#LAKings Kings test 3-game winning streak with back-to-back set (Daily News)
The Kings back-to-back set will bring an intimately familiar face to their arena before sending them to a completely novel venue, and at the end of it they might just be riding their longest winning streak of the campaign.
Their three consecutive victories are one shy of a season-high string. Theyll put that streak on the line against former Kings coach Darryl Sutter and the Calgary Flames at home Thursday before heading to face the Arizona Coyotes on Friday in the first game in Kings franchise history at Tempes Mullett Arena.
The top story of this surge has been goalie Pheonix Copley, who went from being part of the team to running hot, having made four consecutive starts and won five of his six appearances while posting a team-leading .912 save percentage. That figure was dented significantly by his one loss, in which Coach Todd McLellan said that his club played one of its best games of the season through 40 minutes, Copley included, before a team-wide breakdown did them in during a disastrous, six-goals-allowed third period in Buffalo.
While the long-term question of where Copley sits among Cal Petersen, who is thriving in the minors during a corrective stint, and veteran incumbent Jonathan Quick remains unresolved, there is little doubt that Copley is No. 1 on the Kings depth chart at the moment.
I dont even have to explain it. He just saves it and hes bringing it all, said winger Kevin Fiala, who scored a stunning goal to seal a 4-1 win over the Ducks on Tuesday. He makes big saves, he keeps us in the game and hes done a great job. Just positive things to say.
Copley and Quick appear poised to split the starts against Calgary and at Arizona, where the Coyotes have temporarily moved into Arizona States hockey facility, with its cozy confines and paltry seating capacity.
If the Kings were to win both games, not only would they set a season best for most consecutive wins, they would also move to 3-0-0 against divisional opponents and 5-0-0 in intraconference games in December, including a 5-3 win over Arizona to start the month. That would situate them nicely heading into matchups with Pacific Division-leading Vegas and defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado as the calendar prepares to turn.
While many have obsessively compared this years Kings with last years, Vegas and Colorado are among the teams that demonstrate that each season is its own entity with its own identity. A nightmare season for Vegas last year with injuries, a salary cap crunch and a void in net has given way to a superb campaign stemming from a deep roster and a breakout performer in goal. The triumph of the Avs, on the other hand, was soon accompanied by significant departures and long-term injuries to key players like Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog.
McLellan expressed a desire to move on from last season, and noted that the idea was not for the Kings to replicate their surprising 99-point campaign and first-round loss but rather to evolve and progress beyond that point.
This year is about taking a step forward and advancing. Are we there? We show some nights we certainly are, then we give it back a little bit, McLellan said. I think there are five or six teams that are consistently winning games right now and then there are some others that arent winning as many and then theres a whole group of teams in the middle of the pack that are all trying to figure it out.
Wed probably be in the middle, if you compare us to the rest of the league. Were hoping for growth and getting better.
An organization that might be loath to compare their 2022-23 campaign to 2021-22 is Calgary, which won the Pacific last year and then was forced to make numerous alterations. The Flames are currently sitting just outside the playoff picture, in a points tie for the final wild card but not possessing any tie-breakers with Colorado or Edmonton. Among those three bubble clubs are both division winners and both conference finalists in the West last season.
The Flames made significant changes up front, losing Johnny Gaudreau in free agency before trading away Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan. They brought in Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, but have not been able to reach the same level of potency without Gaudreau and Tkachuk, their two top scorers from last year, as their goals-per-game dropped from 3.55 to 3.12, even with a recent 7-3 romp over San Jose. That game saw three-point performances for Kadri, Huberdeau and former King Tyler Toffoli; a pair of goals from Kadri; and a tally apiece from former Kings Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis.
The Flames have also dealt with absences on defense, including Oscar Kylington (personal), who has not played this season. Their goals-against-average has ballooned by more than half a goal per game, and Jacob Markstroms save percentage has plummeted from .922 to .893.
In Arizona, the Coyotes may have had nowhere to go but up from last season, but theyve improved across the board in terms of points percentage, goals for, goals against and both areas of special teams.
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Clayton Keller has been a point-per-game player. Arizonas other top-six left winger, Matias Maccelli, has been a breakout performer in his first full season. He leads the team in assists with 19. Shayne Goestisbehere and Jakob Chychrun have provided commendable offense from the blue line.
Calgary at Kings
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/Radio: Bally Sports West/iHeart Radio
Kings at Arizona
When: 6:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Mullett Arena, Tempe, Ariz.
