The Los Angeles Kings are going to try and get back in the win column on Thursday night against the Chicago Blackhawks. They had their five-game win streak end on Monday against the Minnesota Wild and now play a Blackhawks team that has been near the bottom of the league but they have not been able to beat this season.
On the season, the Kings are currently in third place in the Pacific Division but it isn't out of the realm of possibility that they can challenge the Vegas Golden Knights for the division. One of the reasons for the position they are in is because of the performance of Quinton Byfield, which Anze Kopitar recently recognized according to Zach Dooley.
"“He’s been our best player for quite a while now,” forward Anze Kopitar said. “I think it’s been great. It’s really great to see him confident on the ice and doing all the things that he’s been doing. I guess we just had to wait just a little bit longer than anticipated, but he’s been a sort for this team. He’s been winning us games.”"
This is certainly high praise from Kopitar, who has been one of the Kings' best players for close to a decade and certainly has been their best center. However, Byfield is challenging that title and as Kopitar noted he might already own it.
Quinton Byfield is having a strong finish to the season for the Los Angeles Kings
On the season, he has 17 goals and 23 assists and should certainly set a career-high in goals by the end of the season. He started the season very slow but the past two months have been a different story.
In February, Byfield had 11 assists and led the NHL in the category for that month. While he didn't score a goal against the Wild, he did score in six straight prior to that, including two overtime goals against the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators. Before this stretch, Byfield had only 11 goals in the first 57 games.
For a team that has struggled to score at times, the goal-scoring and playmaking of Byfield has been a huge change for this offense. If the Kings are able to get out of the first round for the first time in close to a decade, it wouldn't be surprising if Quinton Byfield is a big reason for their success.