The Los Angeles Kings' playoff hopes are going to go right down to the wire with critical matchups against the Nashville Predators and Seattle Kraken coming up.
The Los Angeles Kings are in the fight of their life trying to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs this season, which would mark the fifth consecutive post-season appearance, beginning in 2021-22.
But in a way, the playoffs have already begun for the Kings, and the rest of those post-season hopefuls in the Western Conference.
One of those teams is the Nashville Predators, Los Angeles' opponent on Thursday and Monday. These will be two of the Kings' most important outings all season long. In addition to those two affairs with the Predators, the Kings will also meet the Seattle Kraken on April 13, the third-last game of their regular season.
Los Angeles has just one point more than Nashville going into their Thursday game, and has three points more than Seattle, but the Kraken have a game in hand on the Kings.
They also need to be wary of Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks, as they've won their last three games. Now, the Sharks are one point behind the Kings with a game in hand on them.
While every game for Los Angeles at this point is critical, those three highlighted contests can extend or end the Kings' season, the principle of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Kings' 2-1 overtime victory against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday was massive, and it pushed them back into a playoff position. It's the first time they've been in a wild-card position since March 20.
The game against the Blues was tight-checking and impersonated a playoff atmosphere in some ways. Each shift was taken with caution, but with a high-level of intensity and attention to detail. That's why it required another extra frame, and was 0-0 for most of the evening.
There's a good chance that a handful of the remaining games in the Kings' regular season will wind up that way. Especially because of Los Angeles' final eight outings, five of which are against Pacific Division opponents.
Artemi Panarin (Sergei Belski-Imagn Images)To add to the drama of this final stretch and the implications of this push for the post-season, the Kings have one of the worst tiebreakers in the NHL. With only 19 regulation wins this season, they'll have to beat opponents in the standings by points outright. They have the second-fewest regulation wins in the league, only the last-place Vancouver Canucks have fewer.
Despite being on track for their worst season since the 2020-21 campaign, the Kings will need to bring their playoff-style game immediately in hopes of getting into the post-season.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.