LAK AT 13: UNLIKELY, NOT UNLUCKY

MONTREAL, QC — Bonjour from one of my favorite NHL cities in North America, even more enjoyable than my last visit to Canada to cover a hockey game.

While COVID-19 is still among us, the fact that I did not have to sit in a hotel room for 14 days as I did before attending the 2020 Stanley Cup Final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars is another sign that things in the world continue to improve towards the “old normal.”

Like me, the Los Angeles Kings are refamiliarizing themselves with Canada, playing games for the first time north of the border in two seasons. As they prepare for a Thursday meeting with the COVID-ridden Ottawa Senators, they are in the midst of one of the most unlikely winning streaks I have seen.

The last time I checked in, a six-game winning streak seemed close to impossible for Los Angeles. They returned from their first roadtrip of the season beaten and bloodied, losing close games they had opportunity to win and minus two right-handed defensemen including the one defender thought to be irreplaceable, Drew Doughty.

After a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets that followed a familiar script – losing a third period lead and the special teams battle, lacking offense – you couldn’t help but wonder if this season would mirror the prior two campaigns of Coach Todd McLellan’s tenure. The team that walked through the Vegas Golden Knights on Opening Knight had vanished. The diminished roster, affected by Quinton Byfield’s broken ankle and COVID absences subtracting Viktor Arvidsson and Gabriel Vilardi, seemed ill-equipped to reverse the fortunes for a team that was supposed to turn the corner in the fifth season of Luc Robitaille and Rob Blake’s reign.

I’ll pull out a cliché to explain what happened next:

That’s why they play the games.

There is a formula that usually attaches to a significant winning streak in the NHL and if we’ve learned anything from LA’s first baker’s dozen games it’s that this team doesn’t like to follow scripts. Consider the following:

SHUTTING DOWN THE OPPOSITION

The Kings have surrendered two goals or less in this streak and yes, goaltending has been very solid – Cal Petersen dragged his team to overtime in the final minutes of regulation on Tuesday – but it’s the guys just in front of the crease that makes this a surprising stretch.

In the wake of the Doughty and Sean Walker injuries, half the defense is comprised of a player who was on waivers to start the season (Kale Clague), another most fans wish was on waivers (Olli Maatta) and a third that hasn’t scored a goal in 72 games (Alexander Edler). The unit’s effectiveness underscores the steady presence of Matt Roy and the continued progression of Mikey Anderson and Toby Bjornfot (who learned a solid lesson courtesy of Montreal’s Jake Evans), but it’s not a group that strikes fear in the hearts of the opposition. Ever.

The Toddfather succinctly explained why the patchwork is working after the Montreal win.

“We’re playing a pretty good defensive game,” McLellan said. “I think the fact that we’ve lost two pretty good defensemen, it sent a signal to everybody else that we’ve got to tighten it up all over the rink. We commit to that first, and then take our chances at the other end. It might not always be pretty, it might not always be the type of game that you want to watch, but it’s been working for us. We’re going to have to continue with that.”

THE POWERPLAY

The good news: The Kings don’t have the worst road powerplay unit in the NHL.
The bad news: It’s 1-for-22 through six games.

The New Jersey Devils hold the distinction as the only team to not have scored a powerplay goal this season (0-for-15 through four), their 0.0 conversion rate trumps Los Angeles’ 4.6 percentage. This is a part of their game where can draw a direct line to Doughty’s absence but missing Arvidsson and Vilardi extracts two more offensive options with the man advantage.

As presently constituted, the unit’s lack of quality zone entries and the overall precision had me remarking that they are now successfully killing off powerplays. It hasn’t burned them through the streak, but it can’t go on much longer if they are to win consistently.

STARTING EARLY

If you’ve missed the late afternoon starts in Los Angeles, don’t worry this team will wait for you. They’ve obliterated the script that says you must start fast to get a jump on the opposition to win. The Kings have scored twice inside the first 10 minutes of a game this season, the lowest amount in the NHL. They save their best for last – they do have to score to win games, eh? – scoring at least two goals in 11 of 13 and nine of their last 10 games (tying them with Edmonton and the N.Y. Rangers), so no need to sweat the traffic on the 405 to get in front of your TV; settle in, have an early dinner and wait for the later dramatics.

NO REST FOR THE KOPI

I found another script that reads ‘the Phillip Danault signing was going to lessen the heavy minutes Anze Kopitar has logged over the past few seasons.’ Throw that script in the shredder, the captain has averaged 16 seconds MORE this season than last (21:27 v 21:11).

His blazing start contributed to his continued featuring, but Vilardi’s absence coupled with the Byfield delay has made it necessary to plug in Rasmus Kupari and Blake Lizotte – thought to be extra forwards early in the season – as the primary reason for the further elevation of Anze Ice Time. As the wounded return, a downtick should occur, but don’t plan on seeing 18 minutes a night any time soon from the No.1 center.

