Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down : LA Kings
- Updated: November 26, 2018
It’s been a difficult week to be a Kings fan. It’s been even more difficult to find things to give a thumbs up. But plenty of things to find fault with. A lot I’ve already covered, because it seems nothing has improved. The power play still needs plenty of work. (They did score once on it this week, a beautiful shot through traffic by Drew Doughty, but one goal does not a successful power play make.) They literally didn’t win a game this week. And therefore still sit at the bottom of the standings. So, what stood out as needing work?
Thumbs Down: Penalty kill. Goals against. DEFENSE.
The Kings have allowed 4 goals in their last 5 penalty kills, 6 in the last 11. Last season they topped the league with a PK running at 85%. Now, they’re ranking 29th with 74.24%, ahead of only Philadelphia and Ottawa, both operating below 70%. In comparison, Arizona is hitting over 90%, followed closely by San Jose who is at 89.19. They were 2nd last season too – so why can San Jose stay that consistent and Arizona, who are 28th in the league overall, have such good penalty kill units?
Similarly, the Kings goals against are trending up. Two weeks ago, in 2 games they had 5 goals against. Last week in 3 games, 11 goals against. And this week? In 3 games, one of which was a shutout (thanks Blues for being just as bad as we are) 11 goals against. So really, 11 goals against in 2 games. 7 from Colorado alone. The Kings just can’t keep pucks out of the back of the net. Doughty, who used to be a force of nature, is -9. So while he’s scored 13 points this season, he’s been on the ice for 22 goals against. Phaneuf, who’s glaring mistake in the neutral zone cost the Kings yesterday’s game, is -14. Kovalchuk is -13 and he has 14 points, so he’s been on the ice for 27 goals against. Sure he’s not a defenseman but there’s a pattern. There are only 4 players active on the roster (well 3 because Hagelin is one) who are operating in the positive. Luff, Muzzin, and Kyle Clifford. If that isn’t a sign the defense needs help, I don’t know what is.
Thumbs Down: More freaking injuries
Quick. Campbell. Lewis. And now Hagelin. We *just* got him from Pittsburgh, he’s assisted on two of Luff’s three goals this week, he’s consistently given us almost 16 good minutes of ice time a night, and he’s now week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Meanwhile, Pearson has scored three goals with Pittsburgh and seems to be completely back in form. There is no justice in the hockey world. (Don’t get me wrong, Pearson is a lovely human and I’m thrilled he’s able to get back to the player we know he can be. But why couldn’t he do that with us???)
Thumbs Up: Matt Luff
Because we can’t be all doom and gloom (though really, we could be, the season is pretty dismal) there is one highlight of the week, and that’s rookie Luff. He’s scored 3 goals in the past 3 games. He scored his first mere minutes after his first NHL point. His stick work to deke out Maelstrom yesterday was a thing of beauty. He’s the only one producing any quality, Grade-A scoring chances with any kind of consistency. He’s also shooting at 30%, the highest by far of anyone on the team. In fact, he’s the only one whose stats aren’t a complete embarrassment. So thanks, Matt Luff. Can we clone you? Because the Kings need more than just one guy stepping up.
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