Elton John was wrong, at lest for the LA Kings.
Saturday night was not alright.
After picking up five of the six points available through the early part of their current homestand, LA fell to Dallas 4-1 on Saturday night. After Kevin Fiala opened the scoring just 26 seconds into the game, Jim Hiller’s squad wasn’t able to generate much of an offensive push for the following 59 minutes against one of the league’s better teams, while allowing four unanswered goals.
The Stars tied the game midway through the second period, followed by Arcadia native Jason Roberston scoring to take the lead only 18 seconds later. Dallas locked the game down from that point forward, surrendering a total of only 25 shots.
It was a heavily physical affair on Saturday, with the two teams combining for nine penalties and 30 hits. This increase in physicality has been a trend for the Kings in recent games; perhaps by design, as the postseason is coming soon.
Stat Sheet Takeaways: 17 of 18 Dallas skaters logged at least one shot on goal. The Stars controlled the play from start to finish on Saturday, and their sustained offensive pressure proved too much to handle for the Kings.
Can’t Solve the Stars: This was the eighth loss for LA in their last ten outings against Dallas. The Stars unique combination of speed, size, and strong defensive play has been a difficult matchup for the Kings in recent memory. LA will look to regroup and put Saturday’s result behind them as they’ll link up with Dallas again in one week.
Struggling Power Play: The man-advantage for the Kings went 0-for-4 on Saturday and only generated four shots on goal. LA failed to establish much on the power play and this played a large role in the result on Saturday. Even when they did generate a few chances, the Kings couldn’t carry over this momentum after the power play ended.
Encouraging Injury News: Adrian Kempe returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing the last five games. Additionally, defenseman Mikey Anderson skated in a regular-contact jersey at Saturday’s morning skate. Anderson could potentially return to game-action on Monday against the Islanders. Due to LTIR rules, the earliest Viktor Arvidsson can rejoin the lineup is Mar. 16 (in a rematch vs. Dallas no less); Carl Grundström is expected to be back a few weeks later. It’s the best time of the season to be getting healthy, as the Kings are hoping to put together their best possible lineup just in time for the playoffs.
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