Last night in New Jersey the Kings put together one of their more complete victories of the season.
Yet, as the night progressed and wins came for both the Calgary Flames and the Winnipeg Jets it all seemed for naught. The Kings fanbase has grown more and more nervous as the games wind down and the Kings remained seated outside the top eight.
Fear not though, the Kings still have a very good chance of getting in. That is, of course, given one large caveat: They have to play good hockey.
The tried and true group that Sutter commands seems to be at their best with their backs against the wall. With ten games left and sitting two points behind the final spot (and losing on tiebreaks), this is about as real as "backs to the wall" can get.
You keep seeing it around the twitterverse, but many are saying that 100 points would get the Kings in the playoffs. While that's true, the cutoff is probably a bit below that. With current projections, 96 points should be the line in the sand.
Conference projections over past two weeks. pic.twitter.com/53yNTRbfVT
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) March 24, 2015Why is that? Because currently all four teams battling for the final spots play at least two of the other teams in the fight.
- Winnipeg play Vancouver and Calgary down the stretch - Calgary play Winnipeg and Los Angeles - Los Angeles plays Vancouver and Calgary - Vancouver you can figure it out based on the above statements
The Kings do certainly control their own destiny. Play well and win. But given how many big inter conference and divisional matchups that remain they could still conceivably lose five of their last ten games of the season and squeak in. That of course would not be a situation in which the Kings want to find themselves in.
The situation they do find themselves in is simple: Get points and you are in.
Maybe if you want to throw a secondary goal in there you could say: Beat Vancouver and Calgary.
For those who are teetering on the cliff right now, remember, the Kings still hold a 76% chance of getting in. That is far greater than Calgary, whom are ahead of them in the standings currently.
Playoff chances, West. pic.twitter.com/iRgkG2LM4s
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) March 24, 2015Seems hard to believe given that the pesky Flames just will not lose these days. Also, when you look at the Flames schedule, it doesn't seem all that daunting when you compare it to the Kings.
Flames
Kings
It is not exactly a promising look for the schedule for Los Angeles. The Kings have struggled on the road this year. Their 13-14-7 road record is third worst in the conference, ahead of only Arizona and Edmonton. They also have a laundry list of players who have performed better at home than on the road. While you could argue home and road splits are random, the Kings have been doing this for the entirety of the year. At which point do you say it isn't random, but habit?
However, as stated earlier, the Kings goal is simple. If you get points in the majority of the games ahead it seems likely they will squeak in as the eighth seed. Then the real dance begins. The Kings are also returning to normalcy in their lineup, with Alec Martinez coming back from injury and the prodigal son Mike Richards being reinstated from the minors. Keep pace in the West for now, win the key games (Vancouver and Calgary) when called upon, and let the other three teams take it out of each other.
The Kings are holding serve in a fifth set right now, they just need to stay consistent and wait for an opportunity to break. Break chances will eventually come. Also, when the opportunity does come ....don't pull a Leonardo Mayer
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