A seven-game homestand was supposed to be the opportunity for the Los Angeles Kings to find their stride after a dreadful opening 11 games.
Instead, as they prepare to host the Calgary Flames on Saturday, the Kings desperately need a win to at least get some positive momentum before hitting the road again.
Los Angeles has lost three straight, getting outscored 13-4 during a stretch that culminated in Thursday’s 5-2 defeat to the New York Islanders. The Kings have dropped four of their first six games during the homestand, all in regulation.
“Wins heal a lot of that stuff, but when we do get that win, we need to go on a run,” captain Drew Doughty said. “That’ll really get us out of it. You can’t just win one game and you’re out of it like that. You need to go on a winning streak.”
The numbers become even bleaker. Los Angeles has won only two of nine home games and sits 30th in the league standings, ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks.
One positive for Los Angeles was the return of forward Kevin Fiala against the Islanders. Fiala, who suffered multiple fractures of his left leg while representing Switzerland at the Olympics in February, recorded an assist in 16:37 of ice time in his season debut.
“You can practice so much. Games are always a little bit different, you know?” Fiala said. “Contact is a bit different in games and practice, and the speed and all that. So still has to get adapted, of course, but I’m looking forward to getting better each day.”
The Flames arrive to kick off a three-game trip through California after ending a homestand with a 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
Although the Flames are struggling to stay within shouting distance of the playoff chase — which is no surprise for the young, rebuilding squad — the disappointment was palpable.
Calgary was the stronger team in first and third periods, and even outshot the Rangers by a 30-24 margin, but could not find that opening goal and was unable to bury the equalizer when it was a one-goal game before an empty-netter sealed the result.
“The second (period) kind of killed us a little bit and that was the theme the other night, too. We’ve got to find a way,” forward Ryan Strome said. “It’s something that we can learn from. I thought the pushback was great in the third.”
The Flames head out on the trip with a couple of disappointing trends to buck. Calgary has a 2-5-1 road record and managed only two wins in its last six outings.
Practice on Friday before the club headed out was intense, with coach Ryan Huska looking to reinforce some aspects of his team that have slipped.
He noted that his team has not played with the same attention to detail lately, even though it has improved defensively since losing six of seven games to open the campaign.
“It’s now turning the page and looking forward to a three-game-in-four-nights road trip,” Huska said.
–Field Level Media
