Not exactly how the term bittersweet was intended, I suppose. But it truly was a bitter roadtrip with a very sweet ending. Sometimes you can just feel it. After the win over Carolina, you could really feel it. The Kings haven’t been as bad as their record says they have been but man has it been a struggle offensively.
To score four goals against one of the best teams in the NHL and end a trip that had the possibility of zero victories with a really big one at the end……you could just feel it. There was a lot in that win for this group.
Now, one win doesn’t just negate the four games prior. A four-goal night doesn’t mean the scoring woes are suddenly gone. Calms the Twitter mentions for a day or two, which is nice for me here on this fine Sunday. For the group heading back on that plane, though, it was about as a good feeling as you could have from a trip that earned three points from five games.
It’s a group that has worked hard without any sort of reward. A group that has spent 20 of the last 24 days on the road. A group that will now have an entire month without team travel, including a full week off for the majority of players.
For that group, the ending was quite sweet.
Jim Hiller said before the game that this is a group that is fatigued. Not that we couldn’t tell that on our own, but hockey players and coaches typically aren’t ones to drop that in there.
“It’s been a long month and it’s one of those times where you just look around and I can see the guys are tired,” Hiller said.
He added that the Kings have met challenges this season and that last night’s game was perhaps the greatest one to date. They’ve overcome adversity in the past and they are certainly facing it right now. Against that team, under the circumstances the Kings have battled through, it certainly was a big challenge.
The Kings answered it.
For one night, it wasn’t a team that saw chance after chance fall by the wayside. For one night, conceding a goal in the first period had a response goal before the intermission. And it wasn’t even disallowed. For one night, it felt like the Kings were on the right side of the bounces, the calls, the breaks. Despite playing well as a team, the Kings got fortunate on a couple of non-calls. Those weren’t going their way anywhere else on this trip. They also got standout performances from players who can help turn this thing around offensively.
All of a sudden, Kevin Fiala is back on 30-goal pace. In my opinion, Fiala’s game has been raised for awhile now. Dating back to the start of December or so, after two months of struggling, I think Fiala has played at a high level, even if the points haven’t quite been there. Now he’s got four goals and nine points over his last nine games. The Kings got goals from Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore, each of whom has a 25+ goal season with the Kings. They had just one combined goal in January and they’ve already exceeded that in February. Quinton Byfield picked up two assists as well, giving him 15 points over his last 20 games played.
Ultimately, maybe that’s what last night brought for this club. Optimism. It was unlikely that the Kings would have essentially their entire team slumping for too much longer, all at once. To see Moore and Danault get one, for Byfield two have a multi-point night, those are the guys who can make a difference. Kings haven’t gotten much in that department as of late, so to get it in Carolina was extra great.
Felt especially good for Moore. No player was on the ice for more high-danger chances on a per/60 basis on this trip than Moore was. He had zero points, though. To get the go-ahead goal, you could just see the look of relief on his face. Kevin Fiala and Jim Hiller both talked about how seeing Moore score gave the entire bench a boost. They know it hasn’t been going in for him since returning from injury. Nearly two months removed from his last goal, with one month missed in the middle. Good to see for a number of reasons. Moore led the Kings in goals last season and this isn’t a team with a lot of goalscorers. It’s important for the Kings to continue to put Moore in positions to impact games, because he is one player who can do so. Hopefully Saturday is the start of something.
For the Kings, this should hopefully help with some confidence issues. Confidence was low across the board exiting the State of Florida. Last night could help with that. The Kings created a number of good looks and got two highlight-reel goals from the dynamic Fiala, who did exactly what he was acquired to do. Fiala has that rare ability to change a game at any time. He did that in Raleigh. Again, the Kings don’t have a ton of players who can do that and Fiala was as big a piece as any in the two points.
The four goals scored last night matched the entire output from the trip to that point. I suppose if you’re going to go 1-3-1 over five games, paying homage to a great offensive system, you might as well win the last one over an elite opponent and go home with some relief and a little bit of confidence.
The month of January was disastrous on the offensive side of the puck. It was the worst offensive month any team in the NHL had this season. As noted yesterday, the Kings averaged 1.69 goals per game, the only team in the league to have a month below the two-goal mark this season. They’ve got four from one game in February. Perhaps taking Dry January a bit too seriously, but maybe it’s time to welcome in Fervent February. Four goals is four goals. Nice to see for just the second time so far this calendar year.
Looking ahead, today is a rest day. And man is it needed. 20 of 24 days on the road sounds bad but feels worse. I think the gas tank for the Kings is pretty low right now. They’ll recharge today and get back on the ice for practice tomorrow. Two good days of practice before a 3-in-4 at home, which precedes the 4 Nations Break. All but one – maybe two…… – will get that break. Important games before then. Time to refuel today and the Kings will get back at it tomorrow. Imagine we’ll see a pretty lively group tomorrow, one that is simply excited to be home. I certainly am.
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