The Los Angeles Kings have made a habit of individual errors and mental mistakes that Todd McLellan called "stupid hockey" on Wednesday.
That stupid hockey led to a blown lead against the Buffalo Sabres, and if it's not corrected, could lead to a blowout loss to the Colorado Avalanche Friday night.
Colorado is once again one of the league's best teams and is led by an MVP caliber season from Nathan MacKinnon.
No team has gone into Colorado and kept MacKinnon off the board, and given the Kings' struggles recently, it's hard to see that streak ending.
After losing 12 of their last 14 games, the Kings aren't just playing for their playoff hopes anymore. They're playing for McLellan's job,
Rob Blake, Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty have all backed McLellan in the last week, but that rarely matters when results are this bad.
Back-to-back losses against two teams near the bottom of the standings during such a poor run would put pressure on any coach's job.
Especially for a team with the Kings' ambitions.
There isn't much more to be said about the Kings' current run. They aren't finishing chances, can't hold a lead and aren't getting enough from their depth.
At this point, it isn't a question of what needs to be done, but if the Kings' can do it.
If they don't clean things up tonight, this game will be ugly.
There aren't any major lineup change expected, but Jordan Spence and David Rittich drawing back in feels likely.
McLellan did mention that Arthur Kaliyev will play on this road trip, but there's no guarantee when his number is called.
Projected Los Angeles Kings Lines:
Forwards:
Quinton Byfield - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala - Phil Danault - Trevor Moore
Alex Laferriere - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Carl Grundstrom - Trevor Lewis - Samuel Fagemo
Defense:
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov - Matt Roy
Andreas Englund - Jordan Spence
Goalies:
David Rittich
Cam Talbot
Projected Colorado Avalanche Lines:
Forwards:
Jonathan Drouin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Logan O’Connor
Artturi Lehkonen — Ryan Johansen — Andrew Cogliano
Kurtis MacDermid — Fredrik Olofsson — Joel Kiviranta
Defense:
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Bowen Byram — Sam Malinski
Goalies:
Alexandar Georgiev
Ivan Prosvetov