A three-day holiday break must have been exactly what the Los Angeles Kings needed. Following two extremely disappointing losses against two of the worst teams in the National Hockey League, a break and a chance to reset couldn’t have come at a better time.
Having collected just three wins in their last 11 games and playing what most would call their least inspiring hockey of the season (averaging just 2.09 goals per game in those 11 games), a 6-1 thrashing at home over the top team in the Pacific Division, the Anaheim Ducks, probably wasn’t on anyone’s bingo cards.
“Yes, of course. It’s nice to be away from the rink a little bit,” said Anze Kopitar when asked if a three-day break from thinking about all the struggles this group has had helped. “Then again, once you come back to the rink, you get reminded a lot of what did happen and should happen going forward. We were just able to come out strong and really get it going early.”
The Kings came out strong indeed, opening the scoring just over three minutes into the game on a goal in which the Kings scored off the rush, aided by a Troy Terry giveaway. Drew Doughty joined the rush, drove to the net, and deflected a Quinton Byfield shot past Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal.
That goal captured a lot of what’s been missing in the Kings’ offensive game this season. Scoring off the rush, a clean zone entry, a defenseman activating, all three things the Kings have barely been able to execute in unison.
One first-period goal was already a surprise given how rare it’s been for the Kings to score in the opening 20 minutes this season, but tacking on three more before the sound of the horn should’ve had anyone who consistently watches this team scratching their head in disbelief, as the Kings took a whopping 4-0 lead into the first intermission.
“When we were on that extended streak of not being able to put the puck in the net you get thinking, and you get discouraged a little bit so to see a few go in early tonight, especially after a break, it’s obviously a good thing, and hopefully we can continue building on that,” Kopitar said.
Everything about the Kings’ opening 20 minutes was a complete 180 from what’s transpired a lot of the time since the start of the season. It was almost too good to be true. The way they moved the puck, connecting on their passes through the neutral zone, the ability to break the puck out with ease, driving to the front of the net, putting pucks in good areas, and a shooting mentality. All basic elements that lead to successful offensive production that have been absent on most nights.
So much was going right for the Kings that even their inept power play, ranked 31st in the league, was able to score its first goal in 13 opportunities. A new look to the power play that has gone with a “distribute the wealth” type strategy that has Kopitar and Adrian Kempe on one unit and Byfield and Kevin Fiala on another. It was Byfield who got a piece of Brandt Clarke’s elusive shot from the point that gave the Kings the 4-0 lead, as well as his second point of the night and first goal in 18 games.
“We’ll take that one, I’m not going to say we have solved the whole thing (power play) quite yet,” head coach Jim Hiller said. “I thought that group in particular, with Kuzmenko, and Fiala, Byfield, Clarke, Perry, I thought those guys were moving the puck pretty well.”
A push from the Ducks in the second period was expected, and a push from the Ducks was given. The Kings were outshot 12-1 and couldn’t manage to continue to do the things that made them successful in the first. But in true Kings fashion, they limited the Ducks’ high-danger chances, kept a lot of what the Ducks were throwing at them to the outside, and managed to only give up a power-play goal despite Anaheim’s willingness to try and get themselves back into the game.
“It was a tale of two periods, right. The first period was all ours, the second period was theirs,” Hiller said. “I didn’t think we skated so much in the second…first period we were skating and passing, the second period we were trying to pass, but we weren’t really skating, nor were we shooting, we had a few opportunities.”
Laferriere Cashes in Thrice
The Kings got back to dictating the play in the third, but more importantly, Alex Laferriere continued to get rewarded for his strong performance. Finding those soft areas in the offensive zone and putting himself in prime locations to get quick, high-quality shots to the net allowed the 24-year-old winger to net his first career hat trick.
After giving the Kings a 3-0 lead halfway through the first period, Laferriere potted two more in the third, one of which was a beautiful backhand tuck on a clear-cut breakaway, snatching any bit of life the Ducks may have had.
The 83rd overall pick in the 2020 Draft has done nothing but exceed expectations and continue to grow. From making the team straight out of college as a third-round pick to his first career hat trick, it’s been a constant progression for Laferriere.
“He’s a really bright young man, obviously, he’s got quite a pedigree as far as his education, extremely smart hockey player. He caught us all off guard at how quickly he adapted to the NHL,” Hiller said of the versatile winger.
No one has benefited more than Laferriere has from the recent line juggling that has taken place, which has seen him slot in on the first line alongside Kopitar and Kempe for the second game in a row. Over these two games, Laferriere has registered 14 shots and scored three goals. It’s one thing to get to those good areas around the slot and to read the play, but it’s another to be able to finish them.
“Those guys (Kopitar and Kempe) were finding me in the soft ice the last two games so many times, and I wasn’t able to bury it for them. Tonight I was able to,” Laferriere said.
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Yes, it was a bad night for the Ducks. If they had limited their mistakes, the Kings wouldn’t have found the back of the net six times. Was it also a testament that the Kings do have the ability to score goals while keeping things to the outside and shutting it down? Yes. It’s not like the Kings haven’t been able to generate chances, but a lack of finish has also kept this team from scoring goals, and last night, they were finally able to put that finishing touch on almost every one of their quality looks.
Having a feel-good night like this was much needed for this group all around. Proving to themselves that they have it in them to deliver a performance like this should give them the confidence to build on it moving forward. That’s been the struggle, though.
Being able to build off of strong performances and string together multiple performances that they can collectively be happy with. What better way for this group to increase their confidence than to come out and deliver a similar game against the practically “perfect” Colorado Avalanche tomorrow night?
“Well, we go in and play what is the best team in the league, right. You want to build on something, you go and beat the best team in the league in their building. That’s the big challenge,” Hiller said. “We haven’t had a chance this year to really string five or six in a row…maybe this is the start.”
Was last night a major outlier? Or was it the start of something bigger and better for the Kings moving forward?
