The Kings’ title defense concluded early on Thursday night. With a regulation loss to the Calgary Flames, the Los Angeles Kings have been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Kings are the first team since the 2006/07 Carolina Hurricanes to miss the playoffs following their Stanley Cup victory. Dammit, Justin Williams!
This team probably shares some similarities to the 1995/96 New Jersey Devils. In the middle of a championship window that saw the Devils earn 3 titles, the 95/96 team followed up their own Cup win by getting edged out of the playoffs; they missed by just 2 points. Following that season’s failure, the Devils went on to win their division the next 3 seasons and picked up 2 more titles by 2003.
With nothing to do in April, May, or June, we’ll have plenty of time to analyze what exactly went wrong. Was it just luck? Goaltending? Scoring? Who knows.
Whatever it was, it was too much. Rest in peace, sweet princes.