THN.com/podcast. From The Hockey News Podcast: Recapping a Wild World Juniors Welcome back to the second NHL Stat Pack of 2023, where we dig into some of the most intriguing numbers around the league. This week, we've got Kevin Fiala living up to his All-Star billing on the West Coast while another all-star helps the team that drafted him renew its push for a playoff spot. Meanwhile, out east, the Florida Panthers' post-season dreams are fading, with just under a month to go until they host the 2023 All-Star Weekend. Let's get to it. THN.com/podcast. From The Hockey News Podcast: Recapping a Wild World Juniors KEVIN FIALA POPS OFF AFTER ALL-STAR SELECTION The Los Angeles Kings finished 20th in goals-for last season and managed just 17 goals in their seven-game first-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, which ended with a 2-0 shutout loss. During the off-season, GM Rob Blake went searching for scoring. He made one of the first big moves of the summer when he picked up restricted free agent Kevin Fiala from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a first-round draft pick and defense prospect Brock Faber, then signed the Swiss sniper to a rich eight-year contract extension. This year, the Kings have ridden the crest of the league-wide offensive wave, adding just over one-third of a goal per game. Good thing, too: their goaltending situation was in shambles until 30-year-old minor-leaguer Pheonix Copley rolled in to save the day a month ago. With just 31 games of NHL experience on his resumé before this season, he's now 11-2-0 for Los Angeles this year. If he keeps this up, Copley will deserve his own Stat Pack segment before this season is out. But for now — we focus on Fiala, the 11th-overall pick of the Nashville Predators in 2014, who earned his first invite to the NHL All-Star Game last Thursday at age 26. On the night the selections were announced, Fiala led the Kings with 39 points in 41 games. He was held off the scoresheet in Los Angeles' 5-2 loss to Boston that evening but rebounded with a hat trick as the Kings beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-1 on Saturday. He then added two goals and two assists — all on the power play — as the Kings took care of the Edmonton Oilers by a 6-3 score on Monday. Now with 46 points in 44 games, Fiala is on pace to become the Kings' first point-per-game player since Anze Kopitar posted his career-high 92-point year in 2017-18. The Kings paid a high price for Fiala. So far, he's delivered exactly what they hoped for. THE PANTHERS' ALL-STAR PARTY MAY BE MUTED BY THEIR PLAYOFF PREDICAMENT Coming off their first-ever Presidents' Trophy and their first playoff series win since 1996, the Florida Panthers were expected to keep trending upward this season. The good news for a franchise that has always struggled to draw attention in its market: reported home attendance has risen to 16,280 this season [https://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph.php?tmi=5763], the highest level in a decade and an increase of about 10 percent from last year. The bad news: while the Panthers are a steady 10-6-3 in front of those home fans, they're a rather grim 8-13-1 on the road. Florida has now slipped to 11th place in the Eastern Conference playoff race — six points back of eighth-place Pittsburgh Penguins and with the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres in their way. Sort by points percentage, and the math looks even worse. With a record of 18-19-4 for .488, the Panthers rank below the Detroit Red Wings (.513) and are only a hair ahead of the Ottawa Senators (.487). Under new coach Paul Maurice, Florida's 5-on-5 play remains strong, where they're controlling 53.7 percent of expected goals [https://www.naturalstattrick.com/teamtable.php]. But they're scoring less than last season, surrendering more, and their special teams aren't as strong at either end of the ice. Also, last year, no lead was safe against the Panthers. They were a stunning 14-6-3 when trailing after one period and a solid 11-16-3 when they were behind after two. This season, the comeback spirit has all but evaporated. Florida is 0-11-1 after falling into a first-period hole and 0-16-1 when trailing after 40 minutes. But don't blame newcomer Matthew Tkachuk. With 49 points in 38 games, he could match the career-high 104 points he posted last season in Calgary. He'll also be making his second-career All-Star Game appearance after being chosen as Florida's selection by the NHL. But unless the Panthers get on a significant winning streak, their path to the playoffs is tenuous. That could seriously dampen the party vibe in South Florida for All-Star Weekend in the first week of February. Is this the beginning of a trend? Don't forget Vegas fell shockingly short after hosting last season. HERE COMES NASHVILLE Here's a pattern that's becoming familiar: the Nashville Predators falling out of the playoff picture early, then surging back to snag a spot. The Pittsburgh Penguins currently hold the NHL's longest streak of consecutive playoff appearances [https://records.nhl.com/records/playoff-team-records/appearances/team-most-consecutive-seasons-playoff], at 16 years (and three Stanley Cups). The Predators are tied with the Washington Capitals for second place at eight years. And after shutting out the Ottawa Senators 3-0 on the road on Monday night for their fourth-straight win, the Preds have climbed to within one point of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. They're breathing down the necks of the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, with games in hand, but also have Colorado and St. Louis hot on their heels. It took a while for him to get going, but Juuse Saros is once again proving what a game-breaker he can be. A Vezina Trophy finalist last season, Saros was already on a roll before he earned his second-career All-Star Game selection last week. What better way to celebrate an all-star selection than making a franchise-record 64 saves in a 5-3 win over the powerhouse Carolina Hurricanes? Then, Saros picked up his second shutout of the year against the Sens on Monday night while nudging his save percentage up to .921 for the year. Nashville's team stats are still so-so, and they're one of just a handful of teams that doesn't have a point-per-game scorer in the lineup: Filip Forsberg leads the way with 16 goals and 36 points in 39 games. But if history is any indication, don't expect the Preds to be selling off assets ahead of the trade deadline. After missing out on the playoffs last year due to injury, Saros deserves the opportunity to take a crack at stealing a series.
