King, Carter, Toffoli driving play since All-Star Break

While the Kings haven’t consistently relied on a surplus of top players contributing at the same time this season, they have, for the most part, relied on one or two standout lines at any given time. It was evident early in the year when the Pearson-Carter-Toffoli line carried the team and afforded others extra time to develop their game, and it was evident when the Kopitar-Gaborik combination hit a nice stride in the weeks leading up to the All-Star Break.

It’s very clear that at this moment, the line of Dwight King, Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli is in the midst of a stretch of elevated production. The trio was aligned together coming out of the All-Star Break, and in the seven post-break games, King (2-3=5 / +5 / 13 SOG), Carter (3-5=8 / +4 / 27 SOG) and Toffoli (6-2=8 / +3 / 21 SOG) have combined for 21 points. Four points came from Toffoli’s three-goal, four-point performance in a 5-3 win over Calgary on Thursday.

“We’ve played pretty well, still want to grow on that,” King said. “Obviously the production has been good, which is what most people look at. The games we didn’t produce, I think we’ve been effective also. We just have to continue to work for each other and find space and create opportunities.”

Whether they’ve been scoring or not, there has been a clear improvement possession-wise, with King and Carter showing a noticeable spike in the metrics. Games aren’t decided based on shot attempts, though the numbers back up the palpable chemistry evident from the eye test.

PRE-ALL-STAR BREAK: Player / Corsi-for 5×5 / Corsi-relative to teammates
King / 52.1% / -3.2%
Carter / 55.4 / +1.2%
Toffoli / 56.8% / 2.8%

POST-ALL-STAR BREAK: Player / Corsi-for 5×5 / Corsi-relative to teammates
King / 61.2% / +5.4%
Carter / 59.3% / +2.8%
Toffoli / 59.2% / +2.5%

The Kings’ possession numbers were improving throughout much of the winter, and have since spiked in the seven games coming out of the break.

Top five score-adjusted Fenwick (since ASG) 1. L.A 57.2 2. Pittsburgh 56.9 3. NY Islanders 55.4 4. Minnesota 54.4 5. St. Louis 54.3

— TSN Hockey Analytics (@TSNAnalytics) February 14, 2015

Here’s your reminder that while these numbers don’t tell the full story of the state of a team and should not be accepted as the be-all, end-all of hockey analysis, they often do predict future trends and can foretell winning streaks and playoff success.

It’s also clear that King, who has engineered a 9.1% improvement between his 46 pre-break games and seven post-break games, has seen the highest spike in his own possession numbers (as would be expected). Traditionally a strong possession winger, King’s recent spike in helping to drive play has paid dividends both for himself and his linemates: he scored an important go-ahead third period goal on Thursday during strong zone time that began the third period and found himself with the puck on his stick between the circles before he snapped it off Jonas Hiller and into the net.

“I think the spacing of forwards is important,” he said, “Usually it’s the guy away from the puck that finds the quiet ice. We did a pretty good job last game and are still working on it. Every team is going to play it a little differently. We have a challenge ahead of us tonight, but I think as a team we’re ready for that.”

That game is against Washington, an above average possession team with an excellent power play and sizable forwards who weren’t impeded in their drives to the net during a 4-0 Capitals victory at the Verizon Center two Tuesdays ago. It was a low point of the season for the Kings, who have since produced strong performances for the better part of the last four games. They’re 3-1-0 in those games and have been playing with an elevated pace and are inclined to be on the attack. In Thursday’s win over Calgary, Los Angeles generated more five-on-five shot attempts than in any regular season game since December 8, 2011.

“I think we’ve just been cleaner with our execution,” King said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that changes the pace of a game. Obviously the puck moves a lot faster than anybody else. If we’re crisp with the puck, good things tend to happen.”