Let's hope that yesterday's loss to the New York Islanders is the lowest point of this up-and-down season. But before we sink any further, let's remember December 17, 2011.
The Kings -- having just fired Terry Murray and waiting for Sutter -- were dismantled by the Detroit Red Wings 8-2. This rout left Los Angeles 14-14-4 and five points out of a playoff berth. At the time, they were the NHL's worst-shooting (7.0 Shooting %) and lowest-scoring (2.09 Goals For/60) squad. Even their 2.37 Goals Against/60 was more good than outstanding, ranking sixth in the league. Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times
set the post-game scene:
Team captain Dustin Brown, usually a quiet leader, almost quivered with rage while acknowledging the Kings had been thrashed. "And there's really no excuse. It's time for everyone in this room to wake up," he said.
Today, LA is 22-20-4, three points behind -- but with three games in hand -- on second wild card Calgary. The good news is they're not the league's worst offensive team! Their 2.44 GF/60 and 8.14 Shooting % rank 22nd and 25th respectively; their 2.44 GA/60 fifth.
Comparing these two low points, you might even suggest that this year's Kings is better than the 2011-12 edition.
Anyway, that's not what I'm getting at, really. Sure, both groups are as rabid on defense as they are ravenous for goals. But that's the extent of the parallel that I'm drawing. I'm in no way saying that this year's team is destined for a title.
I merely offer that it's too early to close the book on LA -- they're far from out of it.
Anything can happen. Or even reasonable things, like Anze Kopitar scoring, Tyler Toffoli returning, their young defense improving, and/or Jonathan Quick heating up.
Or, indeed, it can get worse.
Jeff Carter
told LA Kings Insider yesterday, "We’ve got to play desperate hockey right now."
I actually disagree. It's not about desperation -- I've never doubted how much this group wants to win -- it's about precision. Emotion won't solve their woes, execution will. Perhaps the last thing the Kings need to do now is press.
I still believe that this is a playoff team -- but at some point (soon), words have to become wins.
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Scoring is clearly one of LA's issues -- but so is goaltending. And I don't mean Peter Budaj, though that Jason Chimera gaffe yesterday was rough. I'm talking about the back-up position, mostly occupied by Jeff Zatkoff.
Since 2011-12, LA's back-up goalies have at least been about average, even outperforming Quick in small sample sizes:
View post on imgur.com
That's not the case this year:
View post on imgur.com
It's not all on Zatkoff -- and it's unfair to judge a goaltender's performance on so few games -- but undoubtedly, some better showings from the backup are necessary, especially for a team living on the margins like the Kings.
The affable Zatkoff is easy to root for, so hopefully, he turns things around. And goaltending is a more difficult position to predict -- so "Mr. Game One" might step it up yet.
But Dean Lombardi may regret not casting a line at the other, perhaps higher-ceiling options who have hit the market in recent months.
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If things continue to go south for the Kings, there may end up being no better GIF to summarize this year than this one from Eric Burger:
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Yesterday, Los Angeles completed a minor deal with Chicago, swapping center-winger Michael Latta for 28-year-old defenseman Cameron Schilling.
The trade may accomplish marginally more than just granting two players a change in scenery.
For an Ontario line-up stacked with talented forwards, so much so that NHL vet Latta was relegated to the fourth line -- and a Los Angeles organization full of fourth-line NHL grinders -- Latta was a luxury. He was a solid bottom-line citizen for the Capitals in recent campaigns, so he might earn such a role with the Blackhawks.
As for the Reign, at times depleted enough this season on the blueline that they've used Paul Bissonnette there, they could use a steady defender like Schilling while they await Zach Trotman's return, Damir Sharipzianov and Alex Lintuniemi's development.
The 6'2" Schilling is an adequate skater and puckmover with a hard shot. He plays a simple, defense-first game and might fill some of the departed Jeff Schultz's leadership void on and off the ice. Ultimately, he's a bottom-pairing NHL talent, but LA is deep enough defensively that he's unlikely to see any time at Staples Center this season.
And like Latta, Schilling, with 289 regular season pro games under his belt to start the year, still qualifies as an AHL "development player" as opposed to an AHL veteran.
The long and short of that is for each AHL game, a team is allowed to dress a maximum of five "veterans." The rest of the skaters must be "development players." For Ontario, Bissonnette, Teddy Purcell, Sean Backman, T.J. Hensick, Rob Scuderi, and Brett Sutter qualify as league "veterans" -- that's one too many. Schilling's status and ability should result in him suiting up nightly.
Ontario Reign Insider has an excellent explanation of the AHL Veteran Rule
here.
I'd say Latta is more likely to be a borderline NHL asset this season, while Schilling can be a big piece for Ontario's quest to re-capture the Calder Cup. Both are UFAs after this year.
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Stats as of 1/21/17, courtesy of Behind the Net, Corsica, Hockey Analysis, Hockey Reference, Natural Stat Trick, NHL.com, Puckalytics, and Sporting Charts.
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