The Week That Was
The Kings went 2-2-0 this past week to move two points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers for second place in the Pacific Division. Going 2-1-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road, the Kings continued their great play at Crypto.com Arena and are now 27-4-4 at home. Still maintaining an NHL-leading .829 point percentage on home ice, the Kings still have six of their nine remaining games in the regular season at home.
Game Recaps:
Notable News From The Week That Was:
- The Kings power play went 4-for-15 in the four games. The Kings power play remains ranked 28th (16.7%).
- The Kings penalty kill went 10-for-13 across the three games. Their penalty remains eighth place in the NHL at 81.5%.
The Week That Is
Coming off of back-to-back four-game weeks, the Kings will have just three games on their slate this week. Set to play in one road game with a pair of home games sandwiched on each side, the Kings will close out two season series during the week before hosting one of the most important home games of the season this coming Saturday.
The Kings week begins on Tuesday when they welcome in the Western Conference’s top team, the 51-19-4 Winnipeg Jets. Having defeated the Jets in both of their previous meetings this season, the Kings will be looking to be the only team in the NHL to defeat the Jets three times this season come Tuesday night. The Jets will be shorthanded come Tuesday as they’ll be without former King Gabriel Vilardi. Vilardi, 25, who last appeared on March 23rd suffered an upper body injury and has been deemed week-to-week. Even without the 27-goal scorer in Vilardi, the Jets are still lethal offensively. With two 30+ goalscorers in Mark Scheifele (36) and Kyle Connors (38), and averaging 3.45 goals for per game (3rd in NHL), the Jets enter Tuesday in good form having won each of their last three contests. On the other end of the ice for the Jets stands the two-time and soon-to-be three time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck. Leading the NHL in every major goaltending category; wins (43), GAA (2.01), SV% (.925) and shutouts (7), Hellebuyck is the backbone behind the NHL’s top defensive team in the NHL, averaging just 2.32 goals against per game as a team. This will be Winnipeg’s first of a three-game West Coast road trip.
The Kings will head to Salt Lake City following Tuesday’s heavyweight tilt and will take on the Utah Hockey Club. Having lost three of their last four games, Utah enters the week yet to be eliminated from the playoffs but are nine points shy of the final Western Conference Wild Card spot. Led by leading scorer Clayton Keller, the former seventh overall pick in the 2016 draft is on the cusp of his second career point-per-game season. With 79 points (24-55=79) in 73 games, Keller leads Utah in assists and points. Though struggling to find the back of the net as of late, ahead of Keller in the goalscoring department for Utah is Dylan Guenther. Taken one selection after Brandt Clarke in the 2021 draft, Guenther has notched a career-high 26 goals and 25 assists this season. Looking to rekindle his early season success and help a Utah team that last just two total goals in their last three losses last week, Guenther too has two goals in his last nine games. Unknown as to who the Kings will see in the Utah net, there’s a chance that the former Kings third round draft pick in 2017 Matthew Villalta could be that guy. Following Connor Ingram’s entrance of the NHL’s Players Assistance Program in March, Villalta was recalled to Utah. Yet to appear in an NHL game this season, Villalta has two career NHL starts to his name, both coming last season. Despite this being their first trip to Utah this season, the Kings will be looking for a season series sweep of Utah come Thursday having defeated the NHL’s newest franchise 3-2 and 5-3 at home in late October and late February.
The Kings final game of the week comes Saturday afternoon back at Crypto.com in what will be the third of four meetings between the Kings and Edmonton Oilers. Currently separated by only two points in the standings, Saturday’s game will be pivotal in the battle for the second seed and home ice advantage in the first round of the upcoming playoffs. As it stands, the Kings and Oilers are on track to meet for the fourth consecutive time in the first round of the playoffs. The one advantage the Kings can take into this year’s potential playoff meeting is home ice. Leading the Oilers by those two points, the Kings can further extended their cushion over the Oilers come Saturday. If they’re going to do so they’ll have to slow down the NHL’s leading goalscorer Leon Draisaitl. Currently without his running mate Connor McDavid, Draisaitl enters the week coming off of a two-goal performance where he reached the 50-goal mark for the fourth time in his career. As for the status of McDavid, head coach Kris Knoblauch announced that McDavid won’t travel with the Oilers for the start of their four-game road trip, but could return during the trip. The Kings are game three of four on their road trip with stops in Las Vegas on Tuesday and San Jose on Thursday preceding the Saturday tilt. Prior to his injury on March 20th against the Winnipeg Jets, McDavid was riding a 13-game point streak (4-15=19) and had 90 points (26-64=90) in 63 games this season. During McDavid’s four-game absence it’s been the duo of defensemen Darnell Nurse (0-4=4) and Evan Bouchard (0-4=4) that have led the team in scoring. Right behind them, it’s been Ryan Nugent-Hopkins that has potted a team-leading three goals during that stretch. Following Saturday’s meeting, the Kings and Oilers will face off once more in Edmonton on April 14th
Upcoming games and events this week:
- 4/1 vs. Winnipeg Jets @ 7:30 (FanDuel Sports Network West)
- 4/3 @ Utah Hockey Club @ 6:00 PM (FanDuel Sports Network West)
- 4/5 vs. Edmonton Oilers @ 1:00 (FanDuel Sports Network West)
All Kings games can be heard on the ESPN LA App.
