The Los Angeles Kings' bedrock has been their penalty kill. Over the last three seasons, they went from a pitiful penalty-killing team to one of the best penalty-killing teams in the league.
The PK was a massive contributing factor to the Kings' downfall to the Edmonton Oilers in back-to-back postseasons.
The Kings have fluctuated between 86-87% through most of the season, ranking them inside the top three penalty-killing teams in the entire league.
This has kept them in games and made them competitive, particularly in games that didn't show form. With the Dallas Stars" onslaught in the last nine games prior to the Sharks game, the Kings went 17/26, suitable for 65.3%.
The Kings allowed two in the game against Tampa Bay Lightning and their first three allowed this season against Calgary Flames. The Flames have produced two of the ugliest losses for the Kings this season.
Tampa possibly started a new trend in facing off against the Kings' daunted penalty kill, with low to high bumper plays that force Cam Talbot or David Rittich to make extremely difficult high-danger saves.
The diamond formation that the Kings deploy cuts down on the cross-seam passes and passively allows the killers to control their diamond formation without expending too much energy covering the cross lanes.
Tampa worked a low-to-high play to the bumper and got a fortunate bounce working the side of the net. The cross-crease play has been a consistent opposing effort that the Kings' penalty kill has shut down.
In the recent game against the Seattle Krakenk, the Kraken were able to sauce a pass across the crease for a tap-in goal. The play represents a tap-in since the King's coverage typically shuts down the play. If it connects, it is a shoo-in.
The Kings shut down the league's worst team Thursday night against San Jose, and while the turnaround was satisfying, the underlying numbers from the prior nine games are still noticeable.
With the Kings penalty kill struggling at the worst time of the year, with limited games left, it represents a massive alarm for playoff hopes to break through to a second-round playoff berth.
They have yet to clinch a spot and while they being hunted down by the St. Louis Blues, their win against the Sharks gave them a seven point cushion with seven games remaining. The Kings can control their destiny but are not entirely locked yet.
Their health remains a concern, with Phil Danault not playing in San Jose, missing his fourth straight game, and Viktor Arvidsson got banged up after the Seattle game. The enigma is Pierre Luc Dubois, as he is wildly inconsistent this year and represents a massive price tag and investment for the Kings moving past this season.
With these in mind, the penalty-kill situation becomes a precarious one. The kill has been dominant and has buoyed the team to be competitive throughout a vast majority of games this year. However, it is trending down and being broken down by opposing teams more regularly.
The scouting in the top professional hockey league in the world will find weaknesses, and certainly, it looks to be that the PK for the Kings has been somewhat sorted out.
Making the playoffs is in sight with these current situations in play, but if they capture a berth they may only be there for a short time.