Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

In the off-season, the Los Angeles Kings parted ways with their power play specialist, assistant coach Jamie Kompon who is now working behind the bench of the Chicago Blackhawks. In Kompon’s place came former St. Louis Blues head coach Davis Payne and while few in Los Angeles were familiar with his resume, most were confident that anyone other than Kompon would be an upgrade. So far, somehow, things are worse when it comes to the Kings’ work on the man-advantage. It may be hard to believe but so far, it’s true.

In five games this season, the Kings are last overall in power play efficiency. Their state rivals from San Jose lead the way with a 37.5 per cent rating while Los Angeles brings up the rear with a dreadful 3.7 per cent. Another way of putting it is that the Kings are 1-for-26 on the man-advantage so far and that one power play tally was scored last game against the Canucks making them the last team in the NHL to score on the man-advantage. Only the Colorado Avalanche share the Kings’ misery with the extra man with just one goal.

In their first few games, I was confident watching the Kings immediately enter the opposing zone at the start of a power play and station themselves to get that goal. A pass from one defenseman to the next back to the first defenseman to the winger back to the defenseman and so on. As fluid as Los Angeles’ passing is on the man-advantage, that and keeping the puck in the attacking zone were the only two aspects, in my opinion, that worked on the power play. Unfortunately, the Kings’ passing was so fluid that most of the time, it’s essentially all they did which can get frustrating very quickly. For the few times when the Kings have shot the puck, it has rarely gotten through a defender much less hit the goaltender’s pad.

Unfortunately and understandably, that confidence at the beginning of a power play has turned to a sour note. It’s not a feeling of dread so much as it’s apathy. The Kings are on the power play – okay, so what? The passing and the positioning are all great but when it’s just that, it’s not good enough. Pass well, position accordingly but quickly follow that up with some traffic and then a few shots on net. Their woeful power play may not turn a corner right away but at least the Kings would be building on something.

It is not a stretch to believe that Jamie Kompon had instilled some bad habits with his players. While there has been a lot of smooth passing and exceptional puck control, there hasn’t been much in terms of Kings creating traffic in front of the net or creating holes to give the defensemen an easier time to shoot at the net. Davis Payne certainly hasn’t proven to be an upgrade from Kompon. If anything, he’s a downgrade. Then again, it’s only fair to point out that Payne has only had five games to work with – and let’s not forget that there weren’t any pre-season games and barely a training camp.

To suggest that Davis Payne be on the hot seat is ridiculous. The Kings have gradually improved since starting the season with a 0-2 record and in spite of their futility on the power play, managed to earn points in their last three outings, including wins in their last two. That’s not to say, however, that it’s okay to have an unproductive power play. With that said, there is still plenty of time for the Los Angeles Kings to turn their fortunes around. After slow starts, Jeff Carter has three goals in as many games, Anze Kopitar picked up his first two goals against Phoenix on Saturday and added an assist against Vancouver the other night, Slava Voynov picked up his first goal against Vancouver by tying the game late in regulation and now it’s just a matter of time before the rest of the goalless Kings follow suit.

This isn’t a cry for help for the Los Angeles Kings. As terrible as their power play has been, it is one of the very few areas in their game that needs a significant facelift. As of right now, all I can say is that the Kings should feel fortunate they have an exceptional defensive unit and an outstanding goaltender.

While I do not doubt their work ethic on the man-advantage, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how I want to see more of an effort from the Kings on the power play than I’ve seen so far. While it’s only reasonable to acknowledge that most teams won’t score on every 5-on-4, it is reasonable to suggest that teams have a much better opportunity to score on a 5-on-3. Heck, it’s just common sense. Yet, the Kings have had multiple 5-on-3 advantages thus far and they’ve come up with squat. One of those two-man advantages came in Phoenix last Saturday when two Coyotes were penalized at the same time, which means a full two minutes being up two men. On said power play, one of the Coyotes even lost his stick. That’s easy pickings – you’d think so, anyway.

It may be a shortened season but it is still long enough for teams to get on hot or cold streaks a few times over and to see them dominate more or less in one or two particular areas. I sincerely hope the Kings can bring their power play game up a few more notches and it’s not a matter of if but when – and hopefully it’s sooner rather than later because if the first few games are any indication, patience is not a virtue possessed by most hockey fans – and that includes those of the Los Angeles Kings.

Hey, their team won the Stanley Cup. How can you blame for accepting anything short of the best?

Four goals in four games. The Kings have gone from 1st in the Conference to last in their Division almost over night. The brutal truth of it is that the Kings have just not played well enough to maintain any sort of success over the long haul. Perhaps the only bright side to this early season is that the incredibly strong start, which remains the only reason the Kings are not painfully outside of the playoff picture already. Sitting at the bottom of the Pacific Division isn’t exactly where they were hoping to be, but going 1-7 over the past eight games, with even that win requiring a shootout is not a good stretch.

So what’s going wrong? It’s a collection of things to be sure, including some terribly defensive lapses, and failure of the Power Play to convert in critical moments. The latter issue can be expanded even further to a complete failure of the offense to do… well… anything. In the last four games, the Kings have scored four goals. That’s one goal per game (I’m quite good at math). It makes virtually no difference how good Jonathan Quick and Bernier are or are not playing, with that kind of anemic offense, they’re going nowhere fast.

Let’s break it down and look at the 3 pluses and 3 minuses thus far this season:

Plus: Jonathan Quick – 1.92 GAA is good enough for 3rd in the league. He’s stopping most of the pucks he could be expected to stop, and keeping the Kings in games long after they should have been destroyed. At least until he is forced to face yet another odd-numbered attack stemming from a defensive breakdown…

Minus: Drew Doughty – His defense hasn’t been mind-numbingly awful. At least not as bad as Jack Johnson’s has been. But he’s taken some terribly penalties, including the one that lead to the game-winning goal for Anaheim last night. To top it off, his offense has been basically absent. No question teams are keying in on him more than in the past, but he’s going to have to step it up. On pace for 4 goals this season is just not good enough.

Plus: Strong Start – Looking for a big positive at this point can be challenging, but the 12-3 start to the season has kept the Kings right in the hunt for the playoffs. Currently sitting at #11 in the Western Conference, the Kings would be far out of the race if not for their red-hot start. As it is, they’re only 3 points out of 2nd place in the Conference.

Minus: Absolute Collapse – If the start was a plus, the last eight games have been a serious minus. If the team is still in the race after going 1-7, it’s frightening, and a little sad to think where they might be if they were even playing mediocre hockey over the past eight games. It’s a minus the likes of which most Kings fans were hoping they had put behind them entering this season.

Plus: The West Side Story – At least that’s what I’m calling the line of Williams, Stoll and Smyth with their impressive start to the season. Even in games where there are just no goals, the line seems like they continue to generate realistic opportunities and chances. Williams is on pace for nearly 80 points this season, an impressive total, and one he’ll probably fall short of, but in the first part of the season they’re a strong “plus.”

Minus: Power Play – It’s not so much the Kings Power Play is bad. Though it is, at 15.2% they’re sitting at #20 in the NHL. Not a good place to be if they want to challenge for the Cup. Perhaps more importantly, they can’t seem to score in key moments. The sense of urgency is lacking, and when the Kings are faced with an opportunity to get back into a game, or tie it up, the Power Play repeatedly comes up empty. It’s a terribly streak, and one they’ll need to snap out of if they want to get back on top.

Did I miss anything? Who are your pluses and minuses of the season so far?