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The Los Angeles Kings are riding a four-game winning streak following the All-Star Break, as they continue to battle for playoff positioning within the Pacific Division.
It’s a big step for the Kings momentum-wise, after a pretty mediocre stretch prior to the break, where they went 5-4-1 in their last 10 games of January. Now, they’ve outscored their opponents by a huge 23-10 margin over the four games since returning from the break.
Adrian Kempe has been on an absolute roll, with six goals and eight points over the four games. Meanwhile, Kevin Fiala continues to be a the Kings' top producer, while playing down the lineup. In the calendar year, he’s scored 11 goals and 24 points in 17 games. You can add Anze Kopitar in as a key contributor as well and over the Kings’ four games, seven forwards are averaging at least point-per-game numbers.
As for the Pacific Division, it’s basically a land of opportunity. Between the Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, Seattle Kraken and Edmonton Oilers, there’s only a four-point gap between first and fourth place in the division (with each team having played 57 games, except for Vegas, who has a game in hand). While we’re now over two-thirds of the way through the season, it’s still anyone’s guess as to how the final placements within the division will look for the playoffs.
A key factor for the Kings, though: of their remaining 25 games, they’ll play 14 of them against teams currently outside the top-8 of their respective conference in points percentage. With quality of competition in mind, if the Kings can continue at their current pace, winning the division is absolutely in the realm of possibility.
That said, they are entering a fairly tough stretch of games to end the month. They’ll begin a five-game road trip against the Minnesota Wild tonight, with the competition only getting tougher afterwards. They’ll play the five games over just eight days, and after Minnesota, they’ll take on the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets. It’s going to be a big test for the Kings.
It’ll also be interesting to see what the Kings do before the trade deadline. Obviously, they’ve been linked to Jakob Chychrun and considering their prospect pool, they have the assets to go out and make a deal for a top defenseman or a goaltender. Based on the uncertainty within the division, this is a great chance for the Kings to strike with a big addition.
The key thing though is that for as much of an opportunity as the Kings have this season, they have to continue building a long-term, sustainable contender. Certain pieces like Quinton Byfield should be off-limits in any trade and the team should only be making moves that aren’t going to come at the expense of success down the road.
So we’ll see how the next couple weeks play out. The Kings are in a good position and riding some momentum right now and with a great opportunity to continue climbing up the Pacific Division, it’s going to be a really interesting next stretch of games.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM FEBRUARY
Kings sign Mikey Anderson to eight-year contract extension 
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
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