Reinforcement of systems, improved pace aided Kings

Earlier today, Darryl Sutter described the week of practice that took place, explaining that the team was reinforcing systems play to make it “natural for players and instinctive for them.” After early out-of-sorts losses, those practices were important for a team that is younger on the back end and down the middle than in recent seasons.

And as the Kings practiced twice between the Arizona and Vancouver games, and two more times between Vancouver and Minnesota, they heard (were they to be listening) about how Los Angeles’ heavy, grinding style meant that they hadn’t “adapted” to a “faster and smaller” NHL.

The win over the Wild was just one game, but in those 62-plus minutes against an up-tempo team, the Kings were more often than not the faster and more successful team in transition and played with a much better rhythm than their visitors, who did play the previous night in Glendale, Arizona.

“I think we focused a lot on getting our pace up to speed,” said Tyler Toffoli, who scored one of Los Angeles’ two goals in the win. “I think our first couple games there, we were slow. We looked slow, and that’s not the way we are. We all know that we’re a fast team and we’re a big, fast team, so we’ve got to find a way to, like I said, keep our feet moving, make those little plays, and when we’re being crisp on the tape, then we score goals like my goal. It was a breakout, we were all moving, and you’re just executing plays.”

There are bigger, more physical players capable of playing fast for Los Angeles, and there is also the ability to quickly transition the puck into the hands of the forwards – see examples here and here and here and here – and Toffoli rejected the notion that any hypothetical evolution in the style of play has left the Kings behind.

“We won the Stanley Cup two years ago. The game hasn’t changed that much in two years,” Toffoli said. “You look at Chicago, they’ve been the same team. They’ve been successful with what they do as a team. You look at all the teams, everyone’s different. We want to play the way we are successful, and that’s hard on the forecheck. We have big guys who can skate, and we’ve got to move our feet.”

Tyler Toffoli, on whether there is good potential with Milan Lucic joining the line:
Yeah, I think we know that things change throughout the season. You look at last year, things changed all the time. But I thought last night was a big step for us, and I think for us as a team, and we’ve just got to find a way to get consistent and roll with it.

Toffoli, on whether the power play is showing improvement:
Yeah, exactly, and shooting the puck. I think we did a better job getting the puck to the net. Five-on-five, we did a way better job getting there. We’ve just got to find a way to keep bearing down on our chances and putting it in the net.

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