NO MASTERPIECE THEATER

They haven’t exactly walked through the class of the NHL when it comes to the opponents and more than one of the victories won’t be hung in the hockey version of the Louvre – especially the win against New Jersey – but they don’t award style points in the NHL. Some may call it winning ugly, let’s just say it’s winning effectively.

So, what has worked?

It’s too early to say this team’s winning ways are sustainable over 82 games, but there’s plenty of positives inside the first 13 games.

TEAM RESILIENT

It would have been easy for this team to hang their collective head, blame its bad injury luck and stay in the nether regions of the Western Conference in the early going. In different ways, they found paths to victory by hanging around and seizing opportunities late in games. A key factor in this run is during the times they are being outplayed territorially; they don’t surrender much on the scoreboard. That could be due to. . . .

THE RETURNING KING OF THE CREASE

This was the season Jonathan Quick was going to have a regular view of the crease from the Kings bench. Petersen was given a three-year extension for $5 million per season and McLellan admitted that given Cal’s age and the new deal that kicks in next season, the expectation was the torch would be passed. A reasonable expectation given Quick’s poor 2020-21 season – 2.86 GAA, .898 save percentage – but a funny thing happened on the way to number 32’s relegation.

The Jennings Trophy version of Jonathan Quick has reappeared in the season’s early days. He’s on a personal three-game winning streak and acquitted himself well in the four losses to start the season to the extent that McLellan continued to alternate starts. His play likely gave Petersen more motivation to step up Tuesday night, but even with that effort Quick has been the better netminder.

A QUIET STAR

You’d think Arvidsson’s arrival wasn’t the greatest news for Alex Iafallo, the designated winger to drop off the Kopitar/Dustin Brown line. Lost in the more prominent moves to bring in the former Predator and Danault was the four-year extension given to Iafallo last April. If this season’s start is any indication, the $4 million per he will be paid through 2025 may be one of the best value deals in the history of the franchise. Iafallo was facing questions regarding the “halo effect” of playing with Kopitar and with the prospect of playing with the less-gifted Danault reducing his numbers.

Hello, Halo.

At the start of every season, you always hear about how players plan to improve their game and it was no different with Iafallo. He said he worked on his shot and was committed to shooting more. Perhaps it was a case of underselling Iafallo as an offensive talent in the shadow of Kopitar, but the result is Iafallo being a point-a-game player so far this season.

Danault will never be a big-time goal scorer (his two-goal performance in Toronto came from a total distance of 23 inches – I kid, I kid) but he is facilitating as he did in Montreal allowing Iafallo to be featured in a more offensive light. There is no bigger fan than his coach, lavishing praise on the Buffalo-born winger and challenging him to be a 30-goal scorer.

NO PHIL-IN

The best thing for Phillip Danault was to get the two games against his former team, the Canadiens, out of the way early. The demands from his hometown media were plentiful, the return to the Bell Centre was emotional (including holding his breath in the penalty box as his teammates killed off his late holding infraction) and now he can settle in the role envisioned for him when he was signed to a six-year deal over the summer. He’s played as advertised bringing veteran smarts to the middle that was lacking and while his long-term destiny may be as the 3C if Byfield emerges, the one area of strength on L.A. is the 1-2 defensive punch provided by Danault and Kopitar.

AND MY FAVORITE...

#playthekids

When some were asking for the Toddfather’s head two weeks ago – he doesn’t like youngsters, he ruined Vilardi, get him away from Byfield and Alex Turcotte – they failed to recognize how many kids were in the lineup.

Anderson and Bjornfot have been the most prominent, truly holding their own and giving more when Doughty went down, but the forward wall has been sprinkled with youth as well – Rasmus Kupari (who took big hits in Montreal but kept bouncing back up) and Arthur Kaliyev (his shot will keep him in the NHL as he attempts to improve other parts of his game) may not be featured at present but are gaining invaluable experience with each 60 minutes they play.

Byfield and Turcotte (the former is on track for a Christmas return, the latter doing well in the AHL) may supplement the youth movement as the season lengthens but the group looks to be in a supporting role this season apart from Byfield, the one elite prospect in the organization.

The question that remains – is this a playoff team?

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

The Western Conference is crazy is the season’s early days – the presumed powers, Vegas and Colorado have struggled through injuries and underperformance and the Kings are far from the only team exceeding expectations (Calgary, San Jose and Anaheim on that list). Past the roadtrip that concludes in Saturday in Winnipeg is a seven-game homestand that will go a long way to prove if this run is sustainable. They will have to do it without Doughty – like Byfield, he’s looking at a late December return and this team is far from a powerhouse – the bottom-six is a nightly adventure on the defensive side of the puck – but it’s pluckiness and leadership shown by its healthy veterans and solid job by the coaching staff should have this team in the mix by the next time I write.