Who cares if it was against the best team in the NHL, a bounce-back game from the Los Angeles Kings is inevitable. Following an embarrassing beatdown at the hands of the San Jose Sharks on Monday night, the Kings hosted the league-leading Winnipeg Jets. Not only did they welcome them into Crypto.com Arena but they skated them off the ice with a 4-1 win.
“It’s one game in a long list of games but I mean it’s a really big game for our team, I think just knowing that we can bounce back like that and knowing that we can dominate top teams like that, so yea I think it’s a huge confidence game for us,” said forward Alex Laferriere.
The lack of consistency within this group is what has kept them from excelling, but last night was proof that the Kings are capable of being a top team in the NHL and putting together complete 60-minute efforts against elite teams.
“It’s an example maybe of how good we can be […] it gives us an example of what is possible if we all play together, a certain style of play,” said head coach Jim Hiller.
The Kings entered this game with a completely new look to their forward lines, and throughout the game, multiple different line combinations were being thrown out on the ice. This was another illustration of just how dialled in the Kings were, as it did not matter who was playing with who; all five guys were in sync.
This team is so confusing but what a performance from start to finish to takedown the best team in the league and not only that but to be able to win because they were the better team. This is proof that this team is capable of this type of game it’s just been that lack of…
— Raz Devraj (@razdevraj) November 28, 2024
This was an opportunity for the Kings to prove themselves and they did in multiple ways. They went two for three on the penalty kill against the best power play in the league, limited a team that averages 29.57 shots per game to 14, and more than doubled them in scoring chances.
There wasn’t one period that anyone could point out and say the Kings weren’t the stronger team. It was a combination of discipline, simplicity, purpose, and effort; four things the Kings have had trouble sticking to this season.
Committed to the Forecheck
In order to beat a highly-skilled team like the Jets, you need to slow them down right from the beginning in their own end. Being hard on the forecheck was something the Kings knew they had to do if they wanted to leave last night’s game with two points. Once they lost possession of the puck, they were quick to try and recover it. They barely gave the Jets any room to break out and even when Winnipeg did manage to get out of their zone cleanly, there was a concentrated effort from the Kings to clog up the neutral zone and not allow the Jets to use their speed.
Related: LA Kings Game Notes: Allowing 6 Straight Goals in Embarrassing Loss to Sharks
“We haven’t forechecked and gone to the net nearly as well over the past two, three weeks maybe so I thought we saw that tonight,” said Hiller.
The Kings dug deep to be aggressive on the puck at all times. Their defensive structure has been one of the main keys to their success and it proved itself once again as it limited a team that is tied for the most goals scored so far this season to just one tally.
“We checked really well […] I thought we were physical tonight too and I thought we probably wore them down a little bit by the end, we put some miles on their defense,” said Hiller.
Focused On Getting Pucks to the Net
The Kings haven’t generated a whole lot of offense as of late or had a primary focus on getting pucks to the net. Last night’s 33 shots was just the second time in the last 11 games that they have had 30-plus shots in a game and just the second time they have scored more than two goals in the past seven outings.
It was what needed to happen if they were going to beat a goaltender like Connor Hellebuyck, who heading into the game was tied for the best save percentage in the NHL with at .929. In order to beat elite goaltenders like Hellebuyck, there needs to be traffic in front of them. The Kings caused havoc around the net and made it hard for him to track pucks.
“You’re not gonna score from outside the dots on a goalie like Hellebuyck […] anytime you can get chaos and bodies to the net kind of disrupts things and obviously disrupts things for him too, so I think we did a great job of that tonight,” said Laferriere.
Another thing we saw from the Kings that was out of the ordinary was a conscious effort to shoot from anywhere. In the first period, they generated six scoring chances but had 14 shots on goal by the time the horn blew.
Two out of three goals they scored on Hellebuyck (the fourth was an empty netter) were because they had bodies in front of the net and shots coming from up high. 1:48 into the first period, the Kings were awarded their first power play of the game. Adrian Kempe took a shot from the point and both Anze Kopitar and Quinton Byfield caused disruption in front of the net with their sticks. Kopitar ended up deflecting it past Hellebuyck for the early 1-0 lead. The Kings’ third goal was pretty similar. Brandt Clarke, who can make anything happen with the way he skates, set the play up beautifully gaining the zone before handing it off to Kevin Fiala who immediately sent the puck toward the net. It was Laferriere who got tangled up with Jets defenseman Haydn Fleury in front of the crease that allowed the puck to bank off Fleury’s skate and into the net.
Good things happen when teams get pucks on net and it’s those greasy goals teams have to find a way to score when playing a goaltender as sound as Hellebuyck.
“You saw there was no hesitation a few times just to shoot it and there was people in and around it,” Hiller said. “You have to get in front of him (Hellebuyck) you have to have bodies there […] we were good, we were around him.”
Just when you think you understand what kind of level the Kings are at and where they fit amongst the other teams in the league, they pull you in the opposite direction. It’s been a rollercoaster ride of a season so far and we haven’t had the chance to hop off of it just yet.
The Kings’ pattern seems to be playing up to top teams but also playing down to bottom teams. They will take a quick trip down the I-5 on Friday to play the Anaheim Ducks in the second installment of the Freeway Faceoff. The Kings will look to eliminate this pattern and use the momentum gained from their win against the Jets to build toward some consistency.
