The Week That Was
The Kings wrapped up their season-long seven-game road trip this past week with a well-traveled four-game slate. Going 1-1-2 on the week, the Kings put together an impressive four-game point streak during the middle of the week, but Sunday regulation loss resulted in being passed up in the division standing by the Edmonton Oilers. Now holding a record of 19-10-5, the Kings have 43 points, trail the Oilers by one point and the Vegas Golden Knights by four points.
Game Recaps:
Notable News From The Week That Was:
- Vladislav Gavrikov's five-assist (0-5=5) week led the Kings offensively. Gavrikov now has 16 points (2-14=16) in 34 games this season and ranks second among Kings defensemen in scoring, trailing only Brandt Clarke (3-16=19).
- Anze Kopitar’s three-point week keeps him atop the team lead in points. Kopitar now has 37 points (10-27=37) in 34 games, four points clear of Adrian Kempe. The captain’s 37 points ranks tied for 22nd in the NHL.
- Darcy Kuemper went 1-0-2 this past week, moving his record to 8-2-5. Kuemper stopped 74 of 83 shots faced in the three games combined and has earned the Kings at least a point all six starts since returning from injury.
- The Kings power play went 1-for-6 in the four games, moving up two places and ranking 26th in the NHL (15.9%).
- The Kings penalty went 7-for-8 in the four games, maintain the 11th rank in the NHL (81.7%).
The Week That Is
Happy holidays Kings fans! The Kings will be back at home this week, but you’ll have to wait until the weekend to see them with the league-wide holiday break taking place during the week. The Kings will play in their sixth set of back-to-back’s this weekend and it’ll come against a team they’ll see for the first time and a team they just saw.
The weekend will begin with the Kings reuniting their rivalry with the Oilers. Kicking off what will be the first of four meetings between the two clubs this season, the Kings and Oilers will trade off hosting home games with the Oilers closing out the season series at home in the penultimate game of the season for the Kings on April 14th.
Coming off of a Game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup finals, the Oilers got off to a rather slow 6-8-1 start to the season. Since then, the Oilers have notched a league-best 31 points since November 9th, going 15-4-1 and have averaged 3.90 goals per game while outscoring their opponents by 28 goals. Just as impressive, during this extended hot streak the Oilers penalty kill has been a difference maker, ranking second in the NHL at 88.1%. Still rolling, the Oilers will enter LA on Saturday on a three-game winning streak and have defeated the Kings in seven of the last eight games (playoffs included). Leading the way for the Oilers currently is Leon Draisaitl, who has ranks first in the league with 24 goals and second in points with 52 (24-28=52). Draisaitl is currently riding a nine-game point streak (7-13=20) and has points in 17 of his last 20 games (15-21=36). Alongside him, Connor McDavid isn’t far behind offensively, trailing Draisaitl by just three points this season (15-34=49). Like Draisaitl, McDavid is also on a nine-game point streak (3-18=21) and points in 18 of his last 20 game (11-30=41).
One night later, the Kings will see the Philadelphia Flyers for the second time in 10 days. Having just defeated the Flyers 7-3 in Philadelphia thanks to a four-goal third period, the Kings will be aiming for a season series sweep as it’s the second and final meeting between the two clubs this season. It was Tyson Foerster that was a pain in the Kings side last week, notching two goals and three points. Foerster’s two-goal second period against the Kings gave the Flyers a brief lead in game before the Kings ultimately prevailed. Despite being held off the scoresheet against the Kings last week, Calder Trophy front runner Matvei Michkov remains dangerous. Michkov is currently on a career long five-game pointless drought, but leads all rookies in scoring with 27 points (11-16=27) in 32 games. Having allowed seven goals to the Kings last week, that should come by no surprise as the Flyers ranks 30th in the NHL in goals against (3.56 GF/GP).
Upcoming games and events this week:
All Kings games can be heard on the ESPN LA App.