TV/Radio: Bally Sports West/iHeart Radio
https://www.dailynews.com/2022/12/21...k-to-back-set/
Their three consecutive victories are one shy of a season-high string. Theyll put that streak on the line against former Kings coach Darryl Sutter and the Calgary Flames at home Thursday before heading to face the Arizona Coyotes on Friday in the first game in Kings franchise history at Tempes Mullett Arena.
The top story of this surge has been goalie Pheonix Copley, who went from being part of the team to running hot, having made four consecutive starts and won five of his six appearances while posting a team-leading .912 save percentage. That figure was dented significantly by his one loss, in which Coach Todd McLellan said that his club played one of its best games of the season through 40 minutes, Copley included, before a team-wide breakdown did them in during a disastrous, six-goals-allowed third period in Buffalo.
While the long-term question of where Copley sits among Cal Petersen, who is thriving in the minors during a corrective stint, and veteran incumbent Jonathan Quick remains unresolved, there is little doubt that Copley is No. 1 on the Kings depth chart at the moment.
I dont even have to explain it. He just saves it and hes bringing it all, said winger Kevin Fiala, who scored a stunning goal to seal a 4-1 win over the Ducks on Tuesday. He makes big saves, he keeps us in the game and hes done a great job. Just positive things to say.
Copley and Quick appear poised to split the starts against Calgary and at Arizona, where the Coyotes have temporarily moved into Arizona States hockey facility, with its cozy confines and paltry seating capacity.
If the Kings were to win both games, not only would they set a season best for most consecutive wins, they would also move to 3-0-0 against divisional opponents and 5-0-0 in intraconference games in December, including a 5-3 win over Arizona to start the month. That would situate them nicely heading into matchups with Pacific Division-leading Vegas and defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado as the calendar prepares to turn.
While many have obsessively compared this years Kings with last years, Vegas and Colorado are among the teams that demonstrate that each season is its own entity with its own identity. A nightmare season for Vegas last year with injuries, a salary cap crunch and a void in net has given way to a superb campaign stemming from a deep roster and a breakout performer in goal. The triumph of the Avs, on the other hand, was soon accompanied by significant departures and long-term injuries to key players like Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog.
McLellan expressed a desire to move on from last season, and noted that the idea was not for the Kings to replicate their surprising 99-point campaign and first-round loss but rather to evolve and progress beyond that point.
This year is about taking a step forward and advancing. Are we there? We show some nights we certainly are, then we give it back a little bit, McLellan said. I think there are five or six teams that are consistently winning games right now and then there are some others that arent winning as many and then theres a whole group of teams in the middle of the pack that are all trying to figure it out.
Wed probably be in the middle, if you compare us to the rest of the league. Were hoping for growth and getting better.
An organization that might be loath to compare their 2022-23 campaign to 2021-22 is Calgary, which won the Pacific last year and then was forced to make numerous alterations. The Flames are currently sitting just outside the playoff picture, in a points tie for the final wild card but not possessing any tie-breakers with Colorado or Edmonton. Among those three bubble clubs are both division winners and both conference finalists in the West last season.
The Flames made significant changes up front, losing Johnny Gaudreau in free agency before trading away Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan. They brought in Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, but have not been able to reach the same level of potency without Gaudreau and Tkachuk, their two top scorers from last year, as their goals-per-game dropped from 3.55 to 3.12, even with a recent 7-3 romp over San Jose. That game saw three-point performances for Kadri, Huberdeau and former King Tyler Toffoli; a pair of goals from Kadri; and a tally apiece from former Kings Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis.
The Flames have also dealt with absences on defense, including Oscar Kylington (personal), who has not played this season. Their goals-against-average has ballooned by more than half a goal per game, and Jacob Markstroms save percentage has plummeted from .922 to .893.
In Arizona, the Coyotes may have had nowhere to go but up from last season, but theyve improved across the board in terms of points percentage, goals for, goals against and both areas of special teams.
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Clayton Keller has been a point-per-game player. Arizonas other top-six left winger, Matias Maccelli, has been a breakout performer in his first full season. He leads the team in assists with 19. Shayne Goestisbehere and Jakob Chychrun have provided commendable offense from the blue line.
Calgary at Kings
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/Radio: Bally Sports West/iHeart Radio
Kings at Arizona
When: 6:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Mullett Arena, Tempe, Ariz.
TV/Radio: Bally Sports West/iHeart Radio
https://www.dailynews.com/2022/12/21...k-to-back-set/