On Wednesday, the NHL announced the regular season schedule for the Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the league for the upcoming 2025-26 regular season. There are always challenges over the course of the season, especially for the Kings, who have an extended road trip around the end of January due to the Grammys at Crypto.com Arena.
However, what will probably be the toughest stretch for the Kings is going to be at the worst time, when they are probably tired and competing for a playoff spot. The final five games of the season are over eight days, and three of those games are on the road.
This stretch begins with a home game against the Vancouver Canucks followed by the final home regular season against the Edmonton Oilers, a team they probably will be competing with in the standings.
LA Kings end the regular season with three straight road games
With only one day off after that Oilers' game, the Kings hit the road to close the season and have three straight road games. It starts with games on consecutive nights against the Seattle Kraken and the Vancouver Canucks.
The Kings will get another day off before the final game of the regular season, a road game against the Calgary Flames.
It is going to be exceptionally challenging with the road games over that final stretch, and having that many games over an eight day period. On top of that, each of those five games are against division rivals and they could have even bigger implications for playoffs and standings within the Pacific Division.
Last season, the Kings were fortunate to have second place locked up with a few games to spare. It allowed them to rest some of their players down the stretch. If they can do that again, it certainly limits the impact of this stretch, but if not, this will be a really tough way to close out the season.