Having stolen a point against a non-conference opponent, the Kings will now have to confront the team that just leapfrogged them in the Pacific Division standings.
Oh, and it happens to be the hottest squad in the Western Conference.
They’ll welcome the Seattle Kraken Tuesday, which has collected 21 of a possible 24 points over its last 12 games, the best mark in the West during that stretch. It has kept pace with scorching Boston (winners of 15 of 17) and New Jersey (15 of 16) in the East. Balanced scoring has been a key –– four different forwards led by Andre Burakovsky’s 13 points are in double digits over the span of a dozen games –– and the Kraken rank fifth in five-on-five goals across the course of the season.
By contrast, the Kings have been leaning increasingly hard on their power play of late, which combined with goalie Jonathan Quick to earn them a point they may not have deserved after a sloppy start Sunday. Their second unit scored both goals in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators. In the past two weeks, the Kings have tied for the second-best conversion rate in the NHL at a staggering 38.5 percent.
“(Assistant Coach) Jimmy Hiller’s been doing some really good things with our power play and the tree is starting to bear some fruit,” Coach Todd McLellan said. “Unless there’s a real strong work ethic to it, it doesn’t matter who you bring in or what he’s trying to do with the group. Our power play has had some good work ethic lately and it’s getting rewarded.”
Hiller assuming control of the power play is not the only transformative factor for the Kings in that area. Offseason acquisition Kevin Fiala and center Phillip Danault have each contributed six power-play points, while Viktor Arvidsson has seven to put him one shy of his total from all of last season. Danault’s half dozen already represent a career high, as he was not deployed frequently with the extra man until late last season. His creativity, body positioning, puck retrieval skills and touch near the net made an instant and enduring impact.
Danault and defenseman Sean Durzi, who quarterbacks the second grouping, have also been aided by the finishing ability of winger Arthur Kaliyev, who netted both goals Sunday. He leads the Kings in power-play points with eight, six of them goals. His team-topping 12 power-play goals since making his debut two seasons ago are all the more impressive given that he only played one game in 2020-2021, in which he did not score a power-play goal, before spending the next three months back in the minors. For comparison, the Kings’ next productive power-play goal-scorer has been Adrian Kempe, who has played 45 more games than Kaliyev since the Uzbek-American and his heavy shot entered the league.
“Teams that have that element of a shot from there, that can score from distance or just power it by a goaltender, you have to respect it, and it can open up space for other players. If you don’t have it, they can cheat. They don’t have to worry so much about that side,” McLellan said.
“I think you only have to look at number eight in Washington to see how that works. I’m not saying that Arthur is (Alex) Ovechkin, by no means, maybe later on in his career he’ll get there, but they both have that element of a shot from that spot.”
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Another power-play contributor for the Kings, Gabe Vilardi, missed Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury he sustained in a 5-2 win at San Jose Friday. With his absence, the opening-night third line of Alex Iafallo (lower body) and Quinton Byfield (conditioning in minors) was unavailable to the Kings.
Center Anze Kopitar was trending on social media after the game, mostly receiving heat for failing to disrupt a pass from Tim Stutzle that set up the game-winning goal. A missed mark by Kempe and an ill-fated pinch by defenseman Drew Doughty contributed perhaps more significantly to the goal by Claude Giroux.
Kopitar did lose the opening faceoff to Giroux, however the Kings’ longest tenured player has also been their most effective in the circle. Kopitar ranks in the top 5 league-wide in both faceoff percentage and the total number of draws won this season. McLellan recently explained why he’s continued to lean on Kopitar in critical defensive situations, and much of that rationale could be applied to the two-way tension of three-on-three overtime.
“He’s been our best faceoff guy; we want him in those situations. He is calm and, you know what, he is so strong,” McLellan said earlier this season.
Seattle at Kings
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/Radio: Bally Sports West/IHeartRadio