The Los Angeles Kings have not gotten off to a good start in February. They lost four games in a row, totaling a five-game losing streak, including their loss at the end of January. Through the first games of the month, the team did not play well on either side of the puck, falling to the bottom of the league in terms of both offensive and defensive statistics. These losses also pushed LA to the bottom of the competitive Honda West Division.
The Kings went into their game versus the San Jose Sharks Thursday night coming off of a devastating shootout loss. As the Kings have done a number of times this season, they blew their third-period lead, as Evander Kane tied the game with 45 seconds to play. The Kings’ rematch with the Sharks, though, was a completely different story.
LA would light the lamp three times in the first period, with goals coming from Anze Kopitar, Carl Grundstrom, and Austin Wagner. The Sharks would slow the momentum a little bit, as Tomas Hertl tallied two goals, one at the end of the first period and adding one more at the end of the second period. The Kings came back with three goals of their own in the final 20 minutes, though. Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Alex Iafallo, and Jeff Carter each put one in to end the game with a final score of 6-2.
The Kings did several things right in their win over the Sharks, proving that they have the ability to win games, even with key players out of the lineup. If LA can play every night as they did on Thursday, they are going to win a lot more games than they are going to lose.
Secondary Scoring
The Kings’ veteran scoring has been quite prominent through the early stages of the season. Kopitar leads the team with 17 points, Dustin Brown is second on the team with 12 points, Drew Doughty is close behind with 11 points, Alex Iafallo has nine, and Carter has put up seven points thus far. Though this is a good thing, the team’s secondary scoring has not been enough to help them win on a regular basis. This includes the plethora of younger players and prospects that the team has in their system.
Part of the Kings’ big win over the Sharks was the contributions that came from the bottom of the lineup. Wagner put up a goal and was arguably the Kings’ best player in terms of overall play. He posted the team’s best individual expected goals (ixG), 0.46 on the night, had the best offensive zone start percentage (oZS%) at 60%, and had the best 5v5 Corsi for percentage (CF%) at 56.2%. He also threw two hits, tied for first on the team. Both Grundstrom and Anderson-Dolan also put up a goal, each adding an assist, and Austin Strand, Tobias Bjornfot, and Trevor Moore all put up an assist.
If Wagner and the rest of the bottom half of the lineup can continue to contribute, it could go a long way in making the Kings more successful. Kopitar and the other veterans on the team may not be able to maintain the scoring pace they currently sit at, so LA’s secondary scoring may have to make more of an impact at some point this season, which they’ve shown is possible.
Getting Off to a Good Start
So far this season, the Kings have been one of the worst first period teams in the league. Going into their second game versus the Sharks, the team ranked 27th in the league for first period goals, tallying just six on the season. LA has been even worse defensively in the first period. Prior to Thursday’s game, they had given up 19 goals in the first period, 30th in the league.
Finishing the first period up 3-1 certainly helped the team mix in a win to the many losses they have recently taken. Getting off to a good start is one of the most obvious ways to come out of any game with a win. The first period decides who will be chasing the game and who won’t. Those who fit the latter typically win the game, and the Kings need to focus on finding themselves in that…
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