Angeles Analysis – 10 Pounds Lighter

10 pounds lighter.

An infomercial on TV, in the wee hours of the morning for the newest, greatest weight-loss drug? Or the feeling of finally breaking through a really difficult offensive drought as a team?

For the LA Kings, last night felt good.

Jim Hiller’s first answer indicated it. When they got that second goal – a power-play goal at that – he could just feel the floodgates about to open. And they did. Brandt Clarke and Alex Turcotte both talked about players gripping the sticks too tightly as of late, which is a common cliché for a team that isn’t scoring. And the Kings certainly have not been scoring.

In seven of their nine games coming in, the Kings had scored more than two goals just twice. Five times they scored just one goal. So, even the feeling of just seeing that second one go over the line was big, giving the Kings a multi-goal lead at home. It was the first multi-goal lead the Kings held at Crypto.com Arena in over a month, dating back to the 3-0 win over Winnipeg on November 4. From there on, the Kings were in full control, as they turned 2-0 into 6-0 with so many different players getting in on the action. The six goals in regulation marked a season high, home or road, the first time since Game 2 of last season’s playoffs they netted six times in a game.

When you do that, after a long stretch of really struggling offensively, you truly do feel 10 pounds lighter.

You could just see the relief in the room after the game in speaking with Turcotte and Clarke. Imagine it was even more so for the entire team, which has struggled together at the offensive end of the ice in recent weeks. The Kings simply needed a performance like that and they got it. The fans deserved a performance like that and they got it. While the Kings rank third in the NHL in road winning percentage, they’re third-to-last in the same metric at home. To get the breakthrough in front of a good crowd on home ice was deserving for those who continue to support the team. Glad to see a crowd of more than 18,000 treated to such a fun night.

Was also great to see who got the goals and how they got them. The Kings got three goals from their defensemen for the first time since October 26, 2024, a 3-2 win over Utah early last season. That moved them from 26th in the NHL in goals by defensemen to a tie for 17th and they sit 12th in percentage of goals from the blueline. All off of one game. The fourth line was on the ice for two goals, including a nice bit of speed and strength from Alex Turcotte, who drove the net with a singular mindset, one I think this team could use more of. The power play even scored! Good night for a lot of sources of scoring that you want to see be involved.

One thing that I liked as much as anything is that while the goals scored were great, the Kings showed that they’re capable of scoring goals while still playing their lockdown, defensive game. The Kings gave up just three high-danger chances across 60 minutes, by far their lowest total of the season. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Kings held Chicago to 0.98 expected goals, the lowest single-game total this season by any team in the NHL. Only game around the league under 1. They locked things down defensively as well as they have in any game this season and also buried six goals, and some really pretty goals at that. It took awhile to find that game, but it should feel like a proof of concept of sorts. Coming off of what I felt was one of their worst games of the season on Thursday, that’s really encouraging.

Now, as Turcotte added after the game, it’s about building on last night.

It was great, no question, but the two points you earn from the free-flowing, 6-0 win over Chicago are the same two points you get from an ugly 2-1 win over Vancouver. The Kings have done a good job this season of banking points while they haven’t been playing at their best. You might not love the overtime losses, but they add up. So, we’re not talking about a team that has to dig out of a hole once they hit their stride. The base is already there, with the Kings sitting in a playoff spot with a couple games of cushion, just two points from the top of the division. Now, it’s about stacking performances like the one we watched last night, seeing that type of play far more frequently than we have this season. They’ll now hit the road in terms of some of that consistency.

Today, the Kings did not practice in advance of an early-afternoon flight to Salt Lake City, where they will take on the Utah Mammoth tomorrow evening to begin a two-game trip that also includes a visit to Seattle, just their sixth divisional game of the season thus far. Expecting a full skate tomorrow as a result. It’s the mom’s trip for the Kings, first one in a while, so most of the guys will have their moms join them on the road for the first time. Maybe that helped out a little bit last night? Have to play well when your mom is watching! Will have some coverage from the moms as well, with Jared Shafran joining us on the road to provide that extra layer of content, with some fun activities, dinners and quality time on the agenda for the moms, as the Kings look to put four more points in the bank.