LA Kings Game Notes: Allowing 6 Straight Goals In Embarrassing Loss To Sharks – Hockey Writers – Los Angeles Kings

It wouldn’t be a bad game for the Los Angeles Kings as they were eliminated from the SAP Center by the San Jose Sharks last night. They played 20 minutes in that game and were rewarded with a 7-2 defeat. In the 22 games played so far this season, last night was the worst Kings performance we have seen. It was a sloppy, hard-working game from goal to lead for most of the game.

Currently, the Kings have dropped two games to the Sharks, who are the second worst team in the Western Conference. For a team that started the season above average, sitting in third place in the Pacific Division, this was not the type of game Amakhosi should have lost. This should have been an easy two points for the Kings to collect but because they did everything but show up for most of that game, they didn’t take the opportunity to play against a lesser opponent.

This is the type of loss that leads people to be fired or traded. This was about to lose for a number of reasons, especially for a team that has yet to find a level of consensus. Not being able to take advantage of easy games will hurt this team on the road, as they have already lost to the Sharks and Buffalo Sabres.

A disappointing performance for the Kings tonight. They played 20 minutes of that game and the scoreline shows. Losing to the Sharks is one thing but getting beaten by the bottom three teams is another. Kings need a big wake-up call. #GoKingsGo

– Raz Devraj (@razdevraj) November 26, 2024

First and third negatives

It’s been a while since the Kings came out with strong games in a row and managed to get to their game early. They got off to a great start against the Seattle Kraken a few nights ago and what better opportunity to bring the pair together than the Sharks. It is not surprising that that did not happen as the Sharks striker, Nico Sturm, opened the scoring within two minutes of the start of the game.

What stood out about the Kings in the first half was their lack of awareness. They couldn’t connect on passes, put pucks in dangerous areas, got seven giveaways, came out sloppy and disorganized to start the game. Creating offense is something that the Kings have struggled with for a long time and in the first half they did nothing.

The third period was the worst 20 minutes of hockey this team has played all season. From the first game, it went from bad to worse, and it never got better as Amakhosi had one of the league’s worst collapses this season, conceding five goals in the third period.

About a minute into the third, Macklin Celebrini found the back of the net from long range near the left boards. A goal that should not have been scored by Makhosi goalkeeper David Rittich. That was just the start of a ridiculously bad season for the Kings. Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren scored a goal from the point with one minute left to give the Sharks a 4-2 lead. It was a goal that Kings coach Jim Hiller chose to challenge by interfering with the goalkeeper, but it ended up being stopped. That led to the Sharks playing strongly in the third in this game. Seconds after the start of the Sharks’ strong game, Kings forward Warren Foegele took over, which led to the Kings knocking down two players at 1:41. Celebrini cashed in with his second goal of the game, and that was it, 3:43 into the third period with the Kings out of it.

“Yes, you should be better, everyone. It’s not one guy, it’s not one line, it’s not a defense pair, it’s not just the goalkeeper, it’s the whole team. “That’s a game, 2-2 in the visiting team’s building, you have to come out ready to fight and we weren’t ready to just grind and fight,” said Hiller.

Not only that, the Sharks went to the Kings and played a better game. The Sharks didn’t have many dangerous chances in the third period but found the back of the net five times. Constant penalties, horrendous defending, questionable goal scoring, and claiming they scored zero resulted in Amakhosi losing the game in the third period.

“It’s hard, it was happening fast, so before we knew it, there were three of us on the ground. Yes, hockey is still there, but minds wander, so it’s not an easy thing to do, to refocus and push forward,” said captain Anze Kopitar.

Kings Show Second And That’s It

If Amakhosi had played the whole game the way they played in the second half, maybe we would be talking about how they scored a goal against the Sharks. It’s the full 60-minute effort that this team lacks and it’s starting to catch up. It shouldn’t take much for a team like the Kings to beat the Sharks but this is the NHL and no matter who you play if there is no effort or intent shown, any team can be beat on any given night. When we got a glimpse of that effort from the Kings in the second half, good things were happening.

Related: Kings Have Big Chance to Move Up Rankings for Remaining November Schedule

The Kings had 12 dangerous chances throughout the game and 10 of them went into the second half. Of the 27 scoring chances they received, 17 of them were second chances. They beat the Sharks 13-5 and scored two goals to take a 2-1 lead.

This was a bad game but one thing we saw last night that we haven’t seen in all the previous games is the ability of the Kings to disable, and by Kings I mean Kopitar and Adrian. Kempe, two of the few players who emerged made a positive impact.

Both goals scored by Amakhosi included Kopitar and Kempe who found space and created a chance from the start. It’s something this team was talking about wanting to do before the season started, something they hoped would come easily as they went from 1-3-1. While most of their offense has yet to appear in a hurry, this is something that fits the Kings’ roster. There is a lot of acceleration and deceleration in their team and being able to use that speed as Kempe did many times last night will be key if they play against good teams in getting into the shooting lanes once Amakhosi starts. offensive area. This could be the beginning of another phase that Amakhosi can add to the way they score goals and have been wanting to add it for a long time.

Kings must take a good look at themselves in the mirror because things are about to get very tense. They are about to embark on a very tough game in the next few weeks and it all starts on Wednesday as they host the NHL’s leading Winnipeg Jets. A complete 180 performance will be needed if they hope to win against the Jets.