The odds were stacked against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday when they fell 3-1 to the Washington Capitals in DC. It was their last game of a seven-game road trip, and they were playing the team with the best points percentage in the league, on a back-to-back without Trevor Moore and Phillip Danualt. It was a “scheduled loss” as some would call it. Head coach Jim Hiller said before the game that it would be “a test to character,” and even though they didn’t get the result they wanted, it wasn’t because of how they played.
“As proud of the team as I have been through the first part of the season is tonight because we had some tough luck. We lost some pretty key players […] I knew we would play hard, and we answered the bell,” Hiller said.
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For the first time since Nov. 13, the Kings dropped two games in a row. We knew it would happen eventually, but it has been a rare occurrence for the team, and there was the belief that they could pull off a win even with almost nothing going their way.
Unlucky Bounces the Difference for Kings
With everything the Kings had to deal with heading into this game, the last thing they needed was bad luck and unlucky bounces. They put together a pretty good effort, and even though fatigue was a factor at times in their ability to break out cleanly and move the puck up the ice, the reason for the loss wasn’t because they didn’t show up. They played the best they could, considering the circumstances, and they put in the effort.
They didn’t give up a whole lot to the Capitals, but bad bounces that led to two of the three goals were the difference maker. Aliaksei Protas opened the scoring after Kings forward Alex Turcotte’s stick broke, and he could not chip the puck away from Connor McMichael. Turcotte’s broken stick not only hindered his ability to get everything he wanted on a clearing attempt but completely took him out of the play after the turnover.
The real killer was Jakob Vrana’s power-play goal, which gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead just under six minutes into the second period. The Kings played the penalty kill perfectly, being aggressive as always and making it difficult for the Capitals to gain the zone cleanly. Warren Foegele made an incredible read, intercepting a pass at the blue line to disrupt the Capitals’ entry into the offensive zone. He quickly attempted to clear the puck off the boards, but it hit the linesman who was inside the zone – as opposed to being just outside the zone – and the puck stayed in. Unlucky plays led to both the Capitals’ goals, and if there was any game where the Kings needed some “puck luck,” it was this one.
“Kind of s***** having it be the way goals go in, but that’s the way the game works sometimes,” said defenseman Mikey Anderson.
Kings Finally Score a Power-Play Goal
The Kings converting on the power play is almost a myth. The one unacceptable and disappointing part of their game is the power play. Operating at a 15.9% success rate this season, the Kings’ power play is the seventh worst in the league.
As of late, it’s been worse. In the seven games of this road trip, they have had 11 power play opportunities. It wasn’t until yesterday that they found the back of the net. Kevin Fiala one-timed a pass from Adrian Kempe right past Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson for his team-leading fifth power-play goal of the season. Fiala also led the Kings in power-play goals last season with 11.
Having a nine percent success rate on the power play during a long road trip is abysmal, and you can bet your life savings that this special team is going to be the main focus when they return to practice at home.
The Kings finished their road trip going 3-2-2, an identical record to their season-opening seven-game road trip. Not great, but not bad either. They now sit in third place in the Pacific Division with 43 points heading into the holiday break. A few days of rest and a chance to reset is next up for the Kings before a familiar team pays them a visit. The Edmonton Oilers come to town next Saturday for an important divisional “four-point” game.
