Waking up with the Kings: December 30

From the Yeah, Obviously Department: The Kings are lacking in horses right now. Without Tyler Toffoli in the lineup, there’s just not enough goal scoring at the moment to sustain the team on most nights. We all know what Jeff Carter has done, and there has been some intriguing development of younger players on the back end, and while there’s some speed up and down the lineup, there’s simply not enough skill. The Kings have been getting by with strong performances from certain role players – I’ll have a story on Jordan Nolan up later today – but while he provides good energy and has played with added confidence with the puck on his stick, Nolan and other secondary and tertiary contributors who’ve strung together some impressive stretches of play aren’t those who can be relied upon to shoulder a regular offensive load when certain top players are struggling. Anze Kopitar’s offensive drought is the most pressing mystery of the season to date, and here’s an appreciation for the captain for coming on Kings Live post-game and speaking on behalf of the offense and his own lack of scoring. Regardless of how handsomely he’s paid, that’s still not an easy thing to do in the midst of a slump.

Andy Devlin / NHLI

For the second straight game, Los Angeles allowed a power play goal on the type of play you don’t usually see power play goals scored on, and both came while Jake Muzzin was serving a minor penalty. Most power play goals are scored on second chances off rebounds and net-front scrums, with the bang-bang, tic-tac-toe-type play worked in, but the last two were not those types of goals. Loui Eriksson scored on an innocuous-forming play when a welcome mat was laid out for him as he brought the puck from the corner into a dangerous area in front of Peter Budaj, and Patrick Maroon scored after receiving a pass near the goal line, spinning, and beating Budaj along the ice inside the far post. I’ve always been impressed with Maroon, who endured a rough stretch in Anaheim prior to his trade to Edmonton, but he’s always demonstrated silky smooth hands around the net for a player of his size and has proven himself to be an effective power play weapon. Along with other bulky figures added to the Oilers payroll over the last several seasons – hello, Zack Kassian and Milan Lucic – he also is part of a group that provides some additional size and physicality that had previously been lacking in the team’s play. Edmonton also seems to be a team with a much stronger mental fortitude than in previous years, but the remaining 40-plus games will continue to be a referendum on where exactly their constitution is at.

Andy Devlin / NHLI

This schedule has done Los Angeles no favors, and it’s something that hasn’t sat well with hockey operations and Darryl Sutter. Ultimately all teams will play 41 home games and 41 road games, but show me one other team in the league that had to play three sets of back-to-back games as part of nine consecutive games away from their home rink. What type of hockey was to be expected when Los Angeles played a matinee in Boston as part of a three-in-three-in-a-half? The level of play that afternoon wasn’t exactly play on par with the Summit Series. I don’t know how relevant it was to last night’s game because the team (like all teams) had a quick little break to refresh, but three back-to-backs in a span of eight games (!) is not ideal for a league that one would think would want to put its best product on the ice.

Andy Devlin / NHLI

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