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LA Kings: Reviewing the Kings season through analytics

By Russell Morgan

Apr 12, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; LA Kings coach Todd McLellan wears a face mask in the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights at Staples Center. Vegas won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 12, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; LA Kings coach Todd McLellan wears a face mask in the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights at Staples Center. Vegas won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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LA Kings Trevor Moore
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Lack of scoring

Tell me if you’ve heard this before? The LA Kings had trouble scoring goals this season.

Since the 2015-16 season, the Kings are 25th in GF/G with 2.60, and this season was almost identical to recent years, and this season, nothing changed.

Los Angeles finished 27th in the league at goals per game with 2.54. If not for the strong power play at the beginning of the season, which ended up accounting for 22% of their goal total, they would have found themselves closer to the bottom.

Here is Patrick Bacon’s take on the LA Kings’ season looking through an analytics lens

"“Unfortunately for the Kings, things did not pan out. As of today, they rank 25th in 5-on-5 expected goals percentage with a mark of 46.09%. This data is missing two games, the first of which is currently in progress against Colorado and sees them being outshot 27-11 and outscored 6-0 through two periods, so I imagine these numbers will look even worse when it’s all said and done. They were a fairly balanced team, ranking 27th in 5v5 xGF/60 and 24th in 5v5 xGA/60, which means they don’t really have anything strong to build on; they’ve just got a lot of work to do on both sides of the puck.”"

“A lot of work to do” is right, and it should start in the acquisitions department.

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