Another close game late in the third period in clutch time resulted in a loss in the standings in the West in the Pacific Division this fall for Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings (14-8-8) on Wednesday night against the Seattle Kraken (12-10-6) on the road. The Kings and Hiller had a lead late in the game in clutch time in the third period thanks to a nice goal on special teams from forward Kevin Fiala.
Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings suffer another bad comeback loss on the road because of the power play special teams problems
A combination of undisciplined play on special teams on the power play and on the penalty kill and the team giving up too many untimely and costly goals yesterday caused the Kings to suffer another shocking comeback loss on the road last night to Seattle.
The Kings picked up a point in the standings in the Pacific Division to come away with three out of four possible points in the West in this quick two-game road trip early this week this past Monday and Wednesday night.
Hiller gave his takeaways to the media after the Kings lost on special teams yesterday in overtime to the Kraken on he road in Seattle.
Yesterday exacerbated the frustrations and impatience with the special teams power play issues in the West for the Kings.
Here's a look at everything Hiller said to the media postgame following the Kings' 3-2 comeback overtime loss vs. the Kraken yesterday on Dec. 10 on the road in Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena.
Jim Hiller
On his thoughts about the play for the Kings vs. Seattle yesterday on the road
"No goals scored at 5-on-5, right? I thought both teams checked, neither are the most offensive teams, so that probably was on par for what we expected. Lots of penalties, both sides tonight, too many for us. That probably is the difference in the game."
On the Kings not being able to close out the lead in the third period with an edge on the scoreboard vs. Seattle
"There’s three or four different things that could have happened in the last minute of the game that didn’t, so we have to wear it. I thought Forsy played a pretty good game, so it’s too bad that we gave up those chances at the end."
On his thoughts about the penalty kill
"Forsy made some pretty good saves. I thought they moved the puck around pretty well, their team today, Forsy made some big saves. It’s just at the end, the last two go in, so that’s what you’re left with, that’s the sour taste in your mouth, just based on how it ended."
On the Kings taking so many costly penalties yesterday on the road vs. Seattle
"We cleaned that up and then that’s crept back in. You just obviously can’t do it. You can argue with some of the calls but the calls are made. That’s what I say, when you get those types of penalties, they’re 50/50 calls a lot of times, they can go either way, but if you put yourself in that position, then you’ve got to live with the results."
On the impact Joel Armia had on the game for the Kings
"We've talked about him really, I think, from the first few days of training camp, how much he's impressed everybody. Tonight was probably his season high in time on ice. He's got himself up on the first power play. So he's earned all that, though. He didn't start he didn't start with those minutes. He started on the fourth line at you know 11, 12 minutes, and now he is where he is based on merit.
On how the power play performed vs. Seattle
"We were around their net. We got in the zone and we had a lot of pucks bouncing around in front of their net, so we were not perimeter. You’re hoping that one of those just ends up on a stick, we’re around it, but we didn’t get that bounce. The guys executed really well on the on the entry and so we’ll take one, but we had a chance for more."