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The Los Angeles Kings are back on track, sweeping their four game road trip and now on a five game winning streak.

Most impressive were the last two victories over the St. Louis blues and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blues had overtaken the Kings early in the month as the Western Conference’s best team and had dominated much of the month of November. L.A was able to capitalize on St. Louis’ mistakes and come out with a 4-1 win.

The game against Chicago on Sunday was even more impressive in the sense that they probably didn’t belong to be in it. The Blackhawks outshot the Kings 15-6 in the second period and were just clinging to stay in the game. That’s why having a world class goalie like Jonathan Quick is so beneficial because it allowed the Kings to play “rope-a-dope” in a 0-0 game until Christian Folin found his opportunity to break the tie midway through the third period.

So that leaves the Kings with a 17-8-3 record and have retaken their mantle back atop the Pacific Division, four points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights. They are also one point behind the Winnipeg Jets and the Tampa Bay Lighting for the best team in the West and the NHL.

However, what we’ve seen so far from this team is a series of streaks. The 11-2-2 start surprised the NHL world as this was very much the same team as last year’s team that missed the playoffs, but with a refreshed mindset behind the bench.

Then in November the team went 2-6-1, crashing back to earth like all the hockey pundits predicted before the season. However, this current five game winnings streak is important because it’s not just against the Eastern Conference that they’ve been dominant against (11-3-0), but also the teams they are competing against in the West like the Blues, Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and Arizona Coyotes.

So where do they go from here? What direction should Rob Blake and his management team go?

Earlier this year there was speculation that the Kings might consider trading one of Jake Muzzin or Alec Martinez in order to bolster the offense. The names speculated going the other way are guys like Evander Kane from Buffalo or Max Pacioretty from Montreal.

The Kings offense for most of November was dreadful which is why these rumors tend to come up. It’s a well-known fact about L.A. that they allow the second least amount of goals in the NHL. However, they scored the eighth most goals in the league as well, which is pretty good.

Currently, the lines (barring John Stevens mixing and matching) are:

Alex Iafallo – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown
Tanner Pearson – Nick Shore – Tyler Toffoli
Marian Gaborik – Adrian Kempe – Trevor Lewis
Jussi Jokinen – Torrey Mitchell – Jonny Brodzinski

Jake Muzzin - Drew Doughty
Kurtis MacDermid – Alec Martinez
Derek Forbort – Christian Folin

This seems to be a pretty balanced forward corps as it currently stands. The Kings have made upgrades in their bottom six by bringing in veterans like Jokinen and Mitchell but that’s all they really needed to do.

Brown’s resurgence has been a bonus for the team as no one was expecting anything from him. To get production out of his salary and roster spot to go along with his chemistry with Kopitar only amplifies what that top line can do.

Gaborik’s return has given the Kings the ability to have a dangerous duo on both the second and third line. Toffoli and Pearson seem to have good chemistry with Nick Shore in the middle, while Kempe is continuing his breakout year with Gaborik.

This is of course not mentioning that Jeff Carter should be returning in roughly a month’s time. Gaborik and Carter are like trade to help out the offense on their own so there no need to go out and trade talented defensemen who are under contract past this year.

Defensively, after Drew Doughty, Martinez, and Muzzin, there is a significant drop off. Eklund has the Kings possibly be interested in guys like Luke Schenn or Zdeno Chara (should he be available) and that seems more likely something the Kings would shore up.

L.A. has a history of getting guys near the end of their career for a Cup run and I can see Chara fitting that bill. Remember, when he was a free agent leaving the Ottawa Senators, he almost signed in L.A. but decided on Boston because he wanted to stay east.

Coming up next the Kings return back to Staples Center and will find the Minnesota Wild waiting for them. The Wild have had a curious schedule coming into Tuesday’s game. They will have played two games in their last seven days, and then have a two day break before taking on the Ducks on Friday. The Kings will be hoping that lack of consistency will be an advantage for them.

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