As the Kings prepare for a sprint to the finish line, they have, among other advantages, something no other team in the NHL’s West Division boasts: a healthy roster.
The Kings now have their full array of regulars and depth players as well. Meanwhile, Colorado is without star winger Mikko Rantanen, Vegas is missing mainstay Reilly Smith, Minnesota has no Nick Bjugstad, Arizona is sans Connor Garland and Carl Gunnarsson will not return for St. Louis this season.
Meanwhile, the Kings have a fairly firm trio of defensive pairings and might have found some fits within their forward lines as well. Last season they finished 10-2-1, the best close to a season in franchise history, a feat that might prove tough to replicate even with steady personnel.
“We feel comfortable with the pairs that we have. The way they are right now and the way we have them pairs, that’s something we’re comfortable with and something we want to continue with,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said.
Apart from the top line of Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Alex Iafallo, which has remained mostly intact, McLellan has juggled his bottom nine forwards liberally in search of consistency. He got tremendous production out of the third line of Andreas Athanasiou, Carl Grundstrom and Blake Lizotte in Tuesday’s 4-1 victory over the Ducks as they accounted for three goals and five assists.
“The other night, Lizotte’s line was the one that sparked us, and we need that from lines 2, 3, 4, we can’t just rely on Kopi’s line,” McLellan said. “We’ve been able to witness what happens when the power play goes a little bit dry or maybe the Kopi line isn’t scoring, all of a sudden, it gets pretty dry.”
The Kings’ strength of schedule is relatively weak thanks to four upcoming meetings with the last-place Ducks and having finished their season series with Minnesota on Friday after already having concluded their eight games with division-leading Vegas. They also play the bulk of their remaining games at home with two of their road games being a quick jaunt down the freeway. They hold games in hand over Arizona, which they’ll face three more times, and have superior health to the rest of the division. What they do with those advantages remains to be seen, but the postseason’s door has been left ajar for the Kings.
FOUR-POINT GAMES
Veteran defenseman Olli Maatta, who was traded to the Kings before the season, reiterated the sense of urgency the team has to play with and the critical nature of the remaining games given the unique intra-divisional schedule for 2021.
“In the spot where we are, every game is a playoff game right now. We really have to make every game count. If you look at the teams we’re going to play, most of them are in the race, so those are the teams you have to beat,” Maatta said. “Those are the games that are going to be important. Everybody talks about the four-point game, that’s pretty much what every game is this year, because you’re playing against the same teams in the division.”
Maata said the competition was impacted by the schedule. Where in a normal year interconference games might be a bit more casual or conservative, each and every point on the line has been salient this season.
“It’s definitely different, because you don’t have the (opposing) conference teams that you play a couple times a year. You might win or lose, get those points, but that’s how you might catch somebody,” Maatta added. “Now, you play the same teams, so if you win, it’s huge, and if you lose, it’s going to feel really bad compared to what it normally is.”
INJURY BUG
While the Kings have gotten healthier, some other significant players around the league have not been so fortunate.
Two East Division stars, Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin and Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron, found themselves sidelined temporarily.
Bergeron, a perennial contender for the Selke Trophy and 2011 Stanley Cup champion, took a puck off his skate in a Thursday victory over Buffalo.
Ovechkin, whose nine goal-scoring titles are the most in NHL history, also left his team’s last game, a Thursday shootout win against the New York Islanders. He is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, just as he closes in on Kings great Marcel Dionne’s mark of 731 goals, good for fifth-most all-time.
Elsewhere, Ducks winger Jakob Silfverberg and a pair of Detroit Red Wings – center Dylan Larkin and winger Tyler Bertuzzi – were all shut down for the remainder of the season.
