Kings special teams are the biggest problem for the Los Angeles Kings heading into Wednesday’s game against the San Jose Sharks. Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres showed why. By the numbers it was the Kings’ best five-on-five game of the season, and they still lost because Buffalo scored twice on the power play. At 4-7-2, the Kings have the NHL’s worst penalty kill and a power play that has scored only five times in its last 30 chances.
The video above is Peter Laviolette’s pregame media availability from before the Buffalo game. The coach and his staff made special teams a priority from the day they were hired.
The numbers behind the Kings special teams slump
According to NHL.com team stats, the Kings have killed 25 of 40 penalties, a 62.5% rate that ranks 32nd of 32 teams. They have allowed 15 power-play goals in 13 games. The power play is 8-for-45 (17.8%), which ranks 21st. The only special-teams bright spot is shorthanded scoring: the Kings have two shorthanded goals, both in the season opener at Colorado.
A game-by-game check of ESPN box scores supports what LA Kings Insider writer Zach Dooley laid out in his Angeles Analysis column:
- The Kings have allowed a power-play goal in six of their last seven games. The only exception was the 3-1 loss at New Jersey.
- They have never gone two games in a row without allowing a power-play goal this season. They went 6-for-6 on the kill against Florida, and since then they have had only two perfect nights, against Boston and New Jersey.
- In the last nine games, the power play is 5-for-30.
- In every game this season, the Kings have either failed to score a power-play goal or allowed at least one. They have not yet won the special-teams battle outright.
Dooley also notes that of those five recent power-play goals, one came on Erik Gustafsson’s end-to-end rush at Washington, two came from the second unit (including Corey Perry’s against Buffalo) and one was Artemi Panarin’s five-on-three goal against Ottawa. By his count, the top unit has scored only one five-on-four goal in that span, Panarin’s at Madison Square Garden.
Five-on-five isn’t the issue
That is what makes the Buffalo loss so frustrating. Per Natural Stat Trick numbers cited by LA Kings Insider, the Kings had 66 five-on-five shot attempts, a season high, even though it was one of their shortest five-on-five games. They controlled 60% of the attempts and had a season-high 31 scoring chances, 13 of them high-danger. Buffalo went 2-for-3 on the power play, and Tage Thompson scored the winner with 6:20 left. The Kings went 1-for-5, and they also failed on a late six-on-five.
The pattern goes back further. LA Kings Insider counts four games decided by special teams: one-goal losses to Vegas, Chicago and Buffalo, and the overtime win over Ottawa, when the Kings went 2-for-7. In the one-goal losses to Boston and New Jersey, the power play had chances in the third period and did not score. Laviolette’s message after Saturday was short: “We’ve got to get better.”
A summer priority that hasn’t paid off yet
Last season the Kings were one of two NHL teams in the bottom five in both power play and penalty kill. General manager Ken Holland said before building the roster or hiring a coach that the team would not make the playoffs again with special teams like that. Laviolette’s staff split the units among several assistants, worked on them heavily in training camp, and still runs them during morning skates and lighter practice days. “It’s not a lack of trying or a lack of attention,” Dooley wrote. “It’s a lack of performance.”
The goaltending numbers aren’t helping the kill. Darcy Kuemper is 4-3-1 with an .878 save percentage and a 3.65 goals-against average. Anton Forsberg is 0-4-1 with a .902 save percentage and a 2.51 GAA. Panarin leads the team with 13 points, including eight goals and three on the power play. Brandt Clarke has 10 points and Alex Laferriere has nine.
The San Jose Sharks come to town
The Kings host the Sharks at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. PST, with national coverage on TNT and truTV. San Jose (7-7-1) plays Calgary at home on Monday night first. The Sharks have the opposite special-teams profile: per NHL.com, their power play is 12th at 23.1% and their penalty kill is eighth at 84.0%. Their recent results have gone both ways, with road wins at Montreal (4-3 in overtime) and Ottawa (6-2), followed by losses to Boston and Buffalo, a 3-2 win over Vancouver and a 5-1 home loss to Ottawa on Saturday.
Macklin Celebrini leads San Jose with 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 13 games. Will Smith has a team-high six goals, and Tyler Toffoli has three power-play goals. Yaroslav Askarov (4-5-0, .900) and Alex Nedeljkovic (3-2-1, .899) have shared the net. The Sharks have Igor Chernyshov, Alexander Wennberg, Quentin Musty and Kyle Keyser on injured reserve.
The teams have played once. The Sharks won 5-4 in overtime at SAP Center in early October, and it was one of the Kings’ better special-teams nights: 2-for-3 on the power play while allowing one goal on two San Jose chances. LA Kings Insider says it was also the Kings’ best game this season for high-danger chances.
Lineup questions: Adrian Kempe and Martin Chromiak
Adrian Kempe missed Saturday’s game, and ESPN lists him as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. He has eight points in 12 games, including one power-play goal. Dooley wrote on Monday that Kempe is “just day-to-day” and suggested he could return Wednesday, but no return has been confirmed. Martin Chromiak replaced him on Panarin’s line on Saturday. If Kempe returns, it is not yet known whether Chromiak keeps his spot.
The Kings are 1-4-0 at home and 1-1 on their seven-game homestand. After San Jose, they host Pittsburgh on Saturday, Nov. 7. Kevin Fiala, Mats Zuccarello, Alex Turcotte and Jakub Dvorak remain on injured reserve.
Notes and conflicts
- Power-play ranking: LA Kings Insider wrote that the Kings are one of four teams in the bottom 10 in both power play and penalty kill. NHL.com’s team stats on Monday rank the power play 21st, just outside the bottom 10. Rankings can move day to day.
- Kempe: A third-party preview lists Kempe as “out” for Wednesday. ESPN and LA Kings Insider describe him as day-to-day. His status is unconfirmed until the Kings update it.
- Missed call: LA Kings Insider argues that Buffalo should have been called for interference on Andre Lee shortly before the tripping penalty that led to the winning goal. That is the outlet’s opinion, not an official ruling.
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