The Los Angeles Kings have dug themselves into a hole early in this 2025-26 season. The team is 1-3-2, sitting 30th in the NHL. Los Angeles lost their last four games, three of which by one goal and two of those beyond regulation.
Despite wins being hard to come by, there is a common denominator in most of these losses for the Kings. And if they could clean it up, they could be a pretty solid team.
Aside from when the Kings faced the Pittsburgh Penguins and lost their 2-0 lead, Los Angeles have been down early in several contests, and in a big way sometimes.
Their last game against the Carolina Hurricanes is a prime example of that. In fact, the Kings were chasing the game after less than a minute when Jordan Staal opened the scoring, and doubled Carolina’s lead just minutes later.
Ultimately, it was 3-0 and the Kings went into the first intermission in what felt like a game that was already lost.
However, the game wasn’t lost and the Kings eventually came back and tied it up in the third period on a Kevin Fiala goal. They’re late-game rally earned them one point, in a game they had no business being in based off their horrid start.
“Just have to play 60 minutes,” Fiala told reporters after their overtime defeat to the Hurricanes.
“We’re showing it through the year, it’s still early, but we have to find a way to play 60 minutes. I mean, we played great hockey today and we’ve got to find a way to play like that for 60 minutes. We’d have a better chance to win the game,” Fiala added.
Another theme early in this campaign for the Kings is the amount of penalties they take, they’re top 10 in the NHL for penalties taken.
These trips to the penalty box is a major contributor to forcing Los Angeles to chase a game early.
Against the Minnesota Wild on Monday, the Wild scored three straight power-play goals to open the contest. This was another bad spot for the Kings and they looked down and out, yet again.
‘When It Rains, It Pours’: Kings’ Disastrous Discipline Costing Wins And Points
Despite a strong effort by the Los Angeles Kings to push for a point against the Minnesota Wild on Monday evening after facing a 3-0 deficit, they can only blame themselves.
But, just like they did against the Hurricanes, the Kings were able to find a rhythm and claw their way back into the game. When they don’t have penalties disrupting their flow, Los Angeles are able to rack up possession time in the offensive zone, especially with the way they cycle the puck as a team.
The Kings went on to tie the game thanks to late efforts by their start players, led by right winger Adrian Kempe, but went on to lose in the shootout. However, they still earned that point that they arguably didn’t deserve early on.
Los Angeles Kings Three Stars Of The Week: Week Two
After getting through the second week on the NHL regular-season, the Los Angeles Kings have had a slow start. However, there are a few indiviuals who have stoodout.
Veteran defenseman Drew Doughty spoke about the team’s ability to overcome adversity and come back from a slow start after their game against the Wild.
“Our team never gives up, we’ve shown that over and over and over,” Doughty told reporters. “That’s one of the greatest things about our team. We never thought we were out of the game.”
The truth is, the Kings are a good team when both teams are at even strength. At 5-on-5, Los Angeles is a top 10 team in terms of scoring chances and high-danger scoring chances, according to naturalstattrick.com.
If they can eliminate the slow starts, early penalties and play a full 60 minutes, there’s no reason why they can’t climb the standings and string more wins together than they have.
Kings head coach Jim Hiller had the same perspective when he spoke to reporters following the Minnesota loss.
“We’re going to score goals, I’m not worried about that, but we just have to tighten it up,” Hiller said. “I think we’re getting there. We take some of the penalties away, we’ll be a good team.”