Not the Western Canada road trip they hoped for.
LA dropped Monday night’s contest against the Jets, ending their trip with a third straight loss after an opening win in Vancouver.
The main downfall for the Kings over this stretch has been the failure to adopt a shooting mentality – looking for the perfect play instead of getting pucks on net. Perhaps the lone encouraging sign, though, has been their trio of goals at even-strength against the Jets. LA had only scored once at 5-on-5 in the two games prior to Monday’s contest.
Akil Thomas made his long-awaited NHL debut on Monday. The forward logged six shifts with 3:42 of ice-time.
The Kings will be back in action on Wednesday at home against the Seattle Kraken.
Stat Sheet Takeaways: Only one penalty occurred in the game on Monday, a holding-the-stick infraction against Viktor Arvidsson. While the Kings have struggled to play disciplined hockey, they stuck to their game on Monday and avoided penalty trouble for the most part. However, they would ideally like to draw more penalties and roll out their power play unit that has had success lately.
Kopitar’s Hot Streak: The Kings captain tallied his eighth goal in his last nine games on Monday. Kopitar has five assists during this span, as well. Production from the veterans is always a good sign during this time of year, and Kopitar is more than doing his part. Goals from Viktor Arvidsson and Kevin Fiala on Monday added to this trend of veteran scoring.
THE CAP STAYS HOT
@LAKings I #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/wnPkOUiw8a
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) April 2, 2024
Stolly with the breakdown on a textbook forecheck@jarretstoll@LAKings I #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/vz84kiXfK6
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) April 2, 2024
California Dreamin’: The Kings will not leave the Golden State in the remaining eight games of the season; a stretch that includes six games at Crypto.com Arena. The other two games are in Anaheim and San Jose, cities where the Kings are undefeated so far this season. For a team who has struggled to stay consistent of late, staying at home will play to their advantage as the regular season comes to a close. Collecting wins during this stretch is a must; St. Louis now only sits 3 points behind LA for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
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