After the halfway points and the new year it seems like the season starts to take shape. Teams off to hot starts fall back, ten game trends turn into 25 game trends quickly, and you start to get a feel for what the team is capable of and where they will realistically finish.
The Kings, as everyone has said from the start, looks like a playoff-bound team. As of today, January 10th, the LA Kings sit in 6th place in the league with a 27-13-5 record. How they have come to be here is a bit of a hard question to answer though. Through goal droughts and injuries to key players, the Kings have remained a difficult team to play against. With the style of defense first they are a team geared for the playoffs by most pundits description.
And maybe that is a good thing. Personally, I have noticed that the Kings have a trend of struggling against what you might call "Below average" teams. Maybe it's the hype of playing a big opponent, or you take the lesser teams lightly, but the Kings in my eyes have not been the same team when it comes to playing the best of the best vs. the worst of the worst.
So I looked into it to see if my hunch was right, or completely off-base.
Splitting the league completely in two, you come up with the following "Top 15" and the "Bottom 15":
1. Anaheim 2. St. Louis 3. Chicago 4. Pittsburgh 5. San Jose 6. Los Angeles 7. Colorado 8. Boston 9. Tampa Bay 10. Montreal 11. Vancouver 12. MInnesota 13. Phoenix 14. Philadelphia (I know right?) 15. Washington
The bottom:
16. Detroit 17. Dallas 18. Carolina 19. NYR 20. Toronto 21. Ottawa 22. New Jersey 23. Nashville 24. Winnipeg 25. Columbus 26. Florida 27. NYI 28. Calgary 29. Edmonton 30. Buffalo
So with that out of the way, how have the Kings faired against these groups? First the best 15.
The Kings have met teams in the top 15 only 18 times so far in the first 45 games and hold a 12-5-1 record. Two of these losses have come at the hands of Chicago, one to St. Louis, and one to the San Jose Sharks, whom are all in the top five of the league.
12-5-1. Not bad. Not bad at all. However, since the Kings have played so little against top echelon opponents it seems, this second half is likely going to ramp up in intensity very shortly with a variety of quality opponents waiting.
The Kings have also outscored their top 15 brethren 49-38 in their encounters. 49 goals in 18 games. That's 2.72 goals per game, while allowing just 2.1 against. It really is a 3-2 league Sutter...at least when you are playing the top 15.
Now the bottom 15.
The Kings currently hold a record of *Drum roll*
15-8-4 against bottom 15 opponents. It's not a stark difference. In fact, it's hardly a difference at all. In these encounters the Kings have outscored their opponents 69-55, however that's over the course of 27 games. That means they average 2.5 goals for per game, while allowing 2.03.
They score a little less, they allow a little less. They also take home about the same number of points on average. The Kings, regardless of opponent, get points in about seven of every ten games they play so far.
To be honest, I was expecting a much bigger difference in the numbers. Granted these are basically records and outcomes and not tracking HOW they played against said opponents. I have watched nearly every game this season and have seen them play tremendously bad hockey against bottom of the league opponents *cough* Calgary *cough* Buffalo *Uncough* but then follow it up with drubbings of real quality opponents like Boston. However, in the end a win is a win right?
I think it's the fact that we all EXPECT the Kings to run away with games against opponents like Nashville, or Winnipeg or Calgary that makes the difference. The fact is though, this is a very even league no matter how you slice it. While Buffalo has had a season of misfortunes and underachievement they are still a club capable of winning on any given night. It really is what makes the NHL a great league. So while some people are going to see the losses against Nashville and Calgary and complain, it's easy to focus on those losses and not on the victories that came against the Montreals, Vancouvers, and San Joses of this league.
To quote Abraham Lincoln,
"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses."
Perspective.
The Kings are in for a tough second half with a lot of quality opponents. Considering how they have done so far though with quality opponents I wouldn't be overly concerned. Also, Jonathan Quick is back in case you haven't heard.
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