So the Kings didn’t win a single game this week. They got one point out of eight. It was a really, really crappy week to be a fan of this hockey team. I know that lots of people get enjoyment out of that and I’m really happy for all of you (not really). Let’s just get this over with, shall we?
This Week in Games
(here’s all the games involving the Pacific Division from this past week. we’ll talk about the LA Kings’ games in great detail, while the rest will mostly just be scores, unless there’s something that really stood out about them. you’ll also get links to Eric’s awesome recaps which will expand on everything I’m saying in much greater detail if you missed any of them.)
Monday, October 27th
–Edmonton Oilers 3, Montreal Canadiens 0: This win was the Oilers’ fourth in a row, with all four victories coming over Eastern Conference opposition. Could the Oilers keep it going against the West? (spoiler alert: they could not)
Tuesday, October 28th
-Philadelphia Flyers 3, Los Angeles Kings 2 (OT): Hard to believe at the time that this would be the highlight of the Kings’ week, but here we are. This was a really fun hockey game, as the Pond Hockey Flyers are completely incapable of playing any other kind of game this season. They have a great group of forwards and an awful defense corps, and it results in a lot of games like this. Both teams combined for a staggering 83 shots. It’s probably not a good reflection of the Flyers that they allowed a Kings team dressing just 11 forwards (Kopitar/Gaborik/Lewis were all still out due to injury and the team was unable to make a call up due to their salary cap problems) to end up with 40 shots. In the end, Brayden Schenn scored a wacky goal in overtime that lead to Jonathan Quick losing his friggin’ mind, but given all the extenuating circumstances it certainly wasn’t a bad game by the Kings. And judged next to what was still to come later in the week it looks like a downright masterpiece. (recap) (gamethread)
-Tampa Bay Lightning 7, Arizona Coyotes 3: This almost seems insane to type given who their coach is, but as I type this no team has allowed more goals per game in the NHL than the Coyotes. Certainly games like this one didn’t help. Mike Smith allowed 6 goals on just 33 shots, and backup Devan Dubnyk then came in and allowed another goal….on just 2 shots. Yikes.
–Anaheim Ducks 1, Chicago Blackhawks 0: The Ducks got outshot 38-25 and still won because of course they did.
–San Jose Sharks 3, Colorado Avalanche 2 (SO)
-Montreal Canadiens 2, Calgary Flames 1 (SO)
–Vancouver Canucks 4, Carolina Hurricanes 1
Wednesday, October 29th
-Nashville Predators 4, Edmonton Oilers 1
Thursday, October 30th
-Pittsburgh Penguins 3, Los Angeles Kings 0: This game made me lose my mind on Twitter. I know, that doesn’t really take a lot, but hear me out: for everyone outside of Los Angeles, we were stuck watching it on the NHL Network. And GUESS WHOSE FEED they decided to give us? That’s right, the Pittsburgh feed. I’m pretty sure watching your team get shutout 3-0 by the Penguins while listening to the Pittsburgh announcers (I don’t care who you’re going to bring up as a counterpoint, NO ONE is worse than those two jokers, not even Brian F’N Hayward) would be considered inhumane torture by the Geneva Convention. I don’t want to even think about this game for another second so let’s just move on. (recap) (gamethread)
-Florida Panthers 2, Arizona Coyotes 1: Wow the Coyotes’ week sure sucked too huh?
-St. Louis Blues 2, Anaheim Ducks 0
-Minnesota Wild 4, San Jose Sharks 3 (SO)
–Vancouver Canucks 3, Montreal Canadiens 2 (OT)
Friday, October 31st
-Detroit Red Wings 5, Los Angeles Kings 2: More fun-filled Kangz Hockee! So the Red Wings destroyed the Kings on night 2 of a back-to-back, as somehow not even the triumphant return of Trevor Lewis was enough for the Kings to avoid this amazingly predictable thrashing. How about some positives before this gets anymore depressing? Positive 1: Alec Martinez got his first of the year, which doubled as the first Kings goal by a defenseman this season! Hmm, okay, that’s still pretty depressing. Positive 2: Tyler Toffoli scored another shorthanded goal! He gets lots of opportunities to do that because the Kings can’t stop taking penalties! Okay, this really isn’t helping, forget it. (recap) (gamethread)
–Anaheim Ducks 2, Dallas Stars 1 (OT)
–Calgary Flames 4, Nashville Predators 3
Saturday, November 1st
-Carolina Hurricanes 3, Arizona Coyotes 0: You know, I really wanted to be able to sit here and laugh at the Coyotes for giving Carolina their first win of the season. I really, really did.
–Vancouver Canucks 3, Edmonton Oilers 2: The Canucks have eight wins on this young season. Of those eight wins, three have come against the Oilers (with another one coming against the Flames). That’s half their wins coming against the awful garbage in Alberta. So uh, who time traveled us all back to the glory days of the Northwest Division?
