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Takeaways from the Kings’ 2-1 Overtime Loss to the Bruins
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- Takeaways from the Kings’ 2-1 Overtime Loss to the Bruins
Takeaways from the Kings’ 2-1 Overtime Loss to the Bruins
Coming off the back of a frustrating game against the Sharks the previous night, fans expected the Kings to be better, especially on the power play. The Kings managed to take it to overtime, but ultimately lost 2-1 due to a poor showing in the extra period. Here are some takeaways from last night's showing:
Once again, the power play needs help.
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Coming into the game, LA had only scored on 4 of their previous 43 power plays, which simply isn't good enough. The Kings could not break that streak against the Bruins, coming up scoreless on five power play opportunities, with a full minute of 5-on-3 time also wasted in the first period. I sound like a broken record at this point, but 4 for 48 in the past month is absolutely unacceptable for a team that is supposed to be a contender, and even head coach Jim Hiller echoed this sentiment in the postgame presser.
The power play is costing the Kings valuable standings points, and has been for quite some time. That being said, changing personnel isn't enough. The philosophy of shooting random wrist shots from the point, hoping for a deflection, is fundamentally flawed, and it seems like most passes on the man advantage are done without a purpose.
Another fundamental problem with the power play is the lack of skating speed, and how a misplaced pass, even by a foot or two, turns into a clearance for the opposing team just because of how slow the Kings' top unit is. Speed is extremely hard, if not impossible, to teach, but that just emphasizes how important it is to make the movement on the power play more direct, and wasting time playing catch on the perimeters only serves to create unnecessary turnovers.
Jacob Moverare may be the savior of the third pairing.
How many times has Jacob Moverare come into the lineup and been brilliant for the Kings over the last few seasons? The answer is, quite literally, every single time he's been called upon. The young defenseman looks to have stabilized the third pairing, which was thought to be unsalvageable for most of this season.
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The Brian Dumoulin-Cody Ceci pairing, which played the first 6 games of the season together and was recently reunited until Drew Doughty's injury, has been absolutely dreadful. In 141 minutes at even strength, that pairing had a shot attempt share of 43%, an expected goal share of 36%, and were outscored 9-1.
During that gap, Ceci was put with Mikey Anderson, and they put up solid results. They also played 141 minutes together at even strength, and during that time, their shot attempt share was 53% and their expected goal share was just over 52%. Although that's significantly better than the pairing mentioned above, head coach Jim Hiller didn't want Anderson on the third pairing as he felt it would be a waste of the defenseman's talent.
Fast-forward to Doughty's injury, and Moverare gets a place in the lineup. Although the sample size isn't very large, his pairing with Ceci has been incredible, a stark contrast to the other third pairings that the Kings have iced this season. In 26 minutes, the Ceci-Moverare pairing has a 61.5% shot attempt share and a staggering expected goal share of 67.3%. If this pairing keeps this up, LA might have some difficult decisions to make once Doughty comes back.
Other takeaways:
Penalty Kill:
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The Kings have killed off their last 20 penalties dating back to their game on November 9th against Pittsburgh, and have a 95.5% penalty kill percentage in November. A great bounceback after an absolutely horrid October on the PK.
Alex Turcotte:
After another poor performance against Boston, it wouldn't be surprising to see Turcotte be scratched for a game to reset. Young center Samuel Helenius hasn't played in over a month, and I could see him slotting into that fourth-line center position for a game or two.
Phillip Danault:
The offense still isn't quite there for Danault, but there is noticeably more effort. He drew 3 penalties last night, and near the end of the game, was centering a line between Fiala and Byfield. Could that be something to keep an eye out for?
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