There haven’t been many games where the Los Angeles Kings have made blatant mistakes and misreads causing them to suffer a loss. Last night in Detroit, too many things went wrong for the Kings resulting in a 5-2 loss to former head coach Todd McLellan and his Red Wings.
The Kings have now dropped six of their last eight games and have scored two or fewer goals in nine of their last 10. They’re in a rut where the offense is at its lowest point, and when you can’t score more than two goals in a game, the odds you walk away with the two points are pretty slim.
“We just couldn’t find ways to score, goals aren’t coming easy for us right now so I think we just have to get back to the basics and get to the net hard, that’s when we were scoring more goals so yea it’s frustrating,” said defenseman Joel Edmundson.
In most of these losses, the Kings haven’t necessarily played bad. Some were unlucky where they either couldn’t find a bounce or the goaltender they were up against decided to have an unreal night. Multiple things have contributed to this semi-slump the Kings are in but for the most part, their defensive game has remained elite which is why a lot of these losses have been low-scoring.
That being said, against the Red Wings almost nothing looked good, even defensively it was an uncharacteristic performance.
Frustration & Mistakes Fuel the Loss
The stingiest team in the league known to frustrate their opponents was met with a taste of their own medicine. They had to have known it would be a tough grind playing against a squad coached by McLellan. The Red Wings frustrated LA all night and their aggressiveness on the forecheck and throughout the neutral zone seemed to be too much for the Kings to handle, which resulted in them being forced to make those mistakes.
It gets annoying when it feels impossible to be able to move the puck up the ice, break out cleanly, and gain possession in the offensive zone. The Kings of all teams should be the most familiar with that. As the game goes on and nothing seems to open up, players start forcing plays to try and get something going. And a lot of the time it results in bad decisions, turnovers, and eventually the puck in the back of your net.
The Kings usually have good starts and they had another one last night. They got out to a 2-0 lead late in the first after Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider accidentally swatted the puck into his own net. It’s the second period though, where the Kings lose games. It’s been by far their worst period this season and they seem to collapse and stop doing the things that work consistently. They allow teams to either get back into the game or take a lead and build momentum.
“If I had to think about one thing that’s been negative, it’s second-period turnovers. I don’t even want to say turnovers just not being willing to forecheck in the second period,” said head coach Jim Hiller.
It was endless amounts of turnovers, especially in the neutral zone, that killed the Kings. Carelessly throwing the puck away, putting the puck in bad areas, blatantly giving it up, you name it. The Kings were finding multiple ways to give the puck up and it allowed the Red Wings to score five unanswered.
“We just didn’t do the right things and we didn’t do what we usually do. Too many turnovers in my opinion, didn’t go after their D, didn’t forecheck, didn’t go in front of the net. All of those details cost us,” said forward Kevin Fiala.
Fiala Is Heating Up
It’s going to take a player like Fiala to drive this team out of this scoring rut. There have been moments during the first half of the season where he has shown his elite skill and pure goal-scoring ability but the consistency hasn’t really been there. The Kings have largely relied on the production from Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe but a consistent, confident Fiala would be just the thing the Kings need right now.
As of late, we are seeing that form of Fiala more and more. He opened the scoring against the Red Wings, picking his spot from high in the slot. It’s that area of the ice where he thrives in getting shots through. Give him a little time to pick his spot anywhere near the circles and he will make you pay. Not only was he the only King to actually put a puck in the net but he was all over the ice and there was that level of hunger in him to want to do more that wasn’t as noticeable earlier on in the season.
Related: Kings’ Youth Blossom Alongside Kopitar and Kempe
Fiala has seven points in his last six games and he’s been one of the more dangerous players on the ice for the Kings. He looks way more confident with the puck and it’s allowed him to string a few games together where he is contributing and producing.
“I’m feeling way way better, I’m just more confident right now, pucks going in so that’s nice,” said Fiala.
“Kevin’s game is getting better […] I think there’s a pretty consistent level of intensity out of him and I think he’s much more dangerous, has the puck more, so yeah I think he’s going to have a really good second half,” said Hiller.
It’s only going to get harder for the Kings as they head down to Florida next to play a back-to-back against the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
