Just when the Los Angeles Kings give you a glimmer of hope toward progress and a chance at some consistency, it’s quickly drained the next time they step out onto the ice. The Kings have yet to string a few wins together this season and it’s almost been a cycle of performances. Play a great game one night and then come back with an iffy performance the next night.
After playing one of their best games of the season last Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings, the Kings had a chance to build some momentum at home after a three-day break. Unfortunately for them, building off good performances isn’t something this group has figured out yet as they fell 1-0 to the Buffalo Sabres in a tight battle.
Anticlimactic is the best word to describe last night’s game. It was low-event hockey with neither team really taking control. Through two periods of play, both teams had 12 shots.
Starts again for the Kings seem to be all over the place and against the Sabres it wasn’t a very good one. They were out-pressured, out-chanced, and to sum it up out-battled. That changed in the second and third periods as the Kings had their looks. They managed to produce several quality chances but for whatever reason, finding the back of the net just wasn’t in the cards no matter how many times Kevin Fiala, Adrian Kempe, or Quinton Byfield tried to produce one.
“It’s hard to win and it’s results-based I get it […] I thought for the last 40 minutes we played really really well so as disappointed as I am frustrated could be a word […] when you play like that and as hard as we did, you’re going to win more than you lose,” said head coach Jim Hiller.
Power Play Was the Difference-Maker
The Kings’ power play remains a consistent and concerning issue. No matter what they do or how they line up, converting on the power play has been one of the biggest, if not the biggest, struggle for this group through 20 games, now with the fourth-worst power play percentage in the league (14.3%). The struggle was evident again last night as they went 0/5 on the man advantage.
Related: Kings Have Great Opportunity to Climb Standings With Remaining November Schedule
The only goal scored in this game was a power play goal courtesy of a Jason Zucker deflection. The Sabres only had three power plays compared to the Kings’ five yet they were the ones to cash in. It stings a little…
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