The Kings could close out a perfect three-game homestand by prevailing over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday after winning their first two games by a combined 12-2 tally.
While the Kings will seek their third consecutive victory, the Bolts have already won five consecutive contests as part of a broader 8-2-1 stretch to solidify their wild-card position. The Kings sit two points ahead of Vegas for third in the Pacific. Should they retrocede that spot, they’ll almost certainly drop below Nashville, which has been hotter than its city’s chicken during a 16-game points streak (14-0-2) that has hammered down the top wild-card berth in the West.
In short, Saturday’s confrontation will be critical despite its status as an interconference clash, the Kings’ last of the season.
“They’re in a race, too, so it should be a really good hockey game,” said Kings interim coach Jim Hiller, who coached against Tampa in two conference finals as a New York Islanders assistant and with three different Eastern franchises overall. “I have a lot of history with Tampa; I’ve got a lot of respect for their team.”
Like the Islanders, whose six-game winning streak the Kings snapped March 11, and the Minnesota Wild, whose eight-game point streak ended against the Kings on Wednesday, Tampa Bay gives them a shot to heap cold water on a hot opponent.
That’s something the black-and-silver-clad gladiators have relished of late, through what Hiller called a mix of “preparedness and desperation.” Both qualities were exhibited during a scorching start against the Wild in a 6-0 cakewalk.
“When you see a team coming in that’s going good, you’d like to think you have to dial it up more,” Hiller said. “You’d like to think about that level every night, but there are nights in an 82-game season where you just aren’t, but yeah, we definitely like the response here recently.”
The Kings were more dialed up thanks in part to the presence of Viktor Arvidsson, whom…
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