After going 1-2-1, the Kings look to get back to their winning ways in their second consecutive four-game week
After a two-week NHL hockey hiatus due to the midseason 4 Nations Face-Off, the Kings resumed game play over the weekend on Saturday. Kicking off the unofficial second half of the season with a promising win over the Utah Hockey Club, the regulation victory pushed the team’s point streak to five games. Still sitting pretty in third in the Pacific Division at 30-17-7 with 67 points, the Kings trail the Edmonton Oilers in the standings by five points with the games in hand and are four points ahead of the fourth place Vancouver Canucks, also with three games in hand.
Game Recaps:
2/24: LAK 5 vs. Golden Knights 2
2/26: LAK 2 vs. Canucks 3 (OT)
2/28: LAK 2 @ Stars 6
3/1: LAK 1 @ Blues 4
Notable News From The Week That Was:
It’ll be back-to-back four-game week’s for the Kings as they are scheduled to play in a pair of road games with two home games sandwiched in between this coming week. With the NHL trade deadline looming at 12 PM local time on Friday, March 7th, the Kings’ and their opponent’s roster’s could look different than they do at this moment; but nonetheless we move forward this week’s preview.
Entering Monday’s tilt on a three-game losing streak (0-2-1), the Kings will go up against a Chicago Blackhawks team that just snapped their own five-game losing streak this past weekend. Beginning March with a victory, the Blackhawks will look to put a tough February behind them as they earned just four of a possible 16 points in the month. Doubling up the Anaheim Ducks 6-3 on Saturday, the Blackhawks have Ryan Donato to thank as the eighth year pro notched his third three-point (2-1=3) game of the season and extended his point streak to four games (2-4=6). Donato enters Monday as the Blackhawks leading goalscorer with 21 tallies on the season. With Donato leading the way in goals, it’s the two years removed number one overall draft pick Connor Bedard that leads the Blackhawks in assists and points (16-33=49). While leading his team in points, Bedard has struggled as of late and enters Monday on a five-game pointless drought. One matchup to be wary of heading Monday is in the special teams department. With a Kings penalty kill having surrendered three power play goals in the last three games, they’ll have their hands full against the Blackhawks, who are 8-for-their-last-16 man advantage opportunities and rank sixth in the NHL on the power play at 26.2%. This will be the second of three meetings between the two clubs with one more trip to Chicago scheduled for the Kings later this month.
LA’s next two games will come against a very familiar opponent in the St. Louis Blues, who just defeated the Kings 4-1 over the weekend. Now set to host the Blues at home, once before the trade deadline on Wednesday and once after the deadline on Saturday, their two team’s season series will be started and finished all within a week. The Blues deadline could be active, but it’s unsure if they will be buyers or sellers as they currently find themselves just one point shy of the Western Conference’s final Wild Card spot. Regardless, the Blues depth scoring has been vital to their success this season. While they don’t have point-per-game players right now, they do have four forwards with over 40 points this season, compared to the Kings two. The Kings witnessed the Blues depth scoring firsthand on Saturday as they surrendered goals to two of those 40-plus point players Dylan Holliday and Pavel Buchnevich.
The Kings will then close out the week on the second half of a back-to-back in desert against the division leading Vegas Golden Knights. Currently leading the season series with a 2-1-0 record, the Kings will see the Golden Knights for the fourth and final time this regular season on Sunday. Like the Blackhawks, the Golden Knights also have a threatening power play that ranks third in the NHL at 28.5%. Led by Jack Eichel, the former second overall draft pick, the center has 26 power play points (3-23=26), the eighth most in the NHL, including a pair of power play helpers in the Golden Knights 2-0 Sunday win over the New Jersey Devils. Man advantage or not, Eichel has produced in all phases of the game, also ranking eighth in the NHL in points with 72 (19-53=72). On the other of the ice, it’s been Adin Hill that’s kicked off his post-4 Nations play in dominant fashion. In two starts, Hill is 2-0-0 with one shutout and has stopped 58 of 59 shots since returning with his Team Canada gold medal. Heading into the week, the Golden Knights lead the Kings by eight points in the standings, but have played to more games.
Upcoming games and events this week:
All Kings games can be heard on the ESPN LA App.

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