Kings Were Sloppy On Special Teams Against the Panthers

LOS ANGELES — The Kings were clawed out by the Panthers 2-1. Los Angeles remains win-less through the first three games.

Six penalties were committed by the Kings tonight, and they accumulated for 17 minutes in the box. It was the second time in only three games that the Kings had given up six penalties in a game.

Of the six penalties, three of them came from defensemen Brandt Clarke and Joel Edmundson. From the two penalties Clarke committed, he spent six minutes in the box. While Edmundson spent five minutes in the box from his penalty.

When 11 minutes were spent in the penalty box by the second-pair defensemen, the Kings struggled. Especially since the loss time from Clarke and Edmundson, disrupted Los Angeles' rhythm on offense.

Clarke and Edmundson are important factors in the offense, particularly the power play. The two skaters recorded the most time on the power play tonight, but the lack of rhythm harmed them. The Kings penalties translated to the power play missing the momentum needed.

Los Angeles had five power play opportunities this game but failed to score once. Even when the Kings had a 5-3 man advantage, Los Angeles couldn’t deliver a goal on special teams.

"The goal of the power play is not only to score but to build momentum for the team,” Alex Laferriere said. “If [we] were out there and not able to score, we want to make that momentum positive, and we weren’t able to do that."

Similar to the game in Colorado where Los Angeles had four power-play chances but failed to score. In both matches where the Kings had six penalties, it hindered their momentum on power plays.

Special teams play hand in hand. When the Kings are sloppy with penalties, they aren’t in a rhythm. Power plays are affected by conditions and when time is lost for the Kings, they struggle to execute.

Although it was a disorganized performance on special teams, there is still belief in the Kings locker room. Execution and limiting errors are the ingredients for Los Angeles to hit their stride.

“Momentum really shifted on us when we couldn’t get that PP going. Yeah, we definitely played poorly, and we've lost three now,” Drew Doughty said. “I'm still confident in what we're building, and I think we’ve been playing better each game.”

Despite the loss, the Kings have allowed fewer goals, each time through the first three games. After giving up 8 goals to the Avalanche and 5 goals to the Sharks, the Kings only allowed 2 goals to the Panthers.

There has been improvement since the first game but tonight was still a sloppy performance from the Kings. Los Angeles must stay out of the penalty box and find a boost to the power play. This game against the Panthers exposed the flaws that the Kings need to address from the special teams.