–San Jose Sharks 3, New York Islanders 1
Sunday, November 2nd
-Carolina Hurricanes 3, Los Angeles Kings 2: Yeah, so, whatever. This was a thing that happened. The Kings actually came out exactly as you’d expect them to given that: A) they were playing the Hurricanes, B) the Canes had played last night and the Kings had not, C) they were getting Kopitar AND Gaborik back in the lineup in the same game, and D) THEY WERE PLAYING THE HURRICANES. But for some reason, it didn’t last. After the Kings got out to an early edge in shots, the Hurricanes had an awesome strategy to stop their momentum in its tracks: take a penalty. Basically from the time of Carolina’s first penalty (Jay Harrison for tripping Dustin Brown- I know, I’m shocked too- at 5:05 from the 1st), the Hurricanes suddenly took control of the game and began outshooting the Kings heavily. The Kings would ride score effects to eventually even the shots-on-goal at 32 a piece, but think about that for a second: the KINGS needed SCORE EFFECTS to TIE CAROLINA IN SHOTS. That’s horrifying. Anyway, they lost the game. Whatever. I think we’re all getting a little numb to it at this point, right? (recap) (gamethread)
–Calgary Flames 6, Montreal Canadiens 2
–Arizona Coyotes 6, Washington Capitals 5: Well this game sure looks like it was something. The Coyotes got out to an early 1-0 lead, only to allow the Capitals to score three unanswered goals to end the 1st period down 3-1. The Coyotes then answered back with five unanswered goals in the 2nd and 3rd to go up 6-3, but then the Capitals scored two goals at 18:07 & 19:33 of the 3rd to get back within one. Unfortunately they weren’t able to finish off what would have been an incredible comeback, and the Coyotes managed to eek out the victory (though one that will do nothing to lower their league-worst goals against average).
–Anaheim Ducks 3, Colorado Avalanche 2
-Nashville Predators 3, Vancouver Canucks 1
This Week in Standings
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Points | ROW | GF | GA | Diff | Home | Away | Last Week |
| 1. Anaheim | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 9 | 36 | 24 | +12 | 4-1-0 | 6-2-0 | 3-1-0 |
| 2. Vancouver | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 7 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 4-2-0 | 4-2-0 | 3-1-0 |
| 3. Calgary | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 6 | 37 | 29 | +8 | 2-2-2 | 5-2-0 | 2-0-1 |
| 4. San Jose | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 5 | 41 | 35 | +6 | 2-2-0 | 5-2-2 | 2-0-1 |
| 5. Los Angeles | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 28 | 26 | +2 | 6-1-0 | 0-3-2 | 0-3-1 |
| 6. Edmonton | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 29 | 39 | -10 | 4-4-0 | 0-2-1 | 1-2-0 |
| 7. Arizona | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 28 | 42 | -14 | 3-2-0 | 1-4-1 | 1-3-0 |
As you would probably expect following an 0-3-1 week this early in the season, the Kings took quite a tumble down the standings, falling all the way from 2nd to 5th. The only good news is that they trail 2nd place Vancouver and the other two teams tied with them by just 2 points (and still have a game in hand on Calgary & San Jose), so the gap there isn’t large at all. But for those of you with division banner dreams floating in your heads, the gap between LA & 1st place Anaheim IS starting to widen. The Ducks went 3-1-0 this week to solidify their spot at the top of the standings because there is no god. They’re now sitting pretty with 20 points (though again, at least the Kings have a game in hand on them). Meanwhile, Vancouver’s 3-1-0 week saw them tie Calgary & San Jose and due to the ROW tiebreaker actually leapfrog them both, going all the way from 5th to 2nd. Calgary and San Jose both had good 2-0-1 weeks and remain exactly where they were last week. Edmonton’s 1-2-0 week was enough for them to tie Arizona (who had a dismal 1-3-0 week, though at least they got a win I guess) and actually pass them on goal differential. Yes, they passed someone via their -10, sure, whatever. Not in last! GOILERS!!!
This Week in #fancystats
(all stats are total attempts, not percentages. thanks to extra skater war-on-ice.)
