Getting back up to speed quickly was the message Los Angeles Kings head coach Jim Hiller gave to his team coming out of the break and after not having their greatest game against the Utah Hockey Club on Sunday (Feb. 23) yet still finding a way to get the job done, the Kings improved on a few things and took down the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights 5-2.
Now 2-0-0 coming out of the break, the Kings are winning important games and quickly closing the gap in the standings. This game was a huge four-point swing and an important one for the Kings who continue to try and catch up to the Golden Knights. With their win, they are now only five points behind Vegas with three games in hand.
Although the Kings were better than they were a couple of nights ago, they weren’t fully there for all three periods. They have generally had good starts and finishes throughout the season, but the second period is almost always a doozy. They get away from what makes them successful and teams take them out to lunch. It was the only period that the Golden Knights had control of and the only period in which they were able to find the back of the net. Outside of that second period, which always seems to be troublesome for the Kings, they were able to play the way they wanted to.
“It was a hard game, I thought we came out pretty well,” Hiller said. “Second period they (Golden Knights) took us to the schoolyard I thought a little bit. That was pretty obvious for all of us (they were) faster, stronger, more competitive and so we had to decide, are we just going to let them take it from us? And clearly, the guys had a pretty good response in the third.”
Don’t Give the Kings a Chance Heading Into the 3rd
The Kings have been singing the same tune all season long when it hits the end of the second period. If this group is in the game, whether they are down by one or down by two, it doesn’t matter, they will find a way to leave it all on the ice and pull out a win. It’s happened so many times that not only is a dominating performance in the third period almost inevitable, but the belief they have that they can get the job done in the final 20 minutes is as high as it can be.
“A lot of different things come into it but it’s belief for sure. But then it’s work and determination and focus, right, all those lead to the belief that if we do those things there is a chance, there is a chance we can pull this game out, there is a chance we can win again,” Hiller said. “Sometimes you don’t make a conscious decision, but you got to put it on the line and if you believe it’s worth it and the next guy is doing it and then the other guy is doing it then you got a chance, then you have something.”
Related: Kings Takeaways: Success Continues at Home With 5-3 Win Over Utah
After trailing 2-1 heading into the third period, the Kings came out on a mission scoring four unanswered goals. As mentioned earlier this was a big divisional game and the Kings played the final 20 minutes doing everything they could to come out on top. They needed to respond after a sloppy second and the result of their response ended up being four goals in a row.
“I thought our team had to kind of look within a little bit to decide what the third period was going to look like, nobody expected to come out and just score four goals,” Hiller said. “Like I said, they kicked sand in our face (in the second) […] are we just going to let them continue to do that or are we going to push back a little bit? And when I say pushback that’s stronger on our sticks, more aggressive, quicker, and we had that response.”
Byfield Collects 4 Apples In First-Career 4-Point Night
First off, it was nice to see Quinton Byfield’s hard work start to pay off on the scoresheet. We know he’s been all over the ice, he’s had a whole bunch of chances, and while the goalscoring still isn’t there, his distributing and playmaking skills were on full display all game. He finished the night with four assists, two of them primary, and two of them secondary. For the first time in his NHL career, he had four points in a game.
Byfield is expected to put the puck in the net and while that’s obviously something he has struggled with this season after potting 20 last season, it’s been great to see other areas of his game improve and develop. His defensive awareness has taken a big step forward, and he has this ability to generate chances out of nothing, like that insane backhand pass he fed to Warren Foegele right in front of the net through multiple players. We are seeing the development of one of the most complete players because all he is missing right now is the consistent goalscoring, which you can bet will come sooner or later.
WHAT A PLAY 55
— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 25, 2025
WHAT A PLAY 37 pic.twitter.com/ryYohPCM8x
“I thought the tail end of the second period (was when) he really got going, there was some chances there, he had some good energy, he carried it over to the third, you know the backhand pass to Foegs was about as good as you can make it so it was nice to see that it wasn’t just work cause we always expect that from him […] nice to see, we needed it. We needed someone to step up and he was the guy,” Hiller said.
“It’s a long season, there’s a bunch of ups and downs, but you know recent play has been a lot better I think,” Byfield said. “Hockey’s fun right now, and we are just trying to play our best.”
Moore Pots 2
The Kings’ leading goalscorer last season has pretty much been snakebitten all year. Pucks aren’t landing for Trevor Moore, whose production levels have been lower than expected. He has scored just 10 goals so far through 46 games and has only had two multi-goal games.
Moore went 14 games without a goal at one point during this season but as of late, it seems like he is getting away from that trend with three goals in his last six games. He opened the scoring for the Kings on the power play deflecting in a shot from Byfield. For someone who has struggled with scoring as much as he has, taking them any which way they will go for you is key to building back that confidence. That first goal landing for Moore definitely did something as he came out 42 seconds into the third period with a vintage Moore rip, picking his spot short side. It’s felt like forever since we have seen him come down the wing and just unload one, a goal he scored so many times last season.
“When the puck’s not going in for a while you stop shooting those,” Moore said. “Hockey has its ebbs and flows and I’m glad to see it go in and hopefully more of those.”
ONE MOORE FOR TREV! pic.twitter.com/nQh4Xxkmh0
— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 25, 2025
What’s so great about this team is that while no one has remained consistent, someone different is always stepping up and delivering a big performance when others are struggling. They have so many guys that can pick up the slack and be a game changer and last night Moore was one of them.
Penalty Kill Bounces Back
One of the areas the Kings needed to improve on after their game against Utah was their penalty kill. The kill has been terrific all year, it ranks fifth in the entire NHL but coming straight out of the break, it almost led to a loss against Utah. The Kings went 0/2 on the penalty kill against Utah and their structure and defensive zone coverage was a complete mess as Utah forward Barrett Hayton had his way with the Kings in front of the net, scoring both power-play goals.
The Kings got back to their normal selves on the penalty kill against the Golden Knights who have the fourth-best power play in the NHL. A penalty kill that has been good all season, and a strong showing going 2/2 against a power play that strong and successful, proves that their collapse against Utah was a one-off and not something we should expect to see very often moving forward. Through both Golden Knights’ power plays, the Kings only surrendered a total of two shots on goal. They were back to their aggressive selves, not allowing the Golden Knights any room to comfortably set up their lethal unit.
Crucial divisional matchups continue for the Kings as they welcome in the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday (Feb. 26). The Canucks sit in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 63 points, six points behind the Kings.
