LA Kings: Three takeaways from Tuesday’s loss to the Avalanche
Three games into the 2021 season, the LA Kings are still searching for their first win.
After letting a pair of winnable games slip away from them against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, it was the Kings who were attempting a third-period comeback. Still, they came up short in a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
Though the score ended up being close, this game still served as a reminder of how far LA has to go until they’re at the level of a true contender like the Avalanche.
Here are three other takeaways from Tuesday’s loss at Staples Center.
Takeaway #1: Andersson looks solid in debut
Ok, let’s at least mix in some positivity.
Todd McLellan made some changes to the lineup for this game, inserting Lias Andersson and Carl Grundstrom to make their season debuts on a line with Trevor Moore. The trio seemed to have instant chemistry. While it was ostensibly LA’s fourth line, it had some of the team’s best shifts on the night.
While the Kings had a pretty quiet offseason, Andersson was a fascinating addition back in October. 22-year-olds just three years removed from being a top-seven draft pick aren’t available very often. Andersson’s tenure with the New York Rangers was disastrous on many levels, but at times on Tuesday, he reminded you why he was a highly-touted prospect not too long ago.
Andersson ended up playing only 8:56 on the night. Given the way the rest of the team was playing, it would have been nice to see him get a little more rope. We’ll see what [Todd] McLellan has planned for him going forward.
Drew Doughty’s play is becoming increasingly concerning for the LA Kings.
Takeaway #2: Doughty’s struggles continue
For those holding out hope that Drew Doughty can bounce back from a couple of sub-par seasons and re-establish himself as an elite defenseman, these first three games haven’t been terribly encouraging.
A bad turnover on a clearing attempt led to Brandon Saad’s opening goal for the Avs just over three minutes into the game.
https://twitter.com/CoolbetCanada/status/1351731450362671104
Things didn’t get much better for him from there. Doughty was sloppy with the puck in his own end all night and wasn’t helping the Kings generate much offensively either. He also was consistently putting passes into his teammates’ skates or out of their reach.
It’s already at the point where you have to wonder if McLellan’s beginning to think about switching things up on the blue line. Doughty and Olli Maatta haven’t looked great together.
Staying out of the penalty box must already become a focus for the LA Kings.
Takeaway #3: Discipline still an issue
The Kings didn’t allow any power play goals in their first two games, though it wasn’t because they didn’t give the Wild any opportunities.
Minnesota had 11 power plays, in fact, over the course of those two games. LA managed to kill them all off, and while the penalty kill playing well is good news, it’s tough to have success when you’re spending that much of the game shorthanded.
The penalty box parade was an issue against once again on Tuesday. Against a team as talented as Colorado, it seemed inevitable that some of these penalties were eventually going to come back to bite LA.
Next. The time is now for the Kings to let the kids play. dark
The Kings took four penalties in a span of 7:16 in the second period on Tuesday, and the Avs capitalized for a pair of power-play goals. They’re going to have a tough enough time beating a team like Colorado at even strength. They’re going to need to stop making things even tougher on themselves with all the penalties.