Observations from a ‘Boring’ Week 3

To be fair, they’re all right. The LA Kings, when they’re at their best, are boring. And that’s exactly how head coach Jim Hiller wants it. This boring, defensive style of play has been a hallmark of the Kings for over a decade now, though it’s been taken to a whole other level in recent years under Todd McLellan‘s infamous 1-3-1 system and Hiller’s occasional 0-5 forechecking strategy that he employs when the team is in the lead.

Call it boring, call it whatever you want, but the Kings have won three of their last four games – all on the road, I might add – and have picked up points in five straight and six out of seven.

Does it matter? Not really, we know this isn’t going to work in the playoffs. But in order for it not to work in playoffs, they have to get to the playoffs, and that’s got a proven track record.

Without Warren

The Kings’ first regulation win didn’t come without some bad news. Winger Warren Foegele went into the boards awkwardly after a hit from Nick Foligno, and he left the game favoring his arm/shoulder.

Hiller noted that there was no update after the game, other than he couldn’t return.

Losing Foegele would sting; he’s been a solid contributor since coming to Los Angeles in the summer of 2024. His production has been down to start the season – his one goal is his only point on the season – but he’s been involved in getting pucks to the net in the first ten games.

We’ll see how the team decides to operate in his absence. We could see either Joel Armia or Corey Perry move up next to Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore, or perhaps there are reinforcements coming from Ontario that could fill that spot.

Whatever it is, hopefully it’s not for long.

Begging For Brandt

Just for the heck of it, let’s check out where Brandt Clarke ranks among LA Kings’ defensemen in some 5-on-5 statistics (via Natural Stat Trick).

Points: 1st (5)
Corsi-For %: 2nd (56.1%)
Shots-On-Goal %: 1st (57.3%)
Goals-For %: 1st (80%)
Expected Goals-For %: 3rd (51.9%)

And for good measure, among all LA skaters, Clarke’s five points at 5-on-5 is second most.

Yet, Clarke ranks 5th in Time On Ice among LA defensemen (14:28/GP).

I don’t know what else Clarke has to do. And listen, I understand the people who say he should not be getting 25 minutes a night or replacing Drew Doughty‘s minutes as the number-one defenseman. To be fair, Clarke’s minutes have not been against some of the top competition.

But you know what the beauty of it is? Clarke doesn’t have to replace Doughty’s minutes in the top four. He just has to replace this:

This isn’t Matt Roy-caliber defensive play that’s blocking Clarke anymore. It’s someone who has been actively hurting the Kings since the opening game of the season in Cody Ceci. It is inexcusable – though not surprising – that Clarke continues to see fewer 5-on-5 minutes than Ceci.

For everyone worried about the Adrian Kempe contract, I’m much more worried about the future of Brandt Clarke as an LA King under the current regime.

Laffin’ It Up

Quick shout-out here to Alex Laferriere. He was excellent in Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. He got the Kings on the board with his second goal of the season, tying the game at 1, and led the Kings in both Shot Contributions (11) and Scoring Chance Contributions (8).

Back in his more customary role on the wing, Laferriere led all skaters in CF% (75.9%) and xGF% (86.1%) at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick.

Searching For Separation

The “hot” (can you call a 3-2 stretch hot?) streak the LA Kings are on has them just two points out of first place in the Pacific Division. That said, they’re also just two points up on the sixth-place Anaheim Ducks. A logjam this early in the season isn’t much of a surprise, but considering the starts for the Seattle Kraken (5-2-2) and Ducks (4-3-1), LA might have a little more competition for the second or third spot in the division than originally thought.

If the Kings actually fancy themselves a contender, they’re going to want to string together a real hot streak, not just ones where they’re grabbing loser points.

They finish off the road trip in San Jose on Tuesday night before heading home for four games against the Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, Winnipeg Jets, and Florida Panthers.

It’s only been ten games, so we’re still working our way through the marathon of the season. We don’t know what the next week will bring, but hopefully for the Kings’ sake, it’s boring.

Main Photo Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images