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The Los Angeles Kings did what they were supposed to do on Saturday when they beat the Arizona Coyotes 6-0.
With the Coyotes sitting at 33 points the season, the worst in the NHL, it is expected of the Kings to take advantage of a team lower in the standings.
Combine that with the Kings need for a bounce back game after losing 5-0 to the Nashville Predators and the urgency of the playoff picture in the Western Conference, LA did exactly what they needed to do.
“Coming off a bad loss on the road, I think it was really important that we bounced back today and played the game the right way,… said John Stevens during his post-game news conference. “There was good pursuit after the puck, and we turned pucks over and created opportunities from it.…
Darcy Kuemper continued his strong stretch where he has allowed one goal on 81 shots over his last three games and received his second consecutive shutout on Saturday. Conversely, Jonathan Quick has struggled over his last couple of starts giving up five goals each to the Predators and Vancouver Canucks.
There is a logic of thinking to continue to start Kuemper, despite that fact that he is the clear backup in Los Angeles, at least until he doesn’t have the hot hand anymore.
To that end, Stevens admitted that the Kings’ goalie rotation is not set in stone and is constantly evaluating the situation.
“[Kuemper] is seeing the puck right now,… said Stevens. “He’s probably played as well as he’s ever played and he’s really come in sound. With a couple of days in between, you don’t often get that. There’s no question we’re going to need both our goalies to win hockey games as we move along here.…
The additional playing time that Kuemper has received over this past stretch has helped him keep a rhythm, which is something he hadn’t received early in the season. He claims that it has helped him be relaxed early in the game and be ready the best he can be.
Since Christmas break, one of the better skaters on the ice has been Alex Iafallo. The 24-year-old had some struggles right before that break but has come out on fire scoring three goals and four assists over 13 games.
More importantly, Iafallo has created space for himself and his linemates, which has allowed for the Kings top line to be effective in a hard stretch for the Kings overall. A good example of this is in the first goal of Saturday’s game where he was able to create space outside of Scott Wedgewood’s crease so he could get Tyler Toffoli’s rebound and bang the puck home for the early 1-0 lead.
His ability to forecheck and get into some of the dirtier areas on the ice allowed the Kings to move Dustin Brown onto the second line with Adrian Kempe and Tanner Pearson, to make that line more complete.
One of the major issues over the Kings freefall from the standings was the lack of depth scoring outside of the line of Iafallo, Brown, and Anze Kopitar. By making this shuffle the top two lines have a play making center (Kopitar, Kempe), a sandpaper type player who creates space (Iafallo, Brown), and someone who can bury the puck (Toffoli, Tanner Pearson).
Once Jeff Carter comes back, it will only create more opportunities enhance the lineup and possibly strengthen the bottom two lines as we approach crunch time.
Speaking of crunch time, with the Kings win and the Anaheim Ducks losing to the Montreal Canadiens, LA finds themselves back in the top three of the Pacific Division. They are three points behind the San Jose Sharks and one point ahead of the Ducks and the Calgary Flames.
In the Wild Card race, the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets did the Kings a favor and beat the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche. As of right now that means nothing if they stay top three in the division but this Western Conference is musical chairs right now.
Coming up next, the Kings have three days off before the Edmonton Oilers visit the Staples Center on Wednesday night. The two teams have only faced off one other time, back on Jan. 2 when the Kings embarrassed the Oilers in Edmonton 5-0. Since then the Oilers are 5-4-1 in their last 10 but the entire season has been a disappointment for the team from Edmonton who made great strides last season.