Kings’ Frustrations Mount as Overtime Woes Continue: “We’re One Foot on the Gas, One on the Brake”
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Kings are stuck in a loop, and no one in the locker room is pretending otherwise.
Another game, another lead lost, another trip to overtime - and another missed opportunity. Friday night’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks marked the fifth time in the Kings’ last eight games that they’ve gone beyond regulation.
In four of those, they held a lead in the third period. And for a team clawing for playoff position in a crowded division, those extra points are starting to feel like they’re slipping through their fingers.
“We liked large parts of our game,” said head coach Jim Hiller after the loss. “But we didn’t deserve it because of those moments.”
He’s not wrong. The Kings held a 2-0 lead midway through the second period thanks in part to Joel Armia, who scored in his return from injury.
At that point, L.A. had dictated the pace, controlled the puck, and looked like a team ready to bank a much-needed regulation win. But then it all unraveled - quickly.
A couple of bad turnovers, a poorly timed line change, and some defensive lapses flipped the momentum. Anaheim took advantage with a flurry of odd-man rushes, something the Kings typically don’t allow. Before the second period ended, the Ducks had tied it up.
“We turned the puck over way too often,” Hiller said. “We had a bad line change.
We got caught on the wrong side of the neutral zone. Their defenseman jumped and activated.
The last seven or eight minutes of the second period, I think they had four or five odd-man rushes. That was the issue tonight.”
The third period was a stalemate, and overtime - though thrilling - didn’t produce a winner. The shootout, a sore spot for the Kings all season, went the Ducks’ way. Again.
The bigger picture isn’t any prettier. The Kings are now tied with the Vegas Golden Knights for the most overtime losses in the NHL this season (12), and they’ve played more games that have gone to overtime (19) than anyone else. That’s not a stat you want to lead the league in - especially when you’re fighting tooth and nail for a playoff spot.
A big part of the problem is baked into their style of play. The Kings are one of the stingiest teams in the league defensively, allowing just 2.72 goals per game - fourth-best in the NHL.
But they’re also struggling to generate offense, scoring only 2.57 goals per game, which ranks third-worst. That combination of low-scoring games and tight defense is a recipe for overtime.
And lately, it’s been a recipe for frustration.
“We’re still one foot on the gas, one on the brake,” Hiller said. “We got ourselves caught in between, like I said, four or five times for odd-man rushes.
We just can’t do that. We’re not going to outscore those mistakes.”
That lack of conviction - the inability to close out games when they’re ahead - is starting to define this stretch of the season. The Kings are now 19-16-12, sitting one point behind the San Jose Sharks for the final wild card spot.
Over their last 18 games, they’re just 5-8-5. That’s not going to cut it in a Western Conference where every point matters.
And while the Olympic break is still 10 games away, it’s looming large. That three-week pause could be a blessing - a chance to reset, regroup, and come back stronger. But only if the Kings can find a way to string together some wins before then.
“You can’t just stay sad or whatever,” Armia said. “You’ve just got to keep your head up and go and win the next game.”
Hiller isn’t looking for outside solutions. He believes the answers are already in the room.
“I think the guys that are here are our strongest players,” he said. “Some of those guys will be coming back, filtering in. You saw Armia do that.”
He also praised the contributions of young players like Andre Lee and Taylor Ward, who’ve stepped in and held their own despite limited NHL experience. But the message was clear: it’s the veterans - the core - who need to elevate their game.
“Some other guys up the lineup, those are the guys that got to deliver,” Hiller said.
The Kings don’t need a miracle. They need momentum.
They need to finish games. And they need to stop letting points slip away late.
Because in a playoff race this tight, every overtime loss is more than just a missed opportunity - it’s a step backward.