Angeles Analysis – Nice To Have Three Days

Happy Christmas Eve, Insiders!

To those who celebrate, that is. For those who don’t and for those who do, happy first day of the holiday break. The Kings schedule has not permitted for three days off in between games all season long until this point. The holiday break presents the first break of more than two days this season and for the team that has played more games than any other in the NHL up until this point, it’s much welcomed. Not a ton in the tank right now for this group and three days to recover and recharge, with some time away from the rink, has come at a good time.

From a momentum standpoint, perhaps it comes at the wrong time though. The Kings enter this break on perhaps their best run of the season thus far. A five-game point streak, four of them wins and the last being what was considered to be a “gusty” point in Arizona. If you go back a bit further, the Kings have points from seven of their last eight games overall. Throughout the last five, it’s been a style of hockey I think we can all get behind. More responsible defensively, harder to play against, taking care of the defensive end first, with improvements made in a variety of different ways.

A lot of credit certainly has to go to Pheonix Copley, who has been an outstanding contributor over his six appearances this season with the team, but it was great to see the team give Jonathan Quick a chance last night, and the veteran goaltender gave that chance right back to the group. Quick was tested at times, but it was far from the free-for-all shooting gallery we saw in say Columbus or Toronto, his last two starts. Quick was solid when he needed to be and gave the team a chance to where one shot could have won it. Great to see him make the saves he needed to make and that the Kings needed him to make. As Todd McLellan has said, the Kings will likely need three goaltenders down the stretch and Quick remains an important part of the group.

Looking at the recent stretch, bigger picture, it felt as if times when games would have been lost three weeks ago, they’re now being won. When one point would have been picked up, it’s now two. Even last night, on the second half of a back-to-back, consisting a post-2 AM arrival and estimates of around five hours of sleep, the Kings found a way to get a standings point on the road heading into the break. A lot of times when teams lose in overtime or the shootout, we like to classify it as a good point or a bad point. I think a lot of people might want to classify that as a bad one against a team that was six games below .500, but I think I’d actually go the other way and call it a good one. When you live the travel, sometimes you can feel certain games that might be a tough one. In a building that had yet to be experienced, and a building that is anything but traditional, the Kings put another point in the ATM.They did what they needed to do in several areas and it came down to the skills competition. Win some of those, lose some of those.

One area that I felt excelled last night was the penalty kill. It was used far too frequently, including three times in the first period, but conceded just a 5-on-3 goal from six times of asking. As was the case in wins over Boston and San Jose, the Kings got a timely penalty kill in overtime. Mikey Anderson might still be on the ice from that shift, firing pucks the full length of the ice. Without the kills in the first period, we might not have even reached overtime, as the Kings held Arizona to just one in the first, preventing a deficit from snowballing and giving the group a chance to find its footing and get back on track. The largely did that in the final 45 minutes, even if it wasn’t the prettiest showing in doing so.

It now sets the team up for a big showdown against the Vegas Golden Knights. After Vegas went scorched earth to begin the season, both teams have won six of their last 10 games, with the Kings picking up two more points in that stretch via overtime and shootout defeats. A deficit in the standings that once looked almost insurmountable has suddenly become five points, with the Golden Knights now holding just one game in hand and one fewer regulation loss. It’s too early to look at the standings, it’s December 24, FINE. FINE!!!! It is too early. But still……..the division leaders will roll into Los Angeles coming out of the break on December 27. What a way to kick things back off.

Coverage here on LAKI will be a bit lighter over the next three days, but I’ll have a thread up each day for comments. World Juniors kicks off on Monday and we’ll have a preview of that tournament – and the three Kings prospects participating – from contributor Jack Jablonski to coincide with the start of the event that morning. Otherwise, Insiders, happy holidays and happy day one of three! Enjoy every minute and we’ll be back soon!