Considering everything the Los Angeles Kings have shown us this season, climbing back from a three-goal deficit in a game where they let things get out of control almost immediately would be considered a win. The inability to show up in big games has hung over this group, but what changed against the Nashville Predators last night was the fact that they turned something out of a game that looked lost after the first 20 minutes.
To this point in the season, no other game was as crucial as last night’s against the Predators. Ahead of the Predators by one point in the tight, but embarrassing playoff race that’s taking place in the Western Conference, the Kings had the opportunity to extend that gap to three points. Take advantage of playing a team competing for the same playoff spot, and show up. Instead, both teams sit tied with 79 points each.
“Even if you don’t want to watch (the playoff race) you see it on social media and everywhere so we’re aware of where we stand and what we need to do,” Anze Kopitar said.
The Kings know the stakes at this point in the season, but still haven’t been able to show that on the ice long enough for it to matter. Leaving points on the table when playing a team right in the mix with you isn’t going to cut it, especially knowing that you lose the tiebreaker to every other team vying for the same spot. The Kings have to find a way to string a handful of wins together because Kopitar isn’t ready to call it a career just yet.
“I don’t plan on just playing seven more games,” he said when asked if it had sunk in that these could be the last games he ever plays if they don’t start winning games.
Rough Start Makes Things Difficult
Could you classify that game as a scheduled loss? Sure. The Kings were on the second half of a back-to-back, playing at home where they haven’t been all that great, while the Predators had been resting up since Sunday. Regardless of the situation, the implications that these two points had on the playoff race were way too important for the Kings to come out the way that they did.
Interim head coach D.J Smith said pregame about the importance of getting off to a better start than they did against the St. Louis Blues, where the Kings snuck out a 2-1 win the night before.
“We have to be ready right from the get-go and dictate the pace,” Smith said before the Kings and Predators dropped the puck.
The Kings did the exact opposite: came out with one of their worst periods of the season, and the Predators had a field day with how sloppy and disorganized the Kings looked. Both teams knew the importance of last night, but only one team played like it for the first 20 minutes.
Goaltending continues to be a question mark for the Kings, but more specifically, the struggles from Darcy Kuemper. After Anton Forsberg’s 23-save performance against the Blues, it was Kuemper’s turn to shut the door. Unfortunately, the door was wide open right from the drop of the puck, and letting in a squeaker from a sharp angle less than a minute into the game served as an opening to the Predators’ dominance in the first half of the game.
Sometimes, your best players need to be your best players and drag you back into games, and for the Kings, Adrian Kempe showed up when it mattered most, potting their first two goals of the night and kickstarting the comeback.
Scott Laughton picked up his fourth goal as a King, and Joel Armia finished off a loose puck that snuck through Predators goaltender Juuse Saros to tie the game at four halfway through the third period. At that point, you just knew this game would need extra time because it’s almost tradition for fans inside Crypto.com Arena to be treated with free hockey as the Kings played their league-leading 30th game of the season that needed extra time.
Related: Kings’ Playoff Hopes Still Achievable With 9 Games Left
Give the Kings credit for sticking with it and grinding back to get a point. There was a point in time in the season where there was no shot of the Kings overcoming anything more than a one-goal deficit. There was a shift after the first period, and all it took was a little simplicity. Be more direct and put pucks toward the net. Following up on rebounds and navigating loose pucks for a second opportunity were how the Kings got back on track, and once they got a few goals under their belt, it was the Predators who were on their heels.
“Obviously, you want to get the two points; we didn’t get them…certainly not the start that we wanted, but the fight, the character this group showed is encouraging, and we’re going to need that kind of fight going forward,” Kopitar said. “It’s a playoff type of mentality from here on out if we want to get to the playoffs. A lot of intensity, a lot of desperation, and we just got to do it right from the drop of the puck and right until the very end.”
It’s been a playoff mentality way before last night’s game, but the Kings still remain stagnant. Playing well enough to remain right in the middle of the race, but not being able to take that step further and create distance with other competing teams. The game against the Predators was a missed opportunity just as the two games against the Utah Mammoth a few days ago were.
Luckily for the Kings, they will be given the opportunity again when they play the Predators at home for the second time in three games on Monday night. Before that, though, a date with the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, who have been eliminated from playoff contention.
