Angeles Analysis – Handling Adversity

Insiders, for the first time since November, the LA Kings have lost back-to-back games. Two of the stranger games of the season in many ways, and two games that saw the Kings playing a style of hockey they had largely avoided over the last six weeks.

The Kings have developed an identity as a team over that span. Sure there were a few setbacks in there, namely the games against Vancouver, Carolina and Vegas. But the Kings followed each of these games with a solid bounce-back performance, preventing multiple losses over their most recent run of great form.

It was actually quite impressive how well the Kings handled adversity in so many situations in recent times. Coming off the 4-0 blanking in Vancouver? The Kings delivered in style against Dallas and Minnesota at home, with a pair of convincing wins on home ice.

On the Southeastern road trip? Without Drew Doughty, Phillip Danault and Cal Petersen to COVID Protocol, coming off a 5-1 pasting in Carolina, on the second half of a back-to-back and staring down a deficit in the third period? A 3-2, comeback win in Washington.

After a 6-3 game against Vegas, where the coaching staff didn’t feel the team was engaged? The Kings responded with an identity win over Vancouver to begin a run of six wins from seven games. That stretch of games was a spell where we truly began to see the identity of this team in action, with wins over New York and Pittsburgh giving us a glimpse of that identity against the NHL’s best.

Over the last two days, the Kings have gotten away from that identity and it cost them in the final scores. The San Jose game read 67 – 37 in terms of shot attempts at 5-on-5. 40 – 17 in shots on goal. And 2 – 6 in goals scored. A strange game, one in which the Kings controlled substantially more of the puck but lacked their usual execution in and around the blue paint. The Sharks dominated that area, pouncing on rebounds, broken plays and loose pucks as Timo Meier buried seemingly all of them in a career night. We haven’t seen the Kings outplayed in that aspect of the game in some time.

The Tampa Bay game was different. Todd McLellan rued the first three goals allowed in that game. In McLellan’s words, “you can’t give a team an easier goal than that” when it comes to the first goal conceded. The Kings bounced back with energy, physicality and gusto after that first goal allowed, getting two of their own to take the lead against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

It was the next two goals allowed, however, that bothered McLellan after the game. The power-play goal came down to a penalty McLellan wasn’t happy with, and a clearing attempt that he felt should have gone out. We’ve openly discussed what can be improved specifically on the PK and McLellan offered those specific areas as consistent struggles and targets for improvement. The shorthanded goal that followed perhaps irked him more, with a failed entry turning into a defensive breakdown.

Still, after 40 minutes, the Kings and Lightning were tied at three. If you had asked me the type of game that the Kings would have needed to play to set up a “winner-takes all” third period, it would have looked a lot like the low-event first period and very little like the helter-skelter second period. And, alas, the Kings lost the first period by a goal and won the second period by a goal. McLellan’s biggest frustrations were with the goals conceded from the opening 40 minutes, though the Kings, through it all, were tied after that stretch.

Defensive-zone breakdowns in the third period eventually did the Kings in, prompting McLellan to discuss what’s coming as the Kings prepare to host the Avalanche on Thursday, followed by a six-game road trip as the Kings continue to square off against Eastern Conference opposition.

Coming back to the Kings in that time are three wingers, with Adrian Kempe the most prominent. The All-Star is slated to return from COVID Protocol, with his timeline hopefully aligning to where he won’t need to miss much more than the mandated five days. McLellan also referenced Andreas Athanasiou, who could be back in the lineup as soon as Thursday, with Carl Grundstrom out of protocol and also able to return on Thursday.

These individuals present options for the Kings, a team that has solidified certain lines but still lacks consistency in others. Getting back your leading goalscorer, along with a player with proven, NHL skill in Athanasiou and a guy in Grundstrom who has impressed this season…..that’s all welcomed news. But the road doesn’t get any easier tomorrow, no matter who is in the lineup, as the red-hot Colorado Avalanche make their first visit to Los Angeles on the season.

Colorado won seven of eight meetings against the Kings a season ago. They also haven’t lost in regulation in 2022, with an overtime blemish against the Nashville Predators the only thing even necessitating the word regulation in that statement. An extremely stern test for an LA Kings team looking to start playing LA Kings hockey again.

A little adversity never hurt anybody, and the last six periods shouldn’t overshadow the last six weeks. We can identify that certain things need to be fixed and corrected off of the last six periods, while also remembering that this team has played its most consistent hockey in several years over the last six weeks. That’s not erased with two defeats, though it also doesn’t matter if those standards aren’t consistently upheld. That’s what the Kings will look to do, starting again tomorrow.

The Kings will hold a morning skate tomorrow after a team day off today. The puck drops early tomorrow night – 6:30 PM to be exact, with the game broadcast nationally on the worldwide leader in sports.