LA Kings: Los Angeles Has One Heck of a Roadtrip
By Mark Bland
The LA Kings are off to a great start this month after wrapping up a four-game road trip East, bringing back necessary wins and momentum to the Staples Center.
Tonight, the Los Angeles Kings face the Minnesota Wild after much-needed wins on the road against the Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks. All four wins were pretty convincing after the final horn of each contest. Both goalies, Jonathan Quick and Darcy Kuemper, allowed only five goals combined on the road. Kuemper even added another win to his overall record on the season (4-0-2), after making the start against St. Louis.
Kings Captain Anze Kopitar led the way with six points total on the trip adding to his season tally of 31 points overall. Kopi received at least one point in three out of the four games. Behind him, scoring came from familiar contributors Tyler Toffoli, Adrian Kempe, Dustin Brown, among others.
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Now, while the wins have been nice, it’s still bothersome to me, at least, that LA still is not dominating the shots. In three of the four games (Detroit being the outlier [36-24]), the Kings lost the shots on goal match. Their worst one was against the Blues, only taking 28 total SOG, while St. Louis put up a staggering 40. With that being said, is it totally worth crying about? Absolutely not! However, if this team wants to continue its dominance in the Pacific Division, the offensive production still needs improvement.
As I stated in my last write-up, defense has not been bad for the most part this season. If it were, well, LA’s record would show otherwise. It is encouraging to see, even the backup goalie, have a nice win-loss record on the season (check three paragraphs above). As the Kings enjoy being at home this week, with Ottawa and Carolina following tonight’s game, let’s hope their winning ways replicate October.