LA Kings: Los Angeles’ Schedule Presents a Huge Problem
By Brook Smith
The LA Kings dropped another game on Monday afternoon to the Sharks, marking their fourth loss in five games. In looking at their schedule, Kings fans could be in for a tough month.
The LA Kings have had it rough as of late, and most of the blame can be placed on defense. During this four game losing streak the offense has managed 9 goals, but they’ve allowed 16. And while it may be true that they’ve ha a fairly tough schedule, it’s about to get a whole lot worse for Los Angeles. After three of the four losses were at home in LA, they will have 13 road games from now until the end of February. Thirteen games on the road out of 20 games is a tough stretch to overcome for any team, no matter how talented.
It gets worse though. The teams the Kings will be playing just this month alone present a daunting task. The team will play the defending world champions at home tonight, and then head down to Anaheim on Friday. While the Kings have the edge over Anaheim this season in win totals, they are coming off a fresh loss. The Ducks dropped the Kings 4-2 last Saturday as they scored early and often.
The Kings will then play the Rangers at home Sunday night, but then go on the road for four consecutive games. The only hope really is that the Kings will continue the trend of playing well on the road. This year, Los Angeles is 13-7-2 while on the road versus 11-8-3 at Staples Center. The teams they will play on that four game road trip have a combine 95 wins on the year, and most rank near the top of their standings.
Heading into February looks even worse for Los Angeles, as they face seven teams with far better records. Not to mention they also have to play Las Vegas twice, a team that has had the edge over Los Angeles this year. This season, the Kings have been outscored 7-4 in their only two games against the Knights.
Next: Kings Fall to Ducks in Royal Rumble
What Needs to Change.
The Kings have had one of the best defenses in the entire league this year, but they’ve faltered lately. Los Angeles has averaged less than 2.5 goals scored on them per game, putting them at second in the NHL. But over the past four games, they’ve given up 16 goals for an average of four per game. Jonathan Quick has been in the net for 3 out of four of those games. The defensive line will have to do much more to defend him as best as they can.