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Los Angeles Kings: LA’s Weekly Progress Report

By Brook Smith

SAN JOSE, CA - OCTOBER 07: Los Angeles Kings celebrate Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar's (11) goal during the second period of the regular season game between the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks on October 7, 2017 held at the SAP Center in San Jose, CA. Final score, Kings- 4, Sharks- 1. (Photo by Allan Hamilton/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA - OCTOBER 07: Los Angeles Kings celebrate Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar's (11) goal during the second period of the regular season game between the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks on October 7, 2017 held at the SAP Center in San Jose, CA. Final score, Kings- 4, Sharks- 1. (Photo by Allan Hamilton/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Kings kicked off their 2017-2018 season on Thursday night at home against Philadelphia. They then followed that game up with an away game in San Jose against the rival Sharks.

The Los Angeles Kings began their Stanley Cup hopes this weekend with two big wins against two pretty decent teams. The first of the two was a shut out against the Philadelphia flyers, which saw Jonathan Quick blocked all 35 shots that came his way. The second game saw the Kings take out their much hated rivals from the North, routing San Jose 4 to 1. Here are some takeaways from the big wins:

Jonathan Quick is Indeed Back

Jonathan Quick sat out the majority of last season with what the team called a lower body injury, and the team certainly missed him. There were questions early on as to the status of his heath coming into this season, but he shut down those questions early on. On Thursday, Quick was back to his award winning goal-tending, keeping all 35 shots out of the net against the Flyers. Quick would follow up that brilliant performance with another great one against the Sharks, allowing just one goal on 24 shots. San Jose has always been a high scoring team against LA, so that was a great sign early on for Quick.

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Anze Kopitar is Also Back

Anze Kopitar had a less than stellar performance in the prior season, part of why the Kings missed the playoffs. With that in mind, his performance against the Sharks had to feel great. Los Angeles’ captain fired five shots on goal, and scored two of his own goals. In addition, he also landed an assist early on in the game to take an early 1-0 lead. While it might only be one game, Kopitar definitely looked much better than we’ve seen in a few years.

Drew Doughty Looks Much Better

Doughty is another one of the core players who had a lackluster season in 2016-2017. Doughty’s +/- took a huge hit, and the veteran defenseman often looked defeated on the ice, giving up early on plays. Thus far, it’s been a different story this year. Doughty is getting to the puck much quicker and fighting on the boards. His +/- was at +4 over the first two games, as he has not been on the ice for a goal allowed yet. In order for the Kings to get back to the playoffs, Doughty will need to get back to his all star caliber ways.

Whats next: The Kings will head back home this week, for three games. They will face Calgary, Buffalo and the Islanders. So far, those three teams have a combined 2-4 record early on.

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