The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Cold Kings host Predators; Ducks blanked by Capitals
Ahead of today’s bout with the Nashville Predators, the Kings scheduled an address from General Manager Rob Blake amid a stretch of nine losses in 10 outings.
The team did not respond to an inquiry regarding the general nature of Blake’s news conference, which is slated for after this morning’s skate. Regardless of its purpose, the Kings’ play of late has already left him with plenty of searing inquiries that require a response from the architect of this roster.
After dropping eight straight games, the Kings responded fabulously on Monday in Carolina, where they stared down a 1-1 score at the second intermission and blew the doors off of a 4-1 third period. That sent the Hurricanes home disappointed and moved the Kings to 6-0-1 in the first game of back-to-back sets.
But they’d only won once in the second half of such scheduling, and, predictably, fate swung the other way the following evening. The Kings saw a one-goal game turn into a four-goal loss in under four minutes of third-period action against the Dallas Stars. That left them to sport yet another lump from their season-long road trip and the nosedive that began four games before it.
The Kings have been largely uninspired at home this season, flirting with a .500 percentage at Crypto.com Arena, where they’ll play their next four games. Suddenly, they find themselves receding from the conversation about the Pacific Division title and dangling dangerously close to a wildcard spot or fading from the playoff picture altogether.
Tonight’s opponent, Nashville, is one of several slow-starting clubs now nipping at the Kings’ heels. The Kings will enter the contest with 50 points. Nashville has 49. The Predators started to pick up steam sooner than several other teams currently gathering jump force in the hopes of leapfrogging the Kings.
The Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Seattle Kraken each
faced double-digit deficits in the divisional standings behind the Kings as recently as Dec. 11, an edge they had built since October’s season opener. In the noticeably shorter period of time since, just over a month, all three clubs have out-accumulated the Kings by eight points or more to each close to within three points or fewer.
The Kings made sweeping offseason changes to hurdle the Oilers and other Western Conference contenders. They included the heavenand-earth series of moves it took to acquire Pierre-luc Dubois and a change in net, where their previous tandem found new homes and they turned to a tripartite reclamation project in net, headed by Cam Talbot.
Talbot, who will represent the Kings at all-star weekend, has exceeded expectations, despite the fact that he doesn’t have a victory to show for his past eight appearances. His own numbers have varied, and his offensive support has sputtered consistently, scoring just 15 goals in those eight losses.
Ducks come up empty
Ethan Bear scored his first NHL goal in almost exactly a year, Darcy Kuemper stopped all 24 shots he faced and the Washington Capitals beat the Ducks 2-0 late on Tuesday night.
Bear’s goal with 37.8 seconds left in the first period came in his ninth game with the Capitals after signing with them in December. The defenseman, who spent the summer and fall rehabbing from shoulder surgery, last scored Jan. 15, 2023.
Kuemper’s shutout was his first this season and 31st of his 12-year career. He didn’t have a lot of action early, as the Ducks had just three shots in a sleepy first period that featured a spirited fight between a couple of 6-foot-5 combatants: Anaheim’s Ross Johnston and Washington’s Joel Edmundson.