One win in their last five doesn't sit well with the Kings, who have now lost back-to-back games in 'uncharacteristic' fashion. The concerns are more pronounced in the two past games, whereas the other losses came in tightly contested affairs.
In Seattle, they conceded the first goal and allowed 15 shots on goal in the first frame. Against Pittsburg, they conceded the first three goals of the game and allowed 12 shots on goal in the first frame. These rates are alarming for one of the best defensive and suppressive shot teams in the league.
Two losses against opponents outside the playoff picture should cause some concern for a team that was on a meteoric rise during December and went into a brief period of Darcy Kuemper's dominance to start January. The offense has completely dried up and has gotten three games of powerplay goals (albeit Kevin Fiala's in Vancouver came off the rush as he exited the penalty box) from a man advantage that is amongst the worst in the league.
Head Coach Jim Hiller talked about the aspect of playing in front of an emotional Los Angeles crowd due to the natural disaster but also the disappointment of a performance delivered by the team itself:
-"Disappointed. Just disappointed and on a night like tonight. I can tell you, probably count maybe only five times I've been disappointed in our team this season. Tonight is one of them, maybe the most."
The secondary scoring has whittled with the loss of Alex Laferriere, who has been absent. The Phillip Danault line continues to be a toss-up regarding its newly developed identity, as it is no longer the go-to shutdown/possession-dominant line it had been in the past. The Quinton Byfield line was turned into a shutdown line right as it started to become hot, cooling off considerably, and now it looks like it did before the seven-game road trip. The 11-7 setup would leave the top line to do most of the heavy lifting, which means a 37-year-old would handle the responsibility while on his Renaissance season.
The good news on the horizon is that Laferriere and Drew Doughty are skating with the team in red noncontact jerseys as the team looks to need a boost from both the forward and defensive groups. In Laferriere mainly, the Kings would get a welcomed option back in offensive deployment, as Hiller has utilized both Brandt Clarke in a forward role and Samuel Helenius as a winger in the past two games to try to ignite the team's offense.
One-game outliers happen for all teams across the league, but when a game turns into a game, then the situation becomes a predicament. The Kings will have Florida, the defending Stanley Cup Champions, next. Then, the team heads off on another five-game road trip. There's no off night in this league, and solutions to potential predicaments have to happen quickly, or else the fall from grace isn't as lovely sounding as the expression itself.