The Kings have spent the last stretch living in the same frustrating pattern: one good night, one bad night, back and forth, never quite building anything lasting. That’s been the story through 16 games, and it’s left them sitting at 5 wins. Now, with the roster finally getting closer to whole, the pressure is shifting to Kevin Fiala in a way that feels both obvious and unfair.
What’s been most alarming over the last two games isn’t just that the Kings lost. It’s how they looked before they finally woke up.
Against Pittsburgh, they needed to fall behind 2-0 in the first five minutes before showing any pulse. Against Nashville, it took 40 minutes.
That kind of start is hard to explain away once, and it’s even harder to excuse twice. The Penguins game at least came against a desperate team that arrived looking like its season was on the line.
Pittsburgh had five wins coming in and had traveled across the country the day before, and it played like a group that understood the moment. The Kings, by contrast, looked like a team assuming the goals would eventually come because they had just scored seven the game before.
Last night’s performance was even more troubling because the Kings didn’t bring much of anything for two periods. When they finally played with pace in the third, the difference was obvious.
When they played with urgency, they looked dangerous. But showing that only after trailing 2-0, after 40 flat minutes, is a rough place to be.
If that effort had shown up from the opening puck drop and the team still came up short, there would at least be something to build on. Instead, the response came late enough to make the whole night feel worse.
Right now, a lot of the conversation seems to be circling back to Fiala as the missing piece. It’s easy to see why.
The Kings haven’t had their full lineup together the way they imagined in the summer, and Fiala is the last major piece still waiting to return. Emily Kaplan of ESPN reported yesterday that he could potentially come back on this homestand, which would be a big development on its own.
But it’s also a lot to ask of one player.
Fiala hasn’t played in nine months, and he’s worked through two procedures on his leg. He’s still building back up, and there’s no guarantee he walks straight back in at full speed and fixes everything.
That’s too much to put on him, especially with the issues the Kings are dealing with now. At his best, he can absolutely tilt a game.
He has the skill and creativity to drive his own line and give the offense a different gear. But expecting his return to magically straighten everything out is a different thing entirely.
There’s also the human side of it. Fiala has put in a long, difficult recovery, and it’s easy to root for him just on that alone.
He’s a positive presence, a player people naturally want to see succeed. The hope is obvious.
The problem is that the team’s current situation has turned that hope into something closer to necessity.
The Kings may eventually get the version they envisioned: Fiala and Mats Zuccarello together on a dangerous second line, with the rest of the lineup falling into place around them. That’s still possible. With Zuccarello back, Fiala nearing a return, and Erik Gustafsson day-to-day, the group should be close to fully loaded soon, whether that’s later this week or as they head out on the road next week.
But if the answer isn’t there when that happens, the options start to narrow fast. At that point, the excuses run out, and with Thanksgiving and the 75-percent principle coming into view, the question becomes what changes might be next.
In Other News...
Kings Could Catch Islanders At A Much Tougher Time
The Islanders are still searching for their first win in a four-game stretch, but they have at least managed to bank points in each of their last two outings. More importantly for a Los Angeles team that is about to see them again, New York is getting healthier at a time when every point in the standings feels magnified, and the roster picture has started to shift in a more encouraging direction.
During a recent practice, Mathew Barzal, Matias Maccelli and Ryan Pulock all took part fully, a sign they are moving closer to returning from injury. Head coach Peter DeBoer said the team will proceed carefully with those players, and more lineup changes are expected before the matchup with the Kings, leaving one last layer of uncertainty before puck drop. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Suddenly Have A Blue Line Concern As Zuccarello Heats Up
The Kings skated through practice with a specific forward look and only five defensemen on the ice, a reminder of how quickly the blue line can get thin when injuries start stacking up. Erik Gustafsson and Drew Doughty were both out, and with Doughty unavailable, the club had to manage the session with less depth than usual while keeping an eye on the bigger picture.
Mats Zuccarello, meanwhile, is starting to look more like himself after a rough opening stretch, and coach Peter Laviolette singled out his play from the previous game. For a Kings team trying to settle its lineup and stay steady on the back end, getting a veteran forward moving in the right direction matters, especially when the defense is already dealing with uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Already Facing Frustrating Questions After Another Flat Start
The Kings came out of Nashville with another reminder that slow starts are becoming a problem they cannot afford to ignore. In a 3-0 loss to the Predators, Los Angeles was blanked for the second straight defeat by two goals, and the offense never found enough rhythm early to put real pressure on the game.
Filip Forsberg did the damage for Nashville, scoring twice with Nilis Hoglander setting up both goals, while the Kings spent much of the night chasing the puck and the scoreboard. They pushed harder in the third period, but by then the margin was already gone, and the unanswered questions about their early-game energy only grew louder. [Read more 🡒]