Angeles Analysis – Three To Get Ready

One For The Money. Two For The Show. Three To Get Ready…..Four To Go?

That’s how the rhyme is read, at least.

When the Kings followed up an impressive victory over Winnipeg with a 2-1 squeaker over Anaheim, they got to a place they had been three times prior this season – two consecutive victories.

What followed was something the Kings had not done to that point, which was turn two straight wins into three straight wins. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but my kindergarten education at Blue Creek Elementary says that four would come next, if the Kings can handle the Dallas Stars on Wednesday evening. More on that, though.

Entering Saturday’s game, as noted in that morning’s game preview, the Kings were the only team sitting in a playoff position that had yet to win three consecutive games this season. A stat that you could interpret a number of different ways. For me, it’s about consistency. The Kings had only lost three consecutive games on one occasion and two of those defeats came in overtime. A 1-2-0 record and a 0-1-2 record, as we know, ultimately amount to the same thing. The Kings have also followed up very well after losses, losing consecutive games in regulation only once in eight tries, with a 7-1 record in games following a regulation defeat. On the contrary, the Kings also haven’t followed up all that well on their victories either and stringing stout performances together has been a bit of a struggle in the early goings. Even last week, with the Winnipeg and Anaheim wins, Hiller pointed out that he felt the Ducks outplayed the Kings in that Friday matinee in Anaheim, with a strong showing from young Erik Portillo and timely offense from Alex Laferriere the difference in the game at Honda Center.

Then came Saturday, with the Ottawa Senators in town for a rematch of the 15-goal escapade from back in October.

Last week, the Kings entered the third period tied in two different games – San Jose and Anaheim. We know what happened in San Jose with five unanswered goals against, while Laferriere’s early goal scored Anaheim turned out to be the difference. On Saturday, it was once again a 2-2 hockey game, as it was on Monday against the Sharks. This time, the Kings stormed out of the gates with the first six shot attempts of the period, the final two being Trevor Moore’s shot on goal from the slot and Anze Kopitar’s baseball-style rebound goal to give the Kings a lead they did not relinquish. In total, the Kings had 13 of the first 19 shot attempts in the third period. While they certainly required the play of David Rittich in net, with his sliding save with the left pad on Drake Batherson halfway through the third period proving to be crucial in keeping the hosts ahead, they also kept applying pressure. It wasn’t quite the standard the Kings set against Winnipeg on Wednesday, but with a power play late in the third period, leading 3-2, the goal that was needed was delivered. In an area of the game that hasn’t produced as much as the Kings would have liked so far this season, a world-class pass from Kevin Fiala to the team’s number-one shooting threat, Adrian Kempe, combined the way that it has in the past. That was nice to see. The five-forward look, I thought personally, offered a little bit more zip for the Kings than what they had before, but ultimately the production wasn’t jaw dropping. Perhaps it got away just enough from what had gone stale that when the Kings went back to Brandt Clarke as the primary facilitator, it could offer a bit of spark. With Fiala to Clarke’s left, he’s back in a spot he’s created a ton of offense from, both as a shooter and as a passer. With Kempe to the right, the team’s best one-timer threat is back in the ideal position to shoot, well, one-timers. I thought the point suited Kempe to an extent, and his playmaking skills were on display, but ultimately I think Clarke will find his way on that unit and the Kings need that level of production from Fiala and Kempe. With a tough string of opponents ahead, the Kings will need to get production from that unit, as the road ahead becomes very difficult.

With the calendar now flipped to December, the Kings will face a winning percentage of .576 this month, with seven of their 11 games coming on the road. Eight of 11 games come against teams that are currently in a playoff spot as of Monday evening. The Kings have the seventh-most difficult strength of schedule by winning percentage the rest of the way and that number is below .576, which would rank as the league’s most challenging. You could argue this could be the toughest test the Kings will face all season long, at least thus far, and it comes with the team carrying it’s greatest streak of momentum as well. With Dallas and Minnesota in town this week, the Kings will face the two playoff teams from the Central Division, two teams they lost against on home ice at the end of last season. Then it’s the seven gamer. Seven games on the East Coast heading into the league’s holiday break.

It’s also tough because the injuries are mounting. Obviously Drew Doughty remains out and although his process is said to be on track, he hasn’t resumed skating just yet and it’s hard to see him factoring in anytime soon. He’s spending more time around the rink, as his off-ice work ramps up, but he’s going to be a bit longer yet. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper has yet to shed the non-contact jersey during a practice, though that could potentially happen tomorrow. Trevor Lewis is now out of action as well with a lower-body injury suffered on Saturday, which will cost him the chance to play his 1000th game on Wednesday. It’ll come later for him, but what a blow personally. The man who would have likely seen more opportunity is Akil Thomas, but he was placed on injured reserve on Friday, so not expecting him on Wednesday either. Caleb Jones and Arthur Kaliyev have continued to skate together, away from the group, with Jones joining at the end of practice on Thursday, the last team skate we’ve seen. Kaliyev’s progress will be interesting to watch, because he’s been out since what, Day 2 of training camp? He didn’t get the preseason to ramp up, which could make his road a bit longer than it might’ve been had he gotten hurt even three weeks later. When he does, perhaps he can bring a bit of a scoring punch, if the Kings can find the right spot for him in the lineup. As we enter this daunting December, we continue to monitor each of these players, who represent a varying degree of help when they ultimately return.

We’ll learn a lot about the Kings as these games pass by. How does 8-2-1 at home stand up when all four home games this month are against teams currently in playoff spots. How does the team handle a traditional, seven-game roadtrip and can they improve upon the .500 winning percentage they currently have on the road, or at least maintain it. Probably take seven points there. How will younger players step up with players out, and can players who have already stepped up maintain their form, or even find another level. All remains to be seen, I suppose. It’s exciting though.

The Kings are six games over .500 entering December, two points off the Pacific Division lead. Big month ahead.