Flyers 3, Kings 2 (OT)
Corsi: Kings 78-Flyers 67 (overall), Kings 61-Flyers 58 (5v5), Kings 57-Flyers 50 (5v5 close), Flyers 29-Kings 27 (5v5 tied)
Fenwick: Kings 60-Flyers 54 (overall), Kings 47-Flyers 47 (5v5), Kings 43-Flyers 39 (5v5 close), Flyers 23-Kings 21 (5v5 tied)
LA Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Williams (+16), Clifford (+13), Doughty (+7). Worst: Pearson/King (tied, -6), Toffoli/Nolan/Greene/Brown (tied, -3)
PHI Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Schenn (+9), Simmonds (+5), Bellemare/Streit/Schultz (tied, +4). Worst: Gostisbehere (-10), Akeson/Umberger (tied, -6)
Penguins 3, Kings 0
Corsi: Kings 61-Penguins 44 (overall), Kings 42-Penguins 25 (5v5), Penguins 4-Kings 3 (5v5 close/tied)
Fenwick: Kings 43-Penguins 32 (overall), Kings 29-Penguins 20 (5v5), Penguins 4-Kings 3 (5v5 close/tied)
LA Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Greene (+12), Brown (+11), McNabb (+9). Worst: Martinez (even), Pearson/Carter (tied, +1)
PIT Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Hornqvist/Crosby (tied, +5), Kunitz (+4). Worst: Scuderi (-14), Comeau (-12), Spaling/Malkin (tied, -10)
Red Wings 5, Kings 2
Corsi: Red Wings 55-Kings 52 (overall), Red Wings 41-Kings 30 (5v5), Red Wings 12-Kings 5 (5v5 close), Red Wings 11-Kings 1 (5v5 tied)
Fenwick: Red Wings 43-Kings 42 (overall), Red Wings 31-Kings 24 (5v5), Red Wings 8-Kings 5 (5v5 close), Red Wings 7-Kings 1 (5v5 tied)
LA Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Stoll (+4), Brown (+3), Muzzin/Williams (tied, +2). Worst: Regehr (-9), Pearson/Martinez (tied, -7)
DET Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Kindl/Ericsson (tied, +8), Nestrasil/Jurco/Tatar/Helm/Zetterberg (tied, +6). Worst: Glendening (-5), Andersson (-4), Miller (-2)
Hurricanes 3, Kings 2
Corsi: Hurricanes 59-Kings 51 (overall), Hurricanes 46-Kings 44 (5v5), Hurricanes 33-Kings 18 (5v5 close), Hurricanes 18-Kings 10 (5v5 tied)
Fenwick: Hurricanes 45-Kings 40 (overall), Hurricanes 36-Kings 33 (5v5), Hurricanes 24-Kings 13 (5v5 close), Hurricanes 11-Kings 9 (5v5 tied)
LA Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Gaborik (+7), Kopitar (+6), Williams (+5). Worst: King (-7), Lewis (-6), Richards (-5)
CAR Indv. Player Corsi 5v5– Best: Boychuk (+9), Rask (+8), Faulk (+7). Worst: McClement (-10), Malone/Dwyer/Gleason (-8)
Next Week in the Pacific
(this is exactly what it sounds like: the next week’s schedule for all 7 Pacific Division teams. all times are pacific because, um, duh.)
| Team | 11/3 | 11/4 | 11/5 | 11/6 | 11/7 | 11/8 | 11/9 |
| LA | – | @DAL (5:30) | – | vs.NYI (7:30) | – | vs.VAN (7:00) | – |
| ANA | – | – | vs.NYI (7:30) | – | vs.ARI (7:00) | – | vs.VAN (6:00) |
| VAN | – | @COL (6:00) | – | @SJ (7:30) | – | @LA (7:00) | @ANA (6:00) |
| CGY | – | @WSH (4:00) | – | @TB (4:30) | – | @FLA (Noon) | – |
| SJ | – | – | – | vs.VAN (7:30) | – | @DAL (5:00) | @CHI (4:00) |
| EDM | – | @PHI (4:00) | – | @BOS (4:00) | @BUF (4:00) | – | @NYR (3:00) |
| ARI | – | vs.TOR (6:00) | – | – | @ANA (7:00) | vs.NYI (5:00) | – |
The Road Trip From Hell finally comes to a merciful conclusion tomorrow, as the Kings are in Dallas to probably get their asses kicked again. They then return home for a couple of games back at Staples Center, aka the only place we can win games now, to host the struggling Islanders and the who-knows Canucks. Meanwhile, the Ducks have three home games of their own, hosting the same Isles and Canucks along with the Coyotes. The Canucks have a huge test in the coming week, as they will hit the road to face all three California teams in a four-day span. If you’ll recall, the Canucks largely missed the playoffs last year due to their incredible ineptitude when it came to playing all three teams from California (2-9-3 against the Kings, Ducks, & Sharks). Other than their date with the Canucks (which is also their first game of the week on Thursday), the Sharks have a tough back-to-back on the weekend, in Dallas on Saturday and Chicago on Sunday. The Oilers might pick up some wins since they’re back to playing the teams they can beat, i.e. Eastern Conference ones, for the entire week. And finally, the Coyotes have home dates with the Leafs and Islanders sandwiched around a road game in Anaheim.
And we’re done. Thank god. See you next week, unless the Kings go winless again and I decide to take up something better for my mental state, like psychedelic drugs.