The Los Angeles Kings had their best win of the season earlier this week as they won in dominant fashion over the Vegas Golden Knights by the final score of 6-3. It looked like they were going to keep that momentum on Saturday and remain undefeated at home after building a 2-0 lead over the Chicago Blackhawks.
However, the Kings fell apart in the third period as they allowed three goals, including one in the final minute of regulation, that would end up going to overtime. Neither team could score in overtime and the Kings would end up coming up short on the shootout.
This unfortunately is becoming a trend for the Los Angeles Kings as they have held some leads late but struggled to close games out. Earlier this season, it was against the Ottawa Senators where they had a two-goal lead twice before losing 8-7 in overtime.
Earlier this week, the Kings were tied with the San Jose Sharks in the third period before losing 4-2. They also had a three goal lead against the Sharks but two goals in the third period by San Jose made that game much closer than it should have been.
After the game today against the Blackhawks, Phillip Danault was asked about this trend and gave a surprisingly honest answer: "We have to learn to play with a lead like that and close out the game. 2-0, we should be like no chance to come back and they didn't have a power play in the third."
Danault is honest but the answer should be concerning for the Los Angeles Kings
It should have been a good night for Phillip Danault, who had his first goal of the season and was on a line with Kevin Fiala and Trevor Moore who collectively played really well. However, this is a pretty veteran team and the idea that they need to learn to play with a lead should be concerning.
The Los Angeles Kings have made the playoffs three straight seasons and with players like Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, Mikey Anderson, Trevor Moore and Trevor Lewis still on the roster the experience is there to avoid these types of collapses.
On top of that, the caliber of opponents that they are losing these games against should also be a concern. The San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks are expected to be near the bottom of the standings by the end of the season. These are points that they need to have if they hope to compete with the Vegas Golden Knight caliber of teams in the Pacific Division.
The Los Angeles Kings will have a chance to turn things around on Monday night as they prepare to play a Nashville Predators team that has only three wins on the season entering Saturday.