Kings look for strong finish to their road trip at Detroit
Seeking to conclude an already successful road trip with a flourish and begin a nearly two-week break in a comfortable position, the Kings headed to Detroit for a matchup with the Red Wings today.
They've already accumulated eight of a possible 10 points on their six-game eastern trip, and after tonight's game the Kings will be off until they host the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 15. Most recently, the Kings toppled the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3, behind two goals from Trevor Moore, both of which resulted from long saucer passes, and a trio of second-period goals.
In that game, Moore became the first King to accumulate more than 15 points in a calendar month since Anze Kopitar in 2018, which was the last time the Kings qualified for the playoffs.
“(Moore) has been probably in our top two or three players for the last month now,” said Kings coach Todd McLellan, who lauded Moore's motor. “He was like our Swiss army knife and now he's found a home (on the second line). He's been productive there, that line has an identity and they've played extremely well.”
Kopitar extended his point streak to four games (one goal, four assists) and the Kings moved within two points of the second-place Ducks in the Pacific Division standings. Two points separate
Today: Kings at Red Wings, 4:30 p.m., BSW
four teams chasing the Kings going into Tuesday's games, with fourth-place Edmonton and fifth-place Calgary each having at least five games in hand on the Kings on Tuesday morning.
Through 46 games, the Kings (23-16-7) are enjoying their best season of the McLellan era and beyond, having already surpassed their win total from last year's 56-game season (21) and from the first 63 games of the prior 70-game campaign (22).
They've done so with a thinned-out group on defense and without significant contributions from the high draft picks they accumulated by missing the playoffs in four of the past five seasons.
Already missing defensemen Sean Walker (seasonending knee injury), Alex Edler (broken ankle) and Kale Clague (claimed off waivers by Montreal), the Kings then lost Matt Roy (COVID-19 protocols) and Mikey Anderson (placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury). That opened the door for Austin Strand to play his third game of the season and Jacob Moverare to skate in the second of his career on Sunday in Pittsburgh.
“Both Jacob and Strander were short-notice and played tremendous games for us,” McLellan said. “If you can get pinch hitters to do that, it shows that they're maybe more than pinch hitters; they're starting to push their way into the upper group.”
Though they've integrated rookie Sean Durzi into their defense corps and gotten some exclamation points from rookie powerplay contributor Arthur Kaliyev on the wing, the Kings have yet to see their more high-profile prospects make an impact.
They made four top-11 selections in the past five years: centers Gabe Vilardi, Alex Turcotte and Quinton Byfield, along with defenseman Brandt Clarke.
Byfield only recently rejoined the team after a broken ankle in the preseason derailed his season. A stint in the COVID protocols was flanked by stretches in the minor leagues. Byfield scored his first NHL goal on this road trip and has been a welcome addition to the Kings' fluctuant third line, with the other three forward groupings having cemented their components.