After winning a road-themed back-to-back, the Kings are back in Los Angeles for a two-game homestand, starting tonight with the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks were an outstanding team last year under head coach Rick Tochett, posting a 109-point season, winning the Pacific Division.
Despite being a top-tier team last season and having favorable records toward most of their division rivals, the contrary was evident against the Kings. LA was 3-0-1 against their northern border divisional rivals and outscored them by a margin of 15-8.
That dominance led a particular Vancouver player to speak out against the King’s 1-3-1 system after one of their losses. Was it frustrating, or did the Kings not play ‘pretty’ hockey last year?
“I mean, that’s their system. They don’t really make plays; they just rim the puck and sit back all game. I mean, it’s their goal to don’t play hockey and don’t let the other team play hockey, pretty much” Nikita Zadorov on LA Kings 1-3-1
We are here to say that the 1-3-1 is no longer in place. Nikita Zadorov has already seen the new 1-2-2 early this season while in Boston. However, it was not just the system that did the job for LA against Vancouver; it was the top players who executed it.
The Kings had many actors who stood out last season against the Canucks. Drew Doughty (2g, 3a), Anze Kopitar (2g, 4a), Kevin Fiala (3g, 3a), Adrian Kempe (2g, 2a), Trevor Moore (3g, 1a) all scored a point per game or more against Vancouver. All of the King’s top players came to eat when playing the Canucks.
That tells me these players thrived in their matchups against a good team. When your top players win their matchups in this somewhat lopsided fashion, the aggregate score from their series last year becomes picture-clear in summary.
That’s also not to say that the Canucks don’t have their fair share of players who excel against the Kings.
Brock Boeser has been nearly unstoppable against LA. In 20 career contests, he has 17 goals. Added to that count are six assists for 23 points in 20 games. He’s been rather good this season, scoring over .5 goals per game already (6g in 11 contests), and there hasn’t been an answer for him in the past. I expect him to be a factor on the scoresheet tonight.
The other dominant player against LA is Elias Pettersson. With nine goals and 12 assists in 18 career games against the Kings, this Swedish Superstar is a more balanced scoring threat than Boeser.
Pettersson broke out in a big way in 2022-23, notching over 100 points (39g, 63a, for 102p in 80gp). While he regressed slightly the following season, he was still one of the top centers in the league (34g, 55a, 89p). He is off to a slower-than-expected start this season, with just five points in eleven contests.
The Kings will have their hands full, but they will be facing a familiar opponent against whom they have had recent success. After losing 11 contests out of 14 from January 2018 to March 2023, the Kings have won their last five out of six games against the Canucks by a wide margin (22-9).
Both power plays are relatively pedestrian, with the Kings starting to sour at 21st overall (17%). Both teams are finding their way on the penalty kill (82.4% vs. the King’s 80%). The game could be decided in a grinding, even-strength game, where LA should be favored (38g—4th) against a team finding its even-strength production (29g—20th).
LA has been inconsistent this year, but after winning back-to-back games on the road by an 8-1 margin, I expect them to keep the ball rolling against a foe they’ve found success with.
