Los Angeles Kings: 3 Great Surprises

The Los Angeles Kings are on fire right now with 6 straight wins. After losing their first 3 games of the season, things have turned around quickly and consistently. The Kings look like a completely different team than we saw in those first 3 games. What we’re seeing is reminiscent of the effort they put up in the 2012 and 2014 playoffs leading to Stanley Cups in both years.

Let me give you 3 keys to their success in the past 6 wins. 3 keys that have been somewhat of a surprise to Kings fans:

1. Tyler Toffoli – offensive production

Toffoli is leading the team in goals with 7 and is second in points with 8. Although, I think his stats will change to 8 goals based on a 2nd look at the goal credited to Lucic last night against the Winnipeg Jets. If that’s true, he’ll be tied for the lead in goals in the NHL with Jamie Benn. That’s a pretty good player to be tied with.

Toffoli is a different player this year. We talked about this in a previous post about him showing “glimpses of greatness”. He has goals in 5 of the last 6 games and 6 of the last 8 games. Once Lucic was moved from the Kopitar line to the Carter/Toffoli line, things have turned around. There is some clear chemistry with these three.

2. Brayden McNabb – increased ice time & stability

In McNabb’s first season with the Kings (last year), he had a lot of ups and downs. Darryl Sutter praised him on occasion and lit him up on others. He would have a great game where he’d have a blistering hit at the defensive blue line (his patented hit), but then a game later turnover the puck and be out of position. Because of his inconsistency, he was in and out of the lineup and only averaged 15:54 ice time per game.

This season, his average ice time is up at 21:27. That’s a significant raise for a young guy like McNabb. But maybe it’s out of pure need with the defensive holes left by Regehr, Mitchell, and Scuderi in most recent years. With that increase of ice time, McNabb has stepped up his play more than any other defenseman. So much so, he is now playing on the top defensive pair alongside Drew Doughty.

McNabb may never dazzle but he’s provided some much needed stability on the backend.

3. Jamie McBain – the hardworking veteran

I don’t think anyone thought McBain would see NHL time this year based on who is coming through the Kings pipeline. Most of us expected Forbort to be slotted in on the 3rd pairing with Matt Greene going out due to injury. Forbort did play 2 games and played well. But as soon as Greene went on the IR, McBain was called up.

With that call up, McBain has played extremely well in the past 3 games. He’s been playing alongside another veteran – Christian Ehrhoff. The two of them have been working really well together so far. And one of the brightest spots McBain brings is his ability to get shots through from the point. He has a knack for putting low, hard shots toward the net and getting it through better than most. This hasn’t been a game changer, but has allowed the offense to keep things going for extended periods of time.

He took some bad penalties in his first 2 games after being called up but seems to be settling down into his role.

The Kings have an extended break for the week until they meet the Nashville Predators on Saturday night – Halloween. Let’s hope they can make the streak 7 against an opponent they’ve always had a tough time against in the Preds.

Next: Tyler Toffoli Showing Glimpses of Greatness

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