Kevin Fiala is energized, confident and having fun……and that’s great news for the LA Kings

Get that Switzerland flag on retainer.

Before warmups yesterday at UBS Arena on Long Island, a flag from Kevin Fiala’s native Switzerland appeared behind the net the Kings were shooting on. Fiala couldn’t help but smile, revealing post game that the flag was held by two friends of his who came out to support him on the road. He also revealed that it gave him a little bit of a boost before the game against the Islanders.

“They gave me lots of laughs during the warm up for sure and that’s what I needed,” Fiala said. “Hockey is fun and it gave me for sure some energy.”

Swiss Cheesin’ pic.twitter.com/quwMPk42Da

— LA Kings (@LAKings) December 11, 2024

Whether it was the flag or not, whatever Fiala had going for him against the Islanders is the Kevin Fiala the Kings need going forward.

Dude was, simply put, electric.

“I think he played more than any other forward tonight and I can’t remember him playing better than that,” Head Coach Jim Hiller added. “That was really good to see.”

Fiala logged 19:39 during the win over the Islanders, which as Hiller noted was the most among all Kings forwards. He played 17:39 of that at 5-on-5 and also played the full two minutes on the only power play the Kings had in the game, which was the plan coming in, to utilize Fiala on both man-advantage units. While the power play didn’t score, the puck movement was a tick faster and the unit was dangerous, building momentum for the team at 5-on-5. Fiala played his part in that.

He certainly made the most of ice time in all situations.

No King had more scoring chances than Fiala’s five or more shot attempts than the eight he had. With Fiala on the ice yesterday, the Kings had 27 shot attempts for, compared to just 12 against. Of those attempts, 16 were scoring chances and 10 were high-danger chances, both of which led the Kings. As you’d expect, that accumulation of chances led to a team-leading number on-ice expected goals for.

Oh, and it wasn’t just last night, either. Those underlying totals have been excellent for Fiala over the entire six-game winning streak.

Over the last six games, no King has been on the ice for more shots on goal than Fiala. No King has been on the ice for more high-danger chances than Fiala, either. Despite playing more minutes at 5-on-5 than any other forward over those six games, Fiala’s on-ice chances against are among the lowest on the team as well. On a per/60 basis, the Kings are allowing 16.5 shots on goal against when Fiala is on the ice, the best figure of any player on the team to have played in each of the last six victories. Right now, in just about every situation, Fiala is an impact player.

“I think he’s been really good over the last couple of weeks,” forward Adrian Kempe said of Fiala. “Just more confidence in his body, for sure. To get a couple of goals, kind of get that weight off your shoulders, it feels like it’s been helping him a lot too. You can see that he’s playing more confident.”

Last night, all of those things also led to one of the prettier goals of the season, created by a moment of magic from Fiala.

Kevin Fiala my goodness 😍 pic.twitter.com/SEhkfqdAjS

— LA Kings (@LAKings) December 11, 2024

This goal is Fiala at his finest.

Awareness and hockey sense to space out a tired group of defenders by floating out to the point, with the Kings changing for fresh legs and hoping to sustain time and pressure in the offensive zone. Then, it’s the patience to goad Oliver Wahlstrom into making the first move on an attempted poke check, recognizing, as he said after the game, that he thought Wahlstrom cheated a bit on the play. Then, Fiala showcased his individual ability to make a man miss while turning his back to the play, and then finally the quick feet to go from a low-danger area into the high slot, between the tops of the circles.

Then he had to execute.

Recognizing that he had 6-6 Samuel Helenius – “a big guy”, as Fiala put it – stationed in front of the goaltender, that’s about as good of a netfront screen as you could ask for. Fiala picked his spot and let his shot do the rest of the work, top glove, past one of the best goaltenders in the NHL who had himself quite a solid night. On that play though, Fiala got the best of him, scoring what was ultimately the game-winning goal, on a night on which he was named the game’s first star. A deserved reward for a strong showing.

“I was thinking about this for a bit now, to have the puck more and [last night] was the night,” Fiala said. “I had the puck a lot, I won a lot of battles and the whole line was rolling. It was lots of fun. The whole team did it from start to finish, so that was lots of fun.”

Perhaps the best part of Fiala’s night was that while he got his goal, and while he dazzled with the puck on his stick, he also impacted the game in other ways as well, specifically when he did not have control of the puck.

Hard to count the number of times I looked up and saw Fiala flying back defensively to break up a play last night. He’s always been one of the team’s most capable backcheckers, a player who can use his speed and his stick to disrupt in those moments. Last night, he delivered in that area, and said he had a lot of fun in doing so.

“They didn’t have much at all, especially in the first period, it was lots of fun, we backchecked,” Fiala said. “When things are rolling like that, it’s fun, it’s not like work, the backcheck is fun.”

It’s a carryover effect for me, from a play he made against Minnesota on Saturday. Starting from his own zone, Fiala took off on an all-out sprint to beat out 2-3 Wild skaters, negating what would have been a clear icing call. He then found Quinton Byfield in the slot for a scoring chance. When Fiala is making the hustle plays at that high rate, along with the skill plays, there aren’t a ton of guys in the league you’d take over him. He’s been that that level over the course of this winning streak and his play at both ends of the ice has been noticed by his teammates as well.

That’s a part of the process for a high-caliber offensive player, when he’s doing the little things rihgt as well. His captain certainly saw it.

“We saw it [against the Islanders] he scores the winning goal, he’s on the ice late in the game, making plays, making stuff happen and making sure that he’s in a good spot defensively,” Anze Kopitar said. “He made a couple of really nice plays defensively, so it’s huge for this group, and I’m sure it’s good for him too.”

Looking ahead, it’s 1 down, 6 to go here for the Kings on the East Coast.

In New Jersey tomorrow, the Kings will face a high-octane Devils team that has thrived on high-event hockey, which should be a matchup of styles. Players like Fiala, who are capable of delivering in high-event situations, but has played his game within the Kings structure and system on this streak, can be crucial. Here’s to another strong showing from Fiala tomorrow night at the Prudential Center.