LA Kings: The Season Long Winning Streak Continues
By Brook Smith
The LA Kings won in overtime on Saturday night, defeating the Hurricanes 3-2. This is now the eighth consecutive win for Los Angeles.
When Trevor Lewis scored the final shootout goal against Anaheim way back on November 25th, I don’t think even he thought the Kings would still be without a loss. And yet here were are, nearly three weeks later and the Kings have not yet lost a game. In fact, they have outscored their opponents 29 to just 13 in that span. En route to their season high 8-game win streak, the Kings have managed to dominate on the ice.
They have beat some pretty decent teams, but also some fairly under-performing teams as well. Of those eight wins, five have come against teams currently above .500 in the wins column. The combined record of those 8 teams is 112-89, with St Louis being the best team they have beaten by far. The Kings outscored the Blues 4 to 1 in that game on December 1st.
Part of that success can be attributed to the goal keeping, which has allowed a league low 13 goals against since that game in Anaheim. Jonathan Quick and Darcy Kuemper have been exceptional all season long, with Quick in the top three for goals against average. With the sort of season they are having, it’s clear the Kings missed Quick last year. Even General Manager Rob Blake took notice, saying of Quick:
"“I think we missed him in the room, his leadership, his voice, his demeanor between periods, all the stuff that fans never see,” Blake said. “This team missed that direly last year. We understand what he does on the ice. We see it every night, but I think the whole package of what he brings to this team, we missed that last year. The team missed it for sure.”"
More from Rink Royalty
- LA Kings goaltending could be better than expected in 2023-24
- LA Kings should consider taking a chance on these 2 free agents
- 2 forwards listed as “movable pieces” by the Los Angeles Kings
- LA Kings Need a Goalie: Here’s Our Wishlist of Potential Targets
- Checking in on the LA Kings players in the IIHF World Championship
There is no doubt that Quick is back to playing a pivotal role with the Kings, playing in 24 of the team’s 28 games thus far. Look for him to continue to contribute as long as he can stay healthy this year. Quick did miss essentially all of last season with what was described as a lower body injury. The Kings defense ranked near the bottom in the league during his absence.
What’s Next: The Kings will travel to New Jersey tonight, as they take on the Devils at Prudential Center in Newark. The Devils are having a fairly decent season, despite playing in one of the tougher divisions in the NHL. They are 16-9-4 on the year.