The Los Angeles Kings lead the NHL in a certain statistic by an astonishing amount. This one number quantifies all that is good about the Kings.
When you look at the names on the roster, it should come as no surprise that the Los Angeles Kings lead the league in any given statistic.
The Kings are one of very few teams who are good – and deep – all across the board. Offensively, defensively, behind the goal line and the bench, the Kings are above average and this one number quantifies that better than any other can.
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That number is the team’s shot attempt percentage in close games. To be precise, the percentage of shots that come from your side in the 3rd period of a tied or 1-goal game (either leading or trailing).
According to NHL.com, the Los Angeles Kings took 57.53% of the shots in those situations. In second place was the Anaheim Ducks with 53.43%.
That doesn’t do justice in explaining just how much better the Kings were than everyone else. That 4-or-so percent between the first and second teams is the same gap between the Ducks and the sixteenth best Boston Bruins. The Kings are truly in a league of their own in the clutch.
To be good in these situations, all aspects of the team have to be running in sync. It starts with head coach Darryl Sutter, who looks for favorable matchups for one line to pepper the opposing goalie with shots while another line smothers opposing forwards.
The goalie, Jonathan Quick, has the least influence on this number but his ability to control rebounds and clear the crease definitely limits the opponent’s shot attempts, pushing the percentage more in favor of the Kings.
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The Kings also have an extremely deep and well-rounded group of skaters. Anze Kopitar was the best defensive forward in the NHL last season and his play certainly takes pressure off the defense and the goalie.
Guys like Jeff Carter and Marian Gaborik are offensive-minded and can create offense by themselves. Sometimes you need a hero play in a big moment and these guys – Carter, especially – have a clutch gene that is not only quantified by that 57.53%, but by their 11 combined game-winning goals last year.
The defensemen play the biggest role in reaching this mark. After all, if the other team can’t get shots on net, your team’s percentage can’t go down either.
Maybe the best defense core in the league, the Kings can rotate in names like Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez and Brayden McNabb without suffering at either end. I hope to see Doughty and Muzzin spend more time together this year as they’d be a contender for best defense pair.
Good teams find a way to win close games through composure, good coaching and better goalie play. As this Stanley Cup-winning core moves onto another year, the team is expected to continue showing those traits and even if there is some regression, the Kings still should be one of the best “big moment” teams in the NHL.