The Los Angeles Kings' results in the win column early this regular season haven't met expectations in the Pacific Division this fall in early-to-mid October at home. Jim Hiller and the Kings are probably playing well enough to deserve a record better than 1-3-2 over the long term for the entire regular season in the 2025-26 campaign.
Pacific Division has three teams in the basement of this week's power rankings, including the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames from the West
Costly mistakes, missed opportunities, and discipline issues have contributed to the Kings' struggles for success in the win column early this regular season this fall.
"I think the encouraging part is we haven’t given up. People get on us for not being able to score goals. We’ve come back and scored multiple goals, but there’s no question we just have to be better."Jim Hiller
Jim Hiller and the Kings have missed multiple opportunities to win games in overtime and the shootout early this regular season, including this past week in overtime and a shootout against the Carolina Hurricanes at home last weekend and the Minnesota Wild on the road last Monday.
There are multiple excuses the Kings could give, but the team has struggled to play a full 60 minutes on the ice this season in early-to-mid October at home.
The Kings just need to make a couple of tweaks and the discussion and hype around this team will completely change going into a critical upcoming road trip in the Western Conference this week, starting on Tuesday night (Oct. 21) against the St. Louis Blues.
The other side of the conversation for the Kings regarding the success in the win column early this week following the first couple of weeks of the regular season this fall is the fact that this team is also very close from being winless. Kings' fans would be pressing the panic button right now early this regular season if the team had a record of 0-6-0 after the early-October start this fall.
Hiller and the Kings looked great when they jumped out to a multi-goal 2-0 lead on the scoreboard early in the game in the first period against the Pittsburgh Penguins this past week to start the two-game homestand last Thursday.
Every game the Kings has played has involved some sort of blown lead or multi-goal comeback, which often results in LA playing in overtime or the shootout against quality opponents on the ice.
The Kings have struggled to match its success in the win column from this past regular season in the NHL Power Rankings. LA dropped quite a few spots in this week's power rankings, according to The Hockey Writers.
LA is down over a dozen spots week-over-week, dropping to No. 29 in this week's power rankings. Last week, the Kings ranked No. 15 in the initial NHL power rankings early in the regular season.