Kings, mired in a 6-game skid, soldier on in Florida
Things have continued to go south for the Kings, and not just in the Sunshine State, where they made their way down from Tampa Bay to the suburbs of Miami for today's clash with the Florida Panthers, who have won eight games in a row.
The Kings have lost six consecutive games, and if they were to fall in a seventh straight contest it would signify their deepest plunge since they careened through a 10-game skid that consumed almost all of February 2019.
In the Todd McLellan era, which began the following season, the Kings have seldom faced the adversity they have of late and certainly never against a backdrop of lofty expectations. Their last slumps that reached six and five games, respectively, came early in 2021-22 and had a sevengame surge sandwiched directly between them.
In the Kings' loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday, their 2-0 lead was dissipated in the third period and then their losing streak was extended in overtime, where they fell to 2-7 in such games. They lost not only their sixth straight game overall but the third game during the slump that they led by two goals and their sixth straight game that was decided by a single goal.
“I wouldn't say it's mentality,”
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Today: Kings at Panthers, 4 p.m., BSW
said Kings defenseman Matt Roy before describing exactly how the team's mentality may have changed. “I think we get the lead and we may not be as aggressive as we were to start the game, so I think that could be fixed. I don't know, it's just like I said, just sticking to details. We know we know we can win games.”
McLellan said he felt his team was improving over their most recent loss, also by a goal, to the Washington Capitals, pointing more to individual instants — slivers of moments and plays, as he called them — and coverage errors than any weakened structural integrity.
Trevor Moore produced a multipoint effort in his 300th career game, the ninth most for a player born in California. He also misplayed his mark on the game winner, which was set up by a tenacious effort from the Lightning's Brandon Hagel. He had also scored the equalizer after a daring dash through traffic, and on both plays he sloughed off checks from Pierre-Luc Dubois, a man 40 pounds heavier than Hagel.
Dubois was demoted to the fourth line to start the game, a rarity for a player earning $8.5 million against the cap.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
PACIFIC DIVISION
Vancouver Vegas
Los Angeles Edmonton Seattle Calgary Anaheim San Jose
Winnipeg Colorado Dallas Nashville Arizona
St. Louis Minnesota Chicago
GP W
41 41 37 37 40 41 40 41
CENTRAL DIVISION
40 42 40 41 39 39 40 41 27 23 20 21 17 18 14 9
GP W
27 27 24 22 20 20 17 12
L OT Pts GF GA
11 13 10 15 14 18 25 29 3 5 7 1 9 5 1 3 57 160 107 51 133 115 47 124 94 43 133 114 43 111 117 41 127 134 29 102 133 21 81 171
L OT Pts GF GA
9 12 11 18 17 18 19 27 4 3 5 1 2 1 4 2
EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC DIVISION
Boston Florida Toronto Tampa Bay Detroit Montreal Buffalo Ottawa
METROPOLITAN DIVISION
N.Y. Rangers Carolina Philadelphia N.Y. Islanders New Jersey Washington Pittsburgh Columbus
GP W
40 40 38 42 40 40 41 36
GP W
39 40 41 40 38 38 39 42
Wednesday's results
L OT Pts GF GA
Philadelphia 3, Montreal 2, SO Dallas 7, Minnesota 2 Colorado 3, Vegas 0
Today's games
Anaheim at Carolina, 4 p.m. Edmonton at Detroit, 4 p.m.
Los Angeles at Florida, 4 p.m. New Jersey at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m. Ottawa at Buffalo, 4 p.m.
San Jose at Montreal, 4 p.m. Seattle at Washington, 4 p.m. Toronto at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Vancouver at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. Chicago at Winnipeg, 5 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Calgary at Arizona, 6 p.m. Boston at Vegas, 7 p.m.
Friday's games
24 26 21 20 20 17 17 14 26 22 21 18 21 19 20 13 58 137 94 57 155 130 53 149 122 45 129 130 42 118 117 41 110 125 38 118 134 26 95 153
L OT Pts GF GA
8 12 10 17 16 17 20 22 11 13 14 12 15 13 15 20 8 2 7 5 4 6 4 0 2 5 6 10 2 6 4 9 56 136 109 54 128 100 49 140 121 45 137 145 44 144 136 40 113 140 38 122 139 28 119 131 54 132 112 49 137 122 48 120 115 46 123 135 44 135 136 44 94 117 44 121 106 35 126 155
Nashville at Dallas, 5 p.m. Philadelphia at Minnesota, 5 p.m.