With 10 combined goals in consecutive victories, the Kings’ offensive doldrums have begun to dissipate.
That awakening could prove timely as they get set for Friday’s steel-cage match with the NHL’s third-best defensive team, the Dallas Stars, and Saturday’s Freeway Faceoff against the Ducks’ formidable goaltending.
During Saturday’s statement game in Carolina and Wednesday’s domineering performance at home against Montreal, the Kings appeared to have found the spark that had been missing for almost all of January.
“A lot of our success near the beginning of the year, in that November stretch, was playing north and playing a little bit more aggressive,” said Warren Foegele, who scored on a penalty shot against the Canadiens. “During those last two road trips, we were sitting back too much.”
The line of Kevin Fiala, Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere combined to create five goals while registering six assists and a +13 rating in those two games. On Wednesday, they outscored their opponents 3-0, while Natural Stat Trick had them with a 13-0 shot advantage and a 10-0 edge in scoring chances at even strength.
“(Fiala and Laferriere) are probably a little bit more pure offensive players, and (Byfield) just does a great job of complementing them offensively, yes, but also taking care of them defensively,” said Kings coach Jim Hiller, who’s tasked Byfield with increasingly challenging matchups this season.
Fiala’s spurt has been a more-than-welcome development, as the team’s highest-paid forward was one of several – including Byfield, Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore – that were producing below their standards in the early part of the season. Unlike those other attackers, Fiala does not kill penalties and generally relies more on scoring for his value.
Prior to his brace at Carolina, he’d scored just 29 points in 48 games, putting him on track for 49 after posting 73 last season and averaging over a point-per-game in the two prior campaigns.
Beyond his lack of tangible results, Fiala had been fettered by moments where he lacked discipline or sound judgment, whether in the form of turnovers, penalties or, in one case, missing a team meeting following a benching and drawing a consequent one-game suspension from the club.
“Kevin didn’t have a great start to the season,” Hiller said. “Obviously there was some different things going on, that he was working through, that him and I were working through. But it’s been, for some time – I think he’s going to have a really good second half.”
Fiala has 11 points in his past 10 games, albeit with some iffy efforts peppered into that mix. Hiller said he’d seen greater quality and consistency from Fiala overall during that span, instilling confidence that perhaps the Kings’ most dynamic forward would be more of a weapon down the stretch.
Fiala will attempt to replicate his recent feats against Dallas, one of the most parsimonious teams in the NHL. In addition to the league’s third-best goals-against average in the league, they also boast its No. 2 penalty kill.
Arcadia-born Jason Robertson notched a tepid 21 points in his first 31 games, but since Dec. 20 only two players league-wide have outscored him. He was joined by Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci last weekend after they were traded from the San Jose Sharks, bolstering a roster that’s been challenged by injuries to Tyler Seguin, Nils Lundqvist and Miro Heiskanen, among others.
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The Stars had won five straight games before falling 2-1 to the Ducks on Tuesday in a match that also marked the Ducks’ fifth victory in six opportunities. It was the Ducks’ second victory over the Stars this season. The Kings also won their first meeting with Dallas, which tormented them last year and had beaten them handily in four straight meetings before Dec. 4’s 3-2 win.
The Ducks’ goalie tandem of John Gibson and Lukáš Dostál has been pedestrian on the surface, but weighting their performance based on possession, defense and other key factors spotlighted them as one of the most effective duos of 2024-25.
Dallas at Kings
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
How to watch: FDSNW, Victory+
Ducks at Kings
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
How to watch: FDSNW, Victory+, KCOP (Ch. 13)