On Monday, the Los Angeles Kings had one of their biggest games of the season against the Vegas Golden Knights. That is the team they are chasing in the Pacific Division and split the first two games of the season.
After entering the third period down 2-1, the Los Angeles Kings would score four straight goals and come away with an impressive 5-2 win on their home ice. They were able to do that due in large part to these three players and their performance on Monday.
Quinton Byfield joins elite Los Angeles Kings company
Quinton Byfield entered this season with really high expectations and he didn't meet those early in the season. However, over the past few weeks, it has been a different story and Monday night against the Golden Knights was another example of that.
Byfield would finish the game with four assists and is the fifth player in Los Angeles Kings' history to have a four-assist game at 22 years old or younger. The other players in this group are some of the best to ever play for the Kings in Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Luc Robitaille and Butch Goring.
As mentioned, Byfield has been playing much better as of late and this game is just another example of his improved performance. In February, he has 10 assists and in only six games has had multiple assists in three of them.
Darcy Kuemper ties Los Angeles Kings record
Quinton Byfield wasn't the only player making Kings' history on Monday night as goalie Darcy Kuemper tied a record that has been in place for over 30 years. According to the Los Angeles Kings PR, Kuemper has now recorded eight straight wins at home and tied Kelly Hrudey, who set the record over the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons.
This is not the first record that Kuemper has tied this season as early in the season he had10 straight games where he recorded at least a point and tied Robb Stauber who set the record in the 1992-93 season.
Darcy Kuemper is playing great hockey in his second stint with the Los Angeles Kings. This season he is 18-6-6 and has a goals against average of 2.21 and a save percentage of .918, both of which rank fourth in the NHL.
Kevin Fiala continues his impressive February
Similar to Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala was searching for answers earlier this season and was very inconsistent. However, he has seemingly turned that corner and February has been his best month of the season and he doesn't look to be slowing down any time soon.
In only six games in February, Fiala has seven goals and nine points. These are already his highest monthly totals of the season even though he played at least 10 games in each of the prior month. There is certainly a huge difference from January when he had only two goals and five assists in 13 games.
Around the end of January, Jim Hiller understood the concern around Kevin Fiala but urged patience as he felt like he was about to turn a corner. It is hard to imagine that Hiller expected even this level of performance from Fiala but it has been a difference-maker for the Los Angeles Kings and one of the reasons they have secured at least one point in every game in February.