Over the course of the last week, Todd McLellan has several times used the expression of pushing for perfection. That statement has typically been followed by the notion that achieving perfection, the way he’s describing it, is impossible for the Kings or any other team in the league. Even as things go well, perfection is not achievable, things can always been improved upon, polished up or flat out be done better.
“There’s no such thing as perfection and even though that’s all we want to be, there’s no such thing.”
This homestand, however, WAS perfect for the LA Kings as a team.
The Kings played four games and the Kings picked up four wins totaling eight points in the standings. Banking more than eight points would have been impossible considering the schedule in front of them. While certain elements of the game were not perfect, not every player was perfect on every single night, the team as a whole, in terms of wins and losses, was perfect.
Kind of reminds me of that famous scene from Remember the Titans.
“With all due respect, you demanded more of us, you demanded perfection,” ̶L̶A̶ ̶K̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶n̶g̶e̶r̶ ̶ T.C. Williams defensive end Julius Campbell said. “I ain’t saying I’m perfect, because I’m not, and I’m not ever going to be, none of us are. But we have won every single game that we have played [on this homestand], so this team is perfect. We stepped out onto that [ice] that way tonight and if it’s all the same to you Coach [McLellan], that’s how we want to leave it.”
Prove to me that quote wasn’t said in the locker room after Saturday’s win. The words in brackets, you ask? Audio difficulties, just don’t want to misquote anyone.
No single element of the LA Kings was perfect over the last four games. Not the power play, not the penalty kill, not the goaltending, not the defensive-zone coverage, not creating chances, not burying those chances. But the LA Kings, from the four games they played, were perfect. And that perfection as a team comes from the pursuit of perfection within specific elements of the team game. In Los Angeles last week, that’s what the Kings aspired towards as they worked on certain areas of their game during practice. The results they got on the ice reflected their aspirations.
After allowing four goals at 5-on-5 versus Florida during a wild, 5-4 victory to begin the homestand, the Kings responded by allowing exactly zero 5-on-5 goals during wins over Minnesota, Chicago and Detroit. If you buy into the expected goals statistic, for and against, the Kings had not finished a game this season with an xGA of below 1 heading into Tuesday’s game versus Minnesota. Per Natural Stat Trick, they achieved the feat in each of the final three games, finishing below that line with their three lowest totals of the season in the three wins.
Looking at special teams, the Kings got what they needed from the penalty kill in wins over Florida and Minnesota, allowing no goals on the few opportunities they had in that situation. When that unit struggled, with three goals against versus Chicago and Detroit, the power play stepped up, converting twice – three times essentially – to make the difference in a one-goal victory over the Red Wings. Wins over Minnesota and Chicago were closer than they should have been due to a power play that did not convert as designed. In an opposite manner, Saturday’s win over Detroit was a tight win for the opposite of reasons, the power play operated as designed and was as productive as you could want it to be. To fit the theme, perfect results despite an imperfect yet improving process.
In terms of the offensive end of the ice, each of the Kings forward lines contributed with multiple goals with the exception of the fourth line, which was on the ice for one goal for and zero goals against. Every Kings player was on the right side of 50 percent in terms of scoring chances, nearly the same with high-danger chances. Finishing at even strength left a bit to be desired over the course of the final three games, but the chances and opportunities were consistenly there, a sign of future conversion.
As the Kings continue to build consistency, their goal will always be perfection, even if that goal is unattainable. On nights when parts of the game are imperfect, it will be up to the other aspects of the team to pick up that slack. That’s what good teams do and that’s what we’ve started to see from the Kings on this past homestand.
Looking ahead, the landscape changes a bit, with the setting moving from home confines to four consecutive divisional games away on the road. Northern Canada awaits, with Calgary finally snapping a seven-game losing skid yesterday, followed by the high-event Edmonton Oilers, rank inside the NHL’s Top-5 in both goals scored and goals allowed, and finally the Vancouver Canucks, who seem to have found neutral after the worst start in the league. The trip concludes stateside in Seattle, as the Kings will look for a better result than their 4-1 defeat on home ice back in October versus the Kraken, a night that was as disjointed as the team had looked in the early goings. Last season’s Kings were substantially better on the road than they were at home. Coming off this caliber of homestand, hopefully the inverse does not prove to be true with important, divisional points on. theline.
Post game reactions coming from Ontario this evening and then it’s morning skate tomorrow in Calgary for the Kings, in advance of the first matchup of the season against Darryl Sutter and the Flames!
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