The Los Angeles Kings had a pretty good week of hockey following a disappointing loss to the Chicago Blackhawks last weekend. They would go on the road to play back-to-back games against the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild.
The Kings would surprisingly come away with four points with their first shutout win of the season with a final score of 3-0 over the Predators followed by a 5-1 win over the Wild. They would return back to Los Angeles for a home game against the Vancouver Canucks that they would come up short by a final score of 4-2 but it was going to be tough with their third game in four nights in three different cities.
What the Kings showed this week was enough to continue to move them up in the power rankings across NHL.com, ESPN, and Bleacher Report with the consensus being this is a Top 10 team in the NHL.
NHL.com Power Rankings
Current Ranking: 9
Previous Ranking: 14
The voters at NHL.com looked at the current roster of every team in the Top 16 and tried to identify which players are destined for the Hall of Fame. It shouldn't be much of a surprise that Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty were the two players mentioned.
Both players have had impressive careers that have included two Stanley Cup victories and numerous individual awards. It is notable that the Kings have been able to move up these rankings without one of those players in Doughty, who has missed the beginning of the season due to an ankle injury.
Once he does return, the Kings should only improve in the second half of the season.
Bleacher Report Power Rankings
Current Ranking: 8
Previous Ranking: 12
The Kings have unfortunately spent a lot of time on the road to begin the season but as noted in the Bleacher Report's power rankings, their five road wins is currently the second most in the NHL. However, they have also played the most road games of any team with 10 road games entering Friday.
ESPN Power Rankings
Current Ranking: 9
Previous Ranking: 13
Similar to Bleacher Report, the Kings moved up four spots in ESPN's power rankings from 13th last week to ninth. This week's edition on ESPN looked at the over/under line for points in the preseason and how each team is currently pacing against that.
It might be surprising that the Los Angeles Kings are actually pacing ahead considering how inconsistent they have been as their current pace is 103.9 points. This is seven points more than the preseason point total of 96.5.
When considering the amount of road games and being able to start the season the way they have without Drew Doughty, it wouldn't be surprising to see them break 100 points by the end of the season.