After three games, the Kings are staring at a record that looks ugly no matter how you slice it: three losses, one point, and no easy fix waiting around the corner. Drew Doughty didn’t fully buy the idea that the team has been playing “0-3 hockey” across the board, but he did concede that the Colorado loss fit that description.
The San Jose game, in his view, was different. The Florida game, meanwhile, had a familiar feel in some ways, even if the reasons were not the same.
That distinction matters, because the Kings are not dealing with a team that has completely lost its identity. What they are dealing with is a team that has not executed nearly well enough, and Doughty said as much when asked what needs to change.
“I don’t think we need to adjust anything on systems. I just think we need to do them better and when we do get our chances, we’ve got to capitalize.”
That’s the heart of it. There’s urgency here, but not panic.
The Kings shouldn’t rip up what they’re trying to build based on three games, especially when the problems have mostly come down to execution rather than approach. The Colorado game was its own thing.
Against San Jose and Florida, the Kings had chances to do more. They didn’t.
Florida, in particular, felt like a night where the Kings simply couldn’t solve the space the Panthers were taking away. They defended well enough, got solid goaltending, and had a strong penalty kill.
But with the puck, they were off. Peter Laviolette said the Kings turned it over too much in their own zone and in the neutral zone, and that lined up with what showed up on the ice.
By NHL.com’s count, the Kings had 27 turnovers, tied for the highest total in a game around the league this season.
That number fits the eye test. The Kings were “off a beat” offensively, as Laviolette put it, and really off a beat anywhere they had possession.
They never built much rhythm. They couldn’t connect enough passes, they couldn’t settle into the offensive zone, and when they did create something, it rarely turned into pressure at the net.
The game ended with just seven high-danger chances, and that total tells the story all by itself.
Four of those chances came at 5-on-5. Two came shorthanded.
One came on the power play. That’s not what you expect from a team that spent a season-high amount of time on the power play.
It was also the Kings’ season-low in shot attempts, with 47, which was 15 fewer than they managed in Colorado. And if you compare that number to the rest of the season, it’s a low-water mark that stands out fast.
The power play never really got rolling, even with the extra time. In fact, the Kings struggled just to enter the zone cleanly, even with a 5-on-3.
On one sequence, they only gained the offensive zone cleanly once before the advantage expired, and on another they had to circle back after being denied. That’s the kind of night it was: not a tactical collapse, just a group that wasn’t sharp enough to take advantage of the opportunities in front of it.
The same theme ran through the rest of the game. When the Kings broke down along the way, they couldn’t establish possession.
When they couldn’t establish possession, they couldn’t build time in the offensive zone. And when they couldn’t do that, they never really threatened often enough to make the game tilt their way.
There were still some defensive positives in the mix, and the Kings have at least shown in these first three games that the puck movement can be cleaner than what they displayed against Florida. The Colorado and San Jose games were more fluid in that sense. Last night was the opposite: the defense held up, but the offense never got synced.
That’s why the answer going forward is probably not some sweeping change. The Kings need to keep moving in the direction they’re trying to go, even with the growing pains.
The style itself is not the issue. The execution is.
And there’s no easing into the next stretch. The Kings head to Vegas to face the defending Western Conference champions, then come home to play the 2024 and 2025 Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers.
That’s a brutal pair of games to be chasing a win through, but that’s where they are. With two, maybe three practices before Vegas, the Kings have time to clean things up.
They’ll need it, because Saturday evening brings another hard test whether they’re ready for it or not.
In Other News...
Kings Now Sit At Center Of A Worrying Brad Marchand Story
A routine game against the Kings turned uneasy when Brad Marchand exited with what appeared to be a lower-body injury after getting caught by a stick and tumbling into the net. He needed help off the ice, and the scene raised immediate concern after he was unable to put weight on his left leg.
The Florida Panthers still have not offered an official diagnosis or return timeline, leaving the situation open-ended for now. Further testing is expected, and until that brings more clarity, the Kings find themselves attached to a story that could have a much bigger impact beyond one night in Los Angeles. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Suddenly Face A High-Stakes Goalie Decision
The goalie market has a way of shifting the conversation quickly, and Connor Hellebuyck has become the name to watch with Winnipeg continuing to field questions about its future in net. Insider David Pagnotta has floated several clubs that could eventually check in, with Buffalo, Utah and Carolina among the more obvious candidates, while also noting that the Jets are not operating from a position of urgency because they have enough depth to avoid forcing a move.
For the Kings, the intrigue comes from the possibility of being pulled into a conversation that has not yet fully taken shape. Any serious pursuit would have to be weighed against the kind of asset cost that usually comes with a premium goaltender, and Los Angeles would need to decide how far it wants to go if the market starts to heat up. Right now, it is less about an imminent deal than about whether the Kings become one of the teams willing to make the call when things get serious. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Already Have An Early Problem Fans Feared
Darcy Kuempers return to Crypto.com Arena gave the Kings a steady night in net, but it still wasnt enough to pull them out of their early-season skid. Alex Laferriere opened the scoring for Los Angeles, and for a while it looked like the kind of start that could settle everyone in after a shaky opening to the year.
Instead, Florida answered, then got the go-ahead goal from Matthew Tkachuk, and the Kings own issues around the puck only added to the frustration. Los Angeles came up empty on five power-play chances, generated just 20 shots, and left the building still searching for its first win after three games, which is not the sort of early rhythm this group wanted to be chasing. [Read more 🡒]