Kings seek to make move up in a crowded Pacific Division
The Kings have a chance to catapult themselves within the dense Pacific Division standings during a back-to-back set against a pair of struggling rivals this weekend, when they’ll visit the Ducks tonight before hosting the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.
Since returning from an extended all-star break, the Kings, who are one point behind first-place Vegas but just one point ahead of fourth-place Edmonton in the Pacific, have been prolific on the ice and diligent in the front office. They won two games by a combined 11-2 tally while they’ve also signed emergent goalie Pheonix Copley and toppairing defenseman Mikey Anderson to contract extensions.
With those moves — along with the extension of Trevor Moore and his return from injury alongside Arthur Kaliyev and, imminently, Gabe Vilardi — the trade deadline has come into tighter focus with all eyes on general manager Rob Blake. Though the Kings are widely speculated to be the front-runner for Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun and may be exploring other options on defense and in goal, both Blake and coach Todd McLellan have expressed confidence in their existing group. McLellan did so after Saturday’s victory over Pittsburgh and Blake reaffirmed the sentiment Wednesday night at a fan
The Kings are reportedly the frontrunner to get Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun before the trade deadline.
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Today: Kings at Ducks, 6 p.m., ESPN
event where he addressed the audience.
“Getting these injured guys back I think solidifies the forward group and how they slot in there. We really haven’t had that since probably the first couple weeks of the season. That’ll be nice to get that going,” Blake told those on hand. “I think every team, come the deadline, they’re always exploring all different options and if there’s something there, but the one thing to be clear, it has to make our team better. We’re not taking away from this team anymore.”
Blake also joined McLellan, defenseman Sean Durzi and others in a chorus
of voices singing the praises of Copley, who had been toiling in the minors before becoming the NHL’s winningest goalie since his early December recall. Durzi spoke of the poise that permeated the group, while McLellan focused on timely plays, both early in games, like his stellar stop of Sidney Crosby during a power play Saturday, and late, such as several saves that thwarted a comeback push from Buffalo on Monday.
“I think he’s been able to come in and solidify that spot in net for us; his win/ loss record has been really good over that time,” Blake said. “Just looking at our goaltender situation going forward, we only had one goalie under contract next year, so to step in there and get him under contract, it gives us (flexibility) there in the net.”
While Copley’s deal was only a one-year commitment, the Kings tied down Anderson for eight more seasons, and at a sound annual average value of $4.125 million. Anderson has been a key figure in suppressing shot attempts, denying zone entries and otherwise delighting the analytics crowd. But his development has also coincided with the Kings’ resurgence, giving him concrete results to complement his fancy stats.
“He’s risen to a real capable defender against top, top offensive players in the league. He’s low maintenance, shows up every day, a big part of the leadership going forward with our group too. We felt that commitment over time,” said Blake, adding that he felt Anderson had “the pedigree of a captain” from the outset.
The Ducks haven’t had a season that anyone would be eager to take responsibility for: they sit last in their division, only two teams in the NHL have lower point totals, their acrid negative-92 goals differential is the worst by a wide margin, they’ve allowed the most goals while scoring the second fewest and their special teams have been atrocious. Their power-play is the league’s least efficient and while their penalty kill is only the fifth worst.
The Kings won their only prior meeting with the Ducks this season, 4-1, on Dec. 20,
EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC DIVISION
Boston Toronto Tampa Bay Florida Detroit Buffalo Ottawa Montreal
Carolina
New Jersey N.Y. Rangers Pittsburgh Washington N.Y. Islanders Philadelphia Columbus
GP W
54 55 54 58 54 53 53 55 54 54 54 53 57 57 56 55
Thursday’s results
Today’s games
41 33 35 28 26 27 26 23
GP W
36 35 32 27 28 27 22 17
L OT Pts GF GA
8 14 16 24 20 22 24 28
METROPOLITAN DIVISION
10 14 14 17 23 23 24 34
Columbus 3, Winnipeg 1 Florida 6, Washington 3 Carolina 6, Montreal 2 Boston 5, Nashville 0 Detroit 5, Calgary 2
St. Louis 4, New Jersey 2 Seattle 6, Philadelphia 2 Vegas 2, San Jose 1 5 8 3 6 8 4 3 4 8 5 8 9 6 7 10 4 87 201 115 74 186 147 73 191 157 62 202 200 60 170 175 58 197 185 55 161 170 50 150 200
L OT Pts GF GA
80 184 146 75 186 145 72 184 145 63 172 164 62 174 166 61 164 158 54 151 177 38 140 208
Chicago at Ottawa, 4 p.m. Pittsburgh at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Dallas at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
Kings at Ducks, 6 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
CENTRAL DIVISION
Dallas Winnipeg Colorado Minnesota Nashville St. Louis Arizona Chicago
PACIFIC DIVISION
Vegas Seattle Kings Edmonton Calgary Vancouver San Jose Ducks
GP W
55 55 53 54 52 54 55 53
GP W
55 55 55 55 55 55 56 55
Saturday’s games
30 34 29 28 25 26 19 16 33 31 30 30 25 21 17 17
L OT Pts GF GA
14 20 19 21 21 25 28 32 11 1 5 5 6 3 8 5 71 183 142 69 175 143 63 163 149 61 161 157 56 142 156 55 172 194 46 147 191 37 127 195
L OT Pts GF GA
18 18 18 19 19 30 28 32 4 6 7 6 11 4 11 6 70 179 153 68 193 172 67 184 185 66 205 181 61 177 171 46 186 227 45 168 209 40 138 230
Colorado at St. Louis, 11 a.m. Florida at Nashville, 11 a.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Boston, 2 p.m.
New Jersey at Pittsburgh, 2:30 p.m. Columbus at Dallas, 3 p.m. Montreal at Toronto, 4 p.m. Washington vs. Carolina at Carter-Finley Stadium, 5 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at Calgary, 7 p.m. Philadelphia at Vancouver, 7 p.m. Arizona at Kings, 7:30 p.m.
Buffalo at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Detroit at Seattle, 7:30 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Vegas, 7:30 p.m.