A Look Inside The Recent Success of the Fiala – Danault – Moore Line

If you check out the line comparison tool on MoneyPuck.com, without changing any of the search parameters, you’ll see a familiar sight atop that list. A line centered by Connor McDavid.

One line down though?

It’s the line of Phillip Danault centering Kevin Fiala and Trevor Moore.

A line we’ve seen takeover games recently. A line that’s regularly responded to coaching. A line that brings three players of vastly different skillsets and is making them work within the collective of the group. And these are assertions that have been supported by the numbers, too.

Without sorting, the first tool used is an expected goals metrics – which is whatever – but the Fiala/Danault/Moore line also ranks in the NHL’s Top-5 in unblocked shot attempts per/60, both for and against. Meaning, they’re getting their shots through blocks better than most and they’re conceding fewer than most. The result is controlling nearly 67 percent of unblocked attempts when on the ice together, trailing only that aforementioned McDavid line on the season. If you sort simply by shot attempts of all natures, you’d see similar results.

The translation has been the Kings’ highest scoring line on a per/60 basis, averaging 3.76 goals per/60 on the season. They’re also the team’s highest in goals allowed, however. That’s been the balance here this season for this line. When they’re playing the way they know they want to play, they’re almost untouchable. When a little bit is given back stylistically, it can go back a bit too far the other way.

After the win over Seattle last weekend, Todd McLellan said that he brought that line in for a meeting earlier in the week and addressed with them that they’ve been the team’s best offensive line during a tough stretch of games, but he felt that in the process, they gave up too much the other way. Being on the ice for three goals against over the team’s three-game losing streak was reflective of that.

Throughout their time here, Fiala, Danault and Moore have always accepted responsibility in situations like that. Fiala owned it earlier this season, when the Kings originally moved him to the line that he’s on now. All three owned it after the Columbus game earlier in the month, when they combined for two goals in the third period after a start that wasn’t up to their standard. It’s rare with these players that it’s even talked about, because of the different things they bring in their game. When they’re on, they’re a line that can be so effective.

In that space, since that meeting McLellan mentioned?

Zero goals against and they were responsible for the bulk of the team’s 5-on-5 scoring over the three games since, while controlling a large amount of the puck possession when on the ice.

Shot Attempts – 49 For, 21 Against (70.0%)
Shots On Goal – 30 For, 11 Against (73.1%)
Scoring Chances – 20 For, 10 Against (66.7%)
High-Danger Chances – 10 For, 4 Against (71.4%)

“When they didn’t have it, they were working really hard as a group of three to get it back and they took a lot of passing lanes away, they reloaded well. When they did have it, they held on to it and did a good job in the offensive zone, wearing the other team down when they needed to and attacked when they had to. They had a real good night and it’s really good to see.”

Todd McLellan, as quoted above, has spoken highly of that line after wins over Seattle and San Jose. It’s a line, as mentioned, of three pretty unique and interesting players and it’s a line that is currently finding its way together, as a group of three. As the three legs of the tripod are concerned, individually though, it’s three guys who have always had their own identities.

Photo by Rob Curtis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Moving left to right, Fiala is the playmaker and he’s one of the best in the league in that department.

“You might not feel open and then all of a sudden, he’s making a pass right on your tape for a breakaway,” Moore said of Fiala. “He’s a special player and I feel fortunate to play with him.”

Few players have that incisive ability that Fiala does.

He ranks inside the NHL’s Top-10 in both assists and primary assists per/60, leading the Kings in both categories. It’s not surprising when you watch him play, either. Fiala has the ability, as Moore describes, to turn what appears to be a harmless play into a dangerous scoring opportunity.

THE PASS 😮‍💨 THE SHOT 🥵 pic.twitter.com/dP4f57A17h

— LA Kings (@LAKings) December 20, 2023

Look no further than Moore’s goal against San Jose. Few others can make the pass that Fiala does here, setting up the team’s hottest goalscorer for a good look from the slot. Fiala has shown more of a willingness to use his own shot as well and when you combine that threat with his playmaking abilities, it makes for a dangerous player.

In the middle of the ice is the ever-steady Danault, who combines responsibility in his own zone with the ability to contribute offensively both through his passing and scoring abilities. At all strengths, Danault’s goals per/60 are at the second-best rate of his career, trailing only his 27-goal season in 2021-22. He’s generating shots on goal, scoring chances and high-danger chances at a rate only matched by that season, but his assist totals are higher, more in line with last season’s 36.

“He’s so good net front and it’s on me and Kevin, we’ve talked about it, we’ve got to get the puck there more and more, because he’s really good there,” Moore said of Danault. “You have an elite guy at the net front and if it’s not getting there, it’s doing us no good. He’s a rock. Great player.”

Danault is Danault. He’s always going to be about more than the offensive totals, but his totals are also matching the level.

On the right is the breakout campaign, from a production standpoint at least, that has everyone buzzing. Thousand Oaks native Trevor Moore.

Moore has been a machine this season, regardless of where he’s been deployed. He leads the Kings with 15 goals at all strengths and is already just two goals shy of his career high of 17, set two seasons ago. If you look at 5-on-5 numbers exclusively, Moore is already at a career best. While his shooting percentage will undoubtedly go down, he is generating shots at the highest rate of his career and he’s playing in the role that he is for a full season for the first time in his career. A player who has always displayed terrific traits is now turning those traits into terrific production. It’s been fun to watch.

“He’s been very good,” Fiala said of Moore. “Like you can see, he has a couple of chances, he’s got those quick hands and he can shoot, [sometimes] he dekes. It’s hard for goalies to stop.”

Looking ahead, the Kings are looking for this version of this line to continue.

Having this line going, consistently, alongside the line of Quinton Byfield, Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe would give teams matchup nightmares, with two first-line caliber units. It should also open up opportunities for others, which could spark a player like Pierre-Luc Dubois offensively. With solid numbers behind them, and a style of play that is proven to find success, the Kings are hoping that the information above rings true in a week, in a month, at the end of the year, in the same way that it does today.

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images