After losing their past two games by one goal, the Kings now enter their first back-to-back set of the season with games against the Dallas Stars on Friday and St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
As in the Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild, the Kings were not always sharp on the backcheck or when defending the high-danger areas in Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators. They allowed a one-timer from between the circles, a goal from the slot and a rising wrist-shot tally from the goalmouth against Minnesota, and were beaten by a one-timer in tight and a dogged rebound goal in Nashville.
“We definitely have work to do. We had some good things in the [Nashville] game, but I just think we’re a little too sloppy in our zone and we’ve got to work more together … and win more battles,” Kings center Phillip Danault told reporters.
While Kings coach Todd McLellan was critical of his team’s inability to establish flow from shift to shift, its discipline, performance in the faceoff circle and game management at times Tuesday, the Kings were not too far from the results they desired. In addition to coming up only a goal short each night, they scored first in both games, showing signs of improved starts after opening the scoring just 37.5% of the time last season.
One player enjoying a famous kickoff to his campaign continues to be center and team captain Anze Kopitar. He scored the lone goal in Tuesday’s defeat with a mix of strong puck protection and a deceptive shot release. He has at least one goal in each of his first three games for a total of five this season.
“Kopi just does so many things well, and everybody cries out for him to shoot the puck a little bit more; we’re trying to get him to shoot a little bit more,” McLellan said. “He’s pretty savvy with when he should or shouldn’t use [his shot].”
Secondary scoring, however, has been hard to come by for the Kings. Kopitar has recorded a point on all but one of the Kings’ goals this season, a hopeful shot that hit Danault’s stick and an opposing defenseman’s skate en route to the net. Top defenseman Drew Doughty has seven points, and has also been on the ice for eight of the Kings’ nine goals, driving play from the back end disproportionately much as Kopitar has done up front.
The Kings will likely need better scoring balance and stronger play in the trenches against Dallas and St. Louis, both of which boast robust rosters in terms of depth and physicality.
Beefy forwards Radek Faksa and Michael Raffl have paced Dallas in scoring on the young season with four points apiece in four games in which Dallas has posted a 2-2-0 record.
Veteran defenseman Ryan Suter, who was bought out by Minnesota, was among the Stars’ offseason acquisitions. Suter added size and poise to a defense corps that already included wunderkind Miro Heiskanen and offensively savvy John Klingberg, who was injured in Dallas’s season opener.
Former Sharks star Joe Pavelski and the once-prolific tandem of Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn have combined to produce just two points thus far.
St. Louis has won its first two games, buoyed by explosive starts from winger Jordan Kyrou (six points) and defenseman Justin Faulk (four points).
In addition to mainstays such as forwards Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron, the Blues added veteran winger Brandon Saad to their mix and hope to finally get a long-awaited full campaign from winger Klim Kostin.
They drafted Kostin in 2017’s first round, but after some seasoning in the minors and a serious injury, he spent much of last season in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. He scored two goals in less than one minute in his only game this season.
Kings at Dallas
When: Friday, 5:30 p.m.
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV/Radio: ESPN/iHeartRadio
Kings at St. Louis
When: Saturday, 5 p.m.
Where: Enterprise Center, St. Louis
TV/Radio: Bally Sports West/iHeartRadio
