings: January 11

The level of concern on the direction of this Los Angeles Kings season spiked between 6:45 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. when word surfaced (via @LAKingsPR) that Tyler Toffoli had come down with mononucleosis, followed shortly thereafter by a three-goal first period Winnipeg outburst (the seventh time the team has allowed three goals in a six-minute span in the last 13 games), and, after Los Angeles had chipped away at the lead, a violent collision between Tanner Pearson and the offensive zone end boards that resulted in a broken ankle. The Kings rallied to tie the game at three, took a one-goal lead before surrendering it, and, ultimately, fell in the shootout to mark the 10th time the Kings lost a game that was tied after 60 minutes. Their record in those games this year is 2-10.

The timing on Pearson’s broken ankle couldn’t have come at a worse time from a personal standpoint. He had been named as one of six rookies to take part in the All-Star Game’s skills competition earlier in the day, and there are other tremendously important career events on the horizon in both the team’s White House visit and the Stadium Series game against San Jose next month. Providing a less emotional and more tangible impact is the balance to the lineup that the absences to Pearson and Toffoli – both of whom are tied for second on the team with 12 goals – cause, though the Kings have maintained a highly functional offense that has relied on spread out contributions as it has risen to a 2.81 goals per game average that ranks 11th in the NHL.

The goals allowed by the team, on the other hand, represent an area of concern. Los Angeles is still in the top half of the league in goals against per game, but there’s little comfort when the team has been allowing goals in bunches and has allowed at least three goals (shootout goals excluded) nine times in the last 14 games. Jonathan Quick’s save percentage is well below .900 over the last 18 games, though that has become a misleading statistic as of late, and I’m not sure I should even keep it in the pre-game or post-game notes. The save percentage has been a reflection of team-wide play, not Quick’s play. He allowed four goals against New York, and none of those goals were his fault. Last night, three first period pucks got by him on deflections and redirections, and he wasn’t at fault for any of them. The challenges of limiting goals against are traced more to personnel issues, such as the injury to Robyn Regehr and (without trying to sound too much like a broken record) the departure of Willie Mitchell and Slava Voynov’s indefinite suspension. Three regular penalty killers – including the team’s top two killers from last season – are simply not available, and as a result there has been a surplus on goals scored off deflections and scrums in front of the net, and on opposing power plays. Jonathan Quick also made a handful of stops on Grade-A scoring chances in the first period against New York two nights ago. It’s obviously not a goaltending renaissance at this point of the season, but to pin a disproportionate share of the team’s goals against surge on Quick is more of an emotional reach than a substantiated one.

Entering the extra session having been denied on 15 straight shootout chances, Darryl Sutter was looking for a spark and rightfully went away from some of his more familiar shooters. Drew Doughty has been angling for an opportunity, and it wasn’t too big of a surprise to see him get a nod. At this point, is Marian Gaborik the club’s best shootout bet? It has been a bit of a surprise to see him watching the last two extra sessions from the bench. Hindsight in shootout analysis is garbage, but with a chance to win the game in the third round, it was interesting to see Sutter go to Jeff Carter instead of Gaborik. The two are the only skaters to score in the shootout this season for the Kings, who are 2-for-25 when games extend past 65 minutes.