This past week had up and down results on the ice for the Los Angeles Kings and head coach Jim Hiller on home ice. In two of the past three games this past week for the Kings, the team picked up points, including a resilient 4-3 regulation win over the San Jose Sharks on the road at the SAP Center on Tuesday night (Oct. 28).
Los Angeles Kings see a decent drop in the Week 4 NHL power rankings after losing two straight games on home ice at Crypto Arena this past week
Kings fans can thank defenseman Brandt Clarke for getting the team the win late on the road against the Sharks, with a late-third period goal in clutch time for LA. The Kings could've easily lost that game against San Jose this past week on the road, with the Sharks more than doubling up LA's shots on goal and the high-danger scoring chances.
In the Kings' past two games in the West, the team's fortunes haven't been as good in terms of success in the win column and in the standings. The Kings salvaged one point from a controversial shootout loss, by a score of 4-3, against the Detroit Red Wings on this past Thursday night (Oct. 30).
The Kings tripled the high-danger scoring chances and doubled the shots on goal edge margin this past Saturday night (Nov. 1) against the New Jersey Devils. Despite having four power play opportunities on special teams and getting around two-dozen scoring chances, the Kings fell to the Devils by a score of 4-1.
Falling to the Red Wings and Devils in a shootout and regulation this past week and last weekend caused the Kings to drop out of the top four teams in the Pacific Division standings in the West.
The Kings have a difficult schedule coming up this week in the West, hosting the defending Presidents' Trophy winner Winnipeg Jets tonight (Nov. 4) at Crypto Arena. And the Kings round up the four-game homestand later this week on Thursday (Nov. 6) against the Florida Panthers at Crypto.com Arena.
The fact that the Kings have played more complete games and looked like the more effective team on the ice and on special teams this past weekend against New Jersey is something positive to take away for Hiller and staff.
"If you look at our overall game, there's some things we didn't like early, didn't play great defensively, started getting our defensive game going. Then we weren't great offensively, turning the puck over too much, and then the last couple games, we didn't turn it over. We forechecked. You saw us play in the ozone, which we hadn't played that much in the ozone."Jim Hiller
Losing two games in a row and still being winless in five games on home ice caused the Kings to drop a few spots in this week's NHL power rankings for Week 4 from The Hockey Writers of this regular season this fall.
The Kings rank 26th in this week's NHL power rankings from THW. LA also ranks in the middle of the pack in the power rankings for teams in the West in the Pacific Division with the Kings.