The Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the NHL are in the stretch run of the regular season and playoffs are the focus. For most of the season, the Kings have been in a playoff spot but as of late a division crown has become a real possibility.
As of Monday, the Vegas Golden Knights are leading the Pacific Division with 86 points, while the Kings are only five points back. However, the Golden Knights have played two more games than the Kings, and when looking at point percentage and the upcoming schedule, it has the potential to get much tighter.
This season, the Kings have a points percentage of .623, while the Golden Knights are a few percentage points ahead at .642. If the points percentage holds, then the Golden Knights would win, but diving into the upcoming schedule could paint a different picture.
Los Angeles Kings need to take advantage of the number of home games remaining
For the rest of the season, the Golden Knights have seven home games and eight road games with point percentages of .750 and .530, respectively. When taking into account the Golden Knights would be on pace to finish with 105 points.
However, the Los Angeles Kings have 11 home games and only six road games and have the best home record in the entire NHL. The points percentage when looking at just the home games is .833, but the road games are significantly worse at .443.
When considering the remaining games, the Kings are on pace to finish with 104 points but if they could win every remaining home game, then the points total jumps to 108.
There is no question that the Los Angeles Kings are going to have to take care of business and win the games they are supposed to. They are still five points behind the Vegas Golden Knights, and of course, the Edmonton Oilers can't be forgotten. But it seems like Vegas might be slipping as they have lost four of their last five games, with their last two being an overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres and then a 3-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
It would be a pretty historic season for the Kings if they were to win the division as they haven't accomplished that in over 30 seasons and only once in their entire franchise history. The division crown might not be decided until the final games of the regular season but the Los Angeles Kings have certainly put themselves in great position.