In the season's first two games, head coach Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings found themselves having to climb out of holes on the scoreboard later in contests thanks to costly and untimely penalties called against them in the game's first two periods. Just look at the Kings' loss in the home opener this past Wednesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Discipline issues must be resolved for Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings to be among the contending teams in the West and the Pacific Division this regular season
The Kings are the only team in the NHL early this fall in the regular season to have gone on the penalty kill a double-digit number of times this campaign.
On Wednesday, the Kings opened the door to the Golden Knights tying up the game on the scoreboard at a critical juncture of the game late in the second period. A major five-minute penalty taken by Alex Turcotte late in the game's second period against the Golden Knights gave Vegas a golden opportunity to get back in the game before the final frame in the third period.
The fact that Alex Laferriere added more fuel to the fire, taking another penalty to put the Kings at a 5-on-3 disadvantage on special teams late in the second period allowed the Golden Knights to score a second power play goal and tie the game up the scoreboard before the third period.
Having to go on the penalty kill with the special teams unit a dozen times is the most the Kings have had to kill penalties in the first two games of the regular season in the last decade for LA (per StatHead).
Hiller and the Kings also made some critical mistakes at costly times early in the game in the home opener against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night (Oct. 7). The Kings were constantly setting themselves back in their own defensive zone on Tuesday against the Avs, allowing a lethal Colorado power play to get a whopping six opportunities against LA's penalty kill unit on special teams.
The Avs scored the eventual insurance goal to put the game completely out of reach against the Kings, going up by a comfortable margin of 4-0 on the scoreboard on a power play goal from Martin Necas early in the game's third period. The game's first goal that Necas scored early on in the second period to gave Colorado momentum on the ice and on the scoreboard came right after a Kings penalty expired within the first 30 seconds or so of that frame in the second.
I would be remiss if I didn't give some credit to the Kings' penalty kill unit in the home opener against the Avs. The Kings were impressive on special teams on the penalty kill on Tuesday, killing off 5-of-6 power play opportunities for a lethal Avs power play unit that features superstars like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar on the blue line in the offensive zone.
Special teams almost doomed the Kings' chances in the thrilling 6-5 shootout win over the Golden Knights on Wednesday in the back end of back-to-back games earlier this week. Despite the Kings jumping out to an early 3-1 lead on the scoreboard early in the game's second period, LA gave up four straight goals to the Golden Knights (including two on the power play). In total, the Kings had five more penalties they had to kill than they had opportunities to run the power play in the offensive zone vs. Vegas a few nights ago.
The Kings have allowed at least nine goals in the regular season's first two games this fall for the first time since the 2019 campaign.
Now, special teams has been a two-way street for the Kings early this regular season for Hiller and the coaching staff in LA. The Kings scored a crucial goal to get themselves back in the game late in the third period in clutch time a few nights ago against the Golden Knights, thanks to a huge shorthanded goal from Trevor Moore.
Considering how much proven experience and veteran leadership the Kings have in this locker room and on the roster this regular season, it shouldn't be much of an issue for Hiller and staff to fix the untimely and undisciplined penalties being called against this team on the ice.