An ugly night on the ice and on the scoreboard for the Los Angeles Kings (29-26-18) on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena vs. the Utah Mammoth (38-30-6) saw them get run out of the building this weekend to start a season-long seven-game homestand. Right from the game's start in the opening frame in the first period yesterday vs. Utah on home ice, the Kings were jumped all over on the scoreboard.
Darcy Kuemper and the Los Angeles Kings dominated by the Mammoth on home ice this weekend on Saturday
The Mammoth took a multi-goal lead into the locker room in the first intermission after the opening frame in the first period, by a score of 3-1 on the scoreboard. The Kings were never able to fight back on the ice or on the scoreboard for any sustained stretch of time. I think it was pretty good that the Kings were able to get out of Crypto.com Arena last night on home ice without allowing over five goals before the empty net by Utah in the final frame in the third period.
This was a bad sight for new interim head coach DJ Smith and the Kings and the coaching staff to play such a lifeless game on the ice and on the scoresheet on home ice to completely lapse at Crypto.com Arena to start a season-long seven-game homestand early this weekend. The Kings didn't look like the team we saw on the ice in this past few weeks this month in March that was playing with so much energy and life on both sides of the ice under Smith.
The question will now be whether the Kings can rebound in the standings in the West in the Pacific Division this regular season this upcoming spring for the postseason in the playoffs. I don't know if the Kings will be able to pull it together enough in the West this regular season in the Pacific Division to bounce back from this bad loss to the Mammoth by four goals on the scoreboard.
Here are the takeaways from the Kings' embarrassing and lifeless 6-2 loss on home ice at Crypto.com Arena on March 28 vs. the Mammoth this weekend.
Rough night for Darcy Kuemper in the opening frame in the first period vs. Utah
The blue line on defense for veteran defenseman Drew Doughty and the Kings in the zone was really bad in this game in the West vs. Utah this weekend on Saturday night. The Kings didn't have any energy or confidence playing in front of Darcy Kuemper in front of the net, which led to him being pulled before the end of the middle frame in the second period.
Utah was 2-for-3 on special teams on the power play on the 5-on-4 man advantage yesterday vs. the Kings on home ice, including a special teams goal against Kuemper and LA in the opening frame in the first period.
"We had no legs, right from the get go. We made it hard on ourselves by playing East/West in the neutral zone and didn’t play fast at all. When you play that way, you allow the other team to get above you and that’s what we do to teams. They were ready right from the get go. We didn’t start on time tonight and before you know it, you’re just chipping it and changing, chipping and changing and we just simply weren’t good enough."DJ Smith
I don't think it's fair to look at the shots on goal at even strength at 5-on-5 play to see how much Kuemper and the Kings in the net were outplayed in this game on the ice.
Kings missed a huge opportunity in the standings in the West
The middle frame in the second period was where the game really got away from Smith and the Kings and the coaching staff on the scoreboard and on the ice on home ice yesterday vs. Utah. Smith and the Kings fell behind by a convincing margin of 5-1 on the scoreboard, including another goal scored by the Mammoth on special teams on the power play on the 5-on-4 man advantage yesterday in the middle of the game on the ice.
"Disappointing. We got down early, all areas of the game we weren’t ourselves tonight. It’s definitely our worst game in the last three, four weeks. As big of a moment as it was, we need more out of our guys and I’m definitely one of them."Drew Doughty
Really the only positive coming out of this game on the ice for the Kings and Smith was the play of forward Adrian Kempe. On the two goals the Kings scored on the scoreboard yesterday vs. Utah on home ice at Crypto.com Arena, Kempe registered multiple points and one goal. He scored points on both of the goals the Kings scored yesterday, including a marker in the final frame in the third period.