The problems in getting success in the standings in the Pacific Division in the West this regular season for the Los Angeles Kings (15-11-9) in the win column in this past couple of months on home ice at Crypto.com Arena has started to be a worrying trend for this team.
Los Angeles Kings suffer a horrid home loss by two goals on special teams vs. the Blue Jackets on Monday night
The Kings fell to the last-place team in the standings in the East this regular season against the Columbus Blue Jackets (15-15-6) 3-1 at Crypto Arena on Monday night (Dec. 22).
Not only did the Kings lose to the last place team while getting outplayed and outshot on both sides of the ice yesterday night vs. Columbus at home at Crypto Arena, but the Blue Jackets were also without their best player, defenseman Zach Werenski, due to a lower-body injury last night.
The Blue Jackets scored the game's first goal yesterday night in the opening frame in the first period on the power play on special teams from Mason Marchment. Columbus had two goals on the power play on special teams in the game's first period in the opening frame from Marchment yesterday.
Andrei Kuzmenko responded with a goal to cut the Blue Jackets' lead on the scoreboard in half in the middle frame in the second period.
The Kings looked flat in the final frame in the third period. In the game's final 30 minutes in the second and third periods, the Kings only got a couple of high-danger scoring chances and had half as many scoring chances in the offensive zone as Columbus yesterday (per Natural Stat Trick).
The game was sealed when the Blue Jackets scored a goal on the power play on special teams on the 5-on-4 man advantage in the final frame in the third period.
This was a very frustrating loss for the Kings, with the results in the locker room and on the ice growing more impatient this regular season in the West for LA.
There's no way to spin this: a loss to the team in last place in the Eastern Conference standings in the Metro Division this regular season is embarrassing for Hiller and the Kings in mid-to-late December this month.
Here are three takeaways from the Kings' lethargic 3-1 loss on home ice at Crypto Arena on Monday night vs. Columbus.
Jim Hiller's seat is heating up
It didn't feel like the Kings team really wanted to show up last night on the ice on each side for the game. I'm not saying that the effort for the Kings on home ice last night was terrible, but the team didn't seem cohesive or responsive on either side of the ice in clutch time in the third period yesterday at Crypto Arena.
Both Hiller and Kings' assistant coach Newell Brown should have the heat turned up on their job statuses in the West this month, in mid-to-late December. The Kings shouldn't have the type of dry spells on special teams on the power play with the man advantage they had vs. a team from the Metro Division, as the Jackets did.
I didn't really understand the player usage and ice-time distribution for the Kings last night. The Kings only gave center Sammy Helenius a minute and 10 seconds of ice time yesterday against the Blue Jackets.
It's also noteworthy that winger Joel Armia and center Alex Turcotte only combined for roughly two dozen minutes on the ice, and under two dozen at even strength at 5-on-5 yesterday night for the Kings and Hiller.
Special teams issues cost the Kings on the penalty kill yesterday vs. Columbus
The issues on special teams on the power play was by far the biggest impact on this loss for the Kings in the West early this week on Monday night vs. Columbus at home. The Kings allowed the Blue Jackets from Columbus to score over a couple of power play goals on special teams for the first time this season.
"We’ve just got to be smarter, keep our sticks down and take less penalties. It gets tiring for killers. It’s just it seems like every game we’re taking way more minors than the other team."Joel Edmundson
All three goals the Blue Jackets scored on special teams came on the power play on the 5-on-4 man advantage on Monday night on home ice. The five penalties the Kings took on special teams were all stick infractions that were easily avoidable in the game's first two periods last night.
No other team in the league in the NHL this season has scored zero goals on the power play on special teams on the man advantage for more games in the West than Hiller and the Kings. The Kings have now gone eight games this regular season with four or more chances on special teams on the power play without scoring a goal on the man advantage on the ice.
Struggles in the offensive zone scoring the puck in the third period in clutch time
In the start of the month of December in this past few weeks in the West, the Kings have really struggled in the standings in the division in the Pacific. The Kings are 3-5-2 in the West since the start of the month of December in 10 games in the past few weeks this month.
Even with the goal scored in the offensive zone by Kuzmenko in the game's second period late in the middle frame yesterday at home, the Kings still didn't look good offensively on that end of the ice. Kuzmenko's goal in the game's second period was a rare positive takeaway in this game for Hiller and the Kings in the West yesterday at home.
The Kings weren't able to build any momentum from Kuzmenko's goal in the middle frame in the second period yesterday.
I don't think many Kings players on the ice yesterday against the Blue Jackets from Columbus could feel good about the result the team had on the ice on Monday at Crypto Arena.
"Power play guys are usually your most talented players, so they want to feel good on the power play. They want to score first, for sure, but they want to feel good, they want to make good passes, they want to have opportunities. Even if you don’t score, you still feel like there’s some momentum coming out of it. When it doesn’t happen for you, then the grind 5-on-5 feels that much more difficult."Jim Hiller
Hiller and the Kings needed to build momentum in the standings in the West going into the holiday break for Christmas this week on home ice. I can't see how this team wins many games in the West before the turn of the calendar year in the next couple of weeks.