The LA Kings hoped to take advantage of a tired Colorado Avalanche team on the second half of a back-to-back California road trip but instead got goalie’d by Darcy Kuemper. The frustrating loss brought them to 20-16-5 on the season.
Goal Breakdown
COL: Mikko Rantanen (20), Assists: Cale Makar (22), Nathan MacKinnon (32)
COL: Kiefer Sherwood (1), Unassisted
LAK: Anze Kopitar (13), Assists: Alex Iafallo (14), Drew Doughty (17)
COL: Nicolas Aube-Kubel (6)
COL: Devon Toews (8), Assists: Mikko Rantanen (27)
Stats:
Goals:
LAK: 1
COL: 4
Shots on goal:
LAK: 41
COL: 27
Hits:
LAK: 19
COL: 29
Faceoff Percentage:
LAK: 53.6%
COL: 46.4%
Power Plays:
LAK: 1/5
COL: 1/1
Three things that stood out:
1. The power play needs to be fixed, ASAP
All in favour of the NHL adopting the NFL rules where you can decline a penalty, say I.
But seriously, it’s comical to watch the Kings’ power play this season. Yeah, they scored a goal last night, but they also failed to score on four, and one of the power plays led to Nicolas Aube-Kubel coming out of the penalty box unmarked and getting on a breakaway and sniping it on Jonathan Quick, effectively putting the game away.
Mainly, the problem with the power play is that it’s too slow. I know he scored on it last night, but I’d like to see Anze Kopitar’s time on special teams reduced. He’s not fast enough for the pace the Kings are trying to go at anymore, and that’s okay. He’s still a terrific first-line centre, and I’m fine with him getting the ice time at even-strength, but on the power play, this team just needs more of the young energy.
One thing to note from last night’s power play was Quinton Byfield being on it, which leads us to our next segment…
2. Byfield getting the opportunities to shine
Quinton Byfield knows how hard it is to make the NHL and how it’s even harder to stay in it. Last night, he ensured that he would stay in it for the rest of the season.
Byfield was easily the best player on the LA Kings last night, and the numbers backed it up. He was held off the scoresheet through 15:00 time-on-ice but had three shots on goal and an 89.0 expected goals percentage (xG%), with 1.21 expected goals for and just 0.15 expected goals against.
Quinton Byfield (@byfield55) makes his long awaited season debut tonight for the @LAKings! 👑 pic.twitter.com/eGCV91iYly
— NHL (@NHL) January 21, 2022
Later in the game, when the Kings were trailing, the team even put Byfield on the wing on the first line to try and generate more offense, which is a good sign for more potential looks this season. As mentioned earlier, he was also on the first-unit power play all game, where he’ll hopefully stay going forward.
Oh yeah, he almost had a Kopitar-type first goal as well. Just so, so good.
3. Losing streak forming in Los Angeles
Last night’s loss marked the third straight for the LA Kings, as they will now head to New Jersey and New York for their upcoming road trip.
You never want to lose three straight, but luckily for the Kings, their division opponents have also struggled as of late, which keeps them well into the playoff race.
The Edmonton Oilers (lol) lost 6-0 to the Florida Panthers last night, and the San Jose Sharks fell to the Seattle Kraken.
Also, if you’ve watched the Kings this season, you know they’ve had worse losing streaks, so I think they’re okay with three right now.
The LA Kings return to play in New Jersey on Sunday.