Back at the Crypt Episode 10_ Eric Stephens - Made with Clipchamp If you've been watching the Kings this season, you might be going through an array of emotions. On October 22nd, nine games into the regular season, the Vegas Golden Knights throttled the Kings 6-1 [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vegas-golden-knights]. The separation factor between the two teams seemed utterly evident. One looked to be a middling team at best, and the other boasted elite talent from the forward group to the defensive core. In quick succession fashion, the week before being dominated by the Knights, they were quickly dispatched by another team boasting elite talent, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2. The Kings rattled off two wins at home following their lopsided loss to Vegas, edging out San Jose and Utah in tightly contested games. With a back-to-back against San Jose and a rematch with Vegas, the Kings would drop the first match to San Jose in a regrettable performance on the road 4-2. LA was sure to lose in the second half of a back-to-back against an elite opponent who dismantled them a week prior. What followed was a complete effort in the most complete win of the season at the time. The Kings won 6-3 and vied for first place in the division. Fast forward a few weeks. The Kings replicated the same thing more grandly, but this time in a 4-1 win over the league's best team, the Winnipeg Jets. This was textbook for the Kings this year: losing to the league's worst team in blowout fashion but following it up by winning in a suffocating defensive clinic over a historically hot team. Yes, there are unheralded storylines following that game, such as the irony of the lone goal against by Gabriel Vilardi and the penalty shot attempt by Rasmus Kupari. But the actual storyline here is the inconsistency. You don't know what you are going to get. They are one of the best teams in the league at even strength. Per Moneypuck, their Expected Goals rank first in the league (58.74%). Their Corsi % is fifth (54.11%), goals against are tied for fourth lowest (36), and shots against are second lowest (417). Their special teams are hit-and-miss, just like the overall product of the team. The Kings are still relying on the production of Anze Kopitar's 37-year-old season and clinging to the hope that a young star can take a more robust approach at the 1C mantle. During this, they are without their number one defenseman. Given their current record of 12-8-3, things would be looking up if they found some standard in their game-to-game performance. With the Kings' trend this season, the high of a win against the league's best team is followed up with the dread of playing Anaheim [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks] on Friday. Can things change before the halfway point of the season and Drew Doughty's inevitable return? Or will they continue to bumper cart their way through the season, unable to find a smooth road.
