If you thought the sloppy 4-0 shellacking at the hands of the Washington Capitals was a low point, welcome to the new one.
The Kings blew a 2-1 lead with 12 minutes left on a horrendous turnover from Jake Muzzin in his own zone. After the Kings were asked to kill their only penalty of the game late in the third, they couldn't hold off the Panthers final bit of pressure and gave up the game winner with just over three minutes left. With much needed points just minutes away, a short side shot from Brandon Pirri ended the night in frustration for L.A.
After a scratchy defensive start the Kings seemed to settle into the game, playing arguably one of the best second periods on the road in a long while. However, after getting up in the third and having a few chances early in the final frame, things unravelled with poor puck management and neutral zone turnovers.
In essence, the game-tying goal is the Kings in a microcosm right now.
The offensive play fizzles out, the puck turns up ice, and the Kings cannot get out of their own way.
Then there is the late winner from Brandon Pirri. Point out what you want, neutral zone turnover, Doughty caught standing, Toffoli caught standing, short side goal...none of it is good from the Kings standpoint right now.
The small details are really hurting the team right now and it is showing in situations like these. Does anyone recall the Kings team last year that seemed to just lock it down and frustrate the bejesus out of opponents in low scoring games? Those days are long gone, and the Kings have to find a way to win some games. The team is 2-5-3 in their last 10, and 6-8-6 in their last 20. It doesn't get much easier for the them either, as they face a tough Tampa Bay opponent on Saturday. After Columbus on Monday, the Kings return home to face Calgary, Washington, Tampa Bay again, Colorado, and San Jose. That is an incredibly tough stretch of games, and if the Kings cannot come out of the last two games of this road trip with something then that homestand might be a last gasp. As it currently stands, the team has just a 23.5% chance of making the playoffs according to Sportsclubstats.com
On a somewhat positive spin. Jamie McBain played a heck of a game after having sat since January 8th. He had a goal on one shot, while logging 14:06 in ice time with a +1 rating. Dustin Brown also had a quietly effective night on the top line with two assists along with three shots and four hits in 18:41 in ice time. The Kings essentially outplayed Florida for the majority of the game, but as usual the corsi battle unravels when puck management goes south in the worst way. Also, the penalty kill was not an issue tonight mainly because the Kings only took one penalty the entire game. That is one way to handle a subpar penalty kill.
Credit the Panthers, as they hung around and got two points they desperately needed. The game looked out of reach, especially when the Kings scored early in the third. You can put it on the Kings for giving the Panthers prime chances, but they still had to actually convert on them.
Very tough loss for the Kings and one that might sting for a while. It is one thing to get blown out like they did against Washington, but it is a whole other thing to shoot yourself in the foot late in a game like they just did against Florida. Can they convert that frustration into better play against Tampa Bay on Saturday? Hopefully. If they cannot manage to wakeup and Saturday yields similar frustrations, I have one piece of advice for Kings fans:
— Jason Lewis (@SirJDL) February 6, 2015What is it? Is there not enough emotion in the room right now? Is there not enough focus? Is it the sheer amount of games that this team has played over the last three years that is finally weighing on them? Throw stats and everything out the window here, because bottom line is they are not winning hockey games when they need to. If you want a small bit of hope, know that the Kings, who are losing more control over their own destiny with each loss, are fighting with some equally inconsistent teams at the bottom of the conference wild card. Vancouver, Colorado, Dallas, Calgary, and San Jose are all very streaky teams. However, it still comes down to getting your end of the job done.
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