Jimi Hendrix might have inadvertently summed up the Kings’ 48 games prior to the NHL All-Star break when he wrote that “manic depression is a frustrating mess.”
They went 16-4-4 in their first two dozen games, soaring through a period that saw them almost completely unfettered by injuries as they ascended to top of the leaderboards for goals, goals against and points percentage in the West.
Since, they’ve won just seven of 24 games and only three of their past 17, leading to a coaching change and some hand-wringing from general manager Rob Blake, whose moves hemmed him in literally from Day 1 of free agency, let alone the season itself.
Now, as first-time pro bench boss Jim Hiller moves into his new role as head coach and a former top man, D.J. Smith, joins the staff as an assistant, the Kings will seek to maintain their tenuous postseason position by actually playing like a playoff team again in a season before which team president Luc Robitaille said “the goal is to win it all.”
“We have 34 games left. Our job is to get into the playoffs,” Blake said Monday, shoving the goalposts forward. “Our team was built and assembled to get into [the] playoffs, and that’s what we need to do. So, that will be judged on wins and losses.”
What’s been going well?
Hiller spearheaded an about-face on the power play last season that awakened the Kings from a profound, years-long slumber with the man advantage. While their power play has been average in 2023-24 – Viktor Arvidsson’s injury in training camp as well as the departures of Gabriel Vilardi and Sean Durzi, coupled with pricey pickup Pierre-Luc Dubois’s pitiful two power-play points, have all contributed to its decline – the penalty kill has picked up some of the slack.
Even as the Kings’ typically strong discipline – penalty differential had been a strong suit under McLellan – broke down in a smattering of ill-timed penalties, many in the offensive zone, the PK remained…
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