Angeles Analysis – Playing The Kings Way

“I thought that the group as a whole decided that they wanted to play our way.”

Those were the first words out of Todd McLellan’s mouth during his post-game after Saturday evening’s victory in Seattle.

What I liked most about Saturday’s game is that it was played on the Kings’ terms. The first period was as strong a showing as we’ve seen in a bit. The Kings were dominant. They hounded pucks. They played aggressively offensively, but not at the expense of anything the other way. You left that period with the exclamation points going off. That was it. That’s how this team can play.

Almost weird to say it after a 1-1 period, but when you separate the play we watched on the ice from the scoreboard, that was LA Kings hockey. The goal that they allowed was a fluke bounce and other than that, the Kings never really felt tested. That style of play carried itself through the second period as well. Even in the third, while Seattle pushed, you never really felt like the Kings weren’t in control. Allowing the game to get into overtime came on an extremely rare game management mistake from a player you never see it from. A small blip on the radar.

Though it wound up taking the full 65 minutes, plus nine rounds of the shootout, the Kings left Seattle with exactly what they deserved – two points.

For really the first time this season, coming into that game, there was a small sense of uneasiness.

Other than Viktor Arvidsson and six games of Blake Lizotte, the Kings have had an extremely healthy run this season. For the first time all season, they were tested, as Vladislav Gavrikov and now Phoenix Copley remain unavailable. Coming off of three straight defeats, the Kings were especially disappointed with Wednesday’s loss against Winnipeg. The two games in New York are explainable. The Islanders game got away, sure, but it was a pretty good effort through 50 minutes, plus they got a point on the road. The Rangers game has a lot of reasons, if you want reasons. The game versus the Jets didn’t have all that many, so it’s the performance that the Kings were really not pleased with.

That’s why the first period in Seattle was so important.

The Kings put out a tone-setting performance that alleviated all doubt. Even as they fell behind on that fluke goal less than seven minutes in, the Kings stayed the course. They felt fully in control. It wasn’t all that long before they got a well-deserved equalizer from Trevor Moore, coming off a really nice play from the Kings’ most dangerous line throughout the game. More to come on that trio in tomorrow’s game preview

All-in-all, the Kings conceded a total of three shots on goal during the opening period, with one of them being Adam Larsson’s goal, a play on which he lost the puck and saw it trickle through a maze of bodies, including that of Cam Talbot. Natural Stat Trick credited Seattle with seven scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes, but that honestly feels high. The Kings allowed so little, especially in that first period, on route to a victory that was much more in control than the scoreline suggests.

In earning the victory, the Kings continued a trend that they’ve done so well over the last two years. They did not let a three-game losing streak turn into a four-game losing streak. It’s a small distinction, sure, but I believe it’s an important one. The last time the Kings lost four games straight was November of 2021, when it was actually five straight games. If you compare the roster right now to the lineup the Kings iced on the final of those five games, less than 50 percent of the players on the ice that night are still on the roster now. 11 of the 20 are different. Pretty crazy when you think about it, because it wasn’t all that long ago, just over 24 months. Really not all that important, though, because the threads of a mentality that pulls the group out of those situations remains. On to the next one, with a W1 in lieu of an L4.

The Kings will take on San Jose, Seattle and Calgary over the next five days, heading into three mandated days off for the league’s holiday break. It’s an opportunity for the Kings to put additional ground between them and three teams that are chasing them from a distance, during the first stretch of divisional play this season beyond just a one-off game. It’s also a chance to continue to put points in the bank, heading into a pretty exciting 3-in-4 coming out of the break. San Jose at home, followed by Vegas away and Edmonton at home, closing out the 2023 portion of the schedule. Since November 24, those teams are a combined 20-7-5. Strong tests lie ahead.

The focus is presently on tomorrow evening, though, as the Kings prepare for the first of three games this week. They’ll be in San Jose for the first time, a place has presented a challenge for the Kings over the last few years, before finishing the pre-Christmas slate on home ice.

The Kings practiced this morning at Toyota Sports Performance Center before an afternoon flight to Northern California. Morning skate to come tomorrow, where we’ll get a sense of the goaltending situation, as well as any potential lineup changes to come for tomorrow evening’s game.