The Kings might have fallen flat in the Twin Cities but now they’ll have a bite at each of the Big Apple’s three NHL franchises, beginning with a back-to-back set against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday and the New York Islanders on Friday.
The Kings had earned points in eight of their previous nine games and scored four goals or more in seven of their past eight before stumbling with a 2-1 regulation loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. Where the puck seemed to be drawn to the Kings’ composite blades and nylon nets alike in recent weeks, they out-shot the Wild 34-20 and mounted up the expected goals but still came up short, with Minnesota even having an early score disallowed.
They’ll face a team with tremendous escapability and two-way capability in New Jersey, then another that’s been strong defensively across situations this season on Long Island. The Devils have been top five in the NHL in terms of goals against per game and top 10 in terms of goals for, while the Islanders have leaned heavily on their gritty defense and strong penalty kill.
Kings captain Anze Kopitar scored the Kings’ solitary goal Tuesday and joined Coach Todd McLellan in suggesting a more direct approach offensively than the Kings took at times against the Wild, when McLellan felt they tried to be too fine with their passing.
“Try to simplify, not trying to be too cute, get a lot of stuff towards the net. The goal we scored, it was maybe a foot from the goal line where I got it,” Kopitar said. “Sometimes when things are not going in, just try to get it there and create something off a scramble.”
McLellan mixed and matched his forwards as Tuesday’s match progressed, giving opportunities to some talented players who had been slotted lower in the lineup.
“We have four lines that can score, or a considerable number of players on those lines that can score. Some guys were creating chances, others weren’t, so we were looking for the best offensive combinations we…
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