The Los Angeles Kings hoped that Kevin Fiala’s return would provide a much-needed boost to a struggling team. Instead, they find themselves reaching new levels of disappointment, albeit through no fault of the Swiss forward making his return to the ice following nine months off due to injury.
Although Fiala had an assist and some physical plays throughout the game, the Kings’ 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders extends their losing streak to three games and leaves them with just as many questions, if not more, than they had before Fiala came back.
“For me, just getting in the game, that’s very exciting. Very happy about that, obviously,” Fiala said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about [winning] games.”
Advertisement
Although the Kings got the majority of the game’s scoring chances, the end result was all the same as the Islanders took advantage of their opportunities better than the Kings did, and Los Angeles dropped to 5-10-2 on the season.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Kings defenseman and captain Drew Doughty said. “Tonight I thought we had a good effort. I thought we played some good hockey, but then there’s just, like, little moments in the game.”
“There was four different reasons why they scored goals out there,” head coach Peter Laviolette added (the Islanders’ fifth goal was an empty-netter). “But for most of the game, the shots and the chances were on our lead. There’d be something that we could have done better, and it’s in the back of our net. It’s a defensive zone coverage. It’s a line change goal. It’s a power play goal. It’s an off the rush goal. It’s just frustrating.”
Advertisement
Doughty emphasized his belief that the Kings’ issues come down to execution, rather than any problem with the coaching staff.
“I think, the systems, we all know them by now,” he said. “We’re all doing them pretty well. It’s just one-on-one moments, and really, that’s what’s hurting us.”
Much of the question now becomes whether the Kings’ season is beyond redemption or if they can move into a place of contention and consistent winning with small improvements. Naturally, the team hopes it’s the latter.
“I think they killed our momentum a little bit with that fourth goal,” Fiala said. “In important moments, we have to show up, we have to play better, more desperate, better details and all that. So overall, I think we’ve been playing good. But the small step, it’s not far away.”
Advertisement
The Kings know they don’t have long to save their season, and Doughty tried his best to remain positive on his outlook for their upcoming games.
“We’re wasting time right now,” he said. “Next game, it has to happen. It starts with practice tomorrow. We have to have a good practice, work hard, figure out our stuff, and come in for that next game, win that, and then have one hell of a road trip. But I believe that we have the guys in the room right now to do it.”
If this is the case, they haven’t proven it yet. And they are still searching for answers. Laviolette, who places value on his team having an identity, admits the Kings don’t really have one right now.
“I think we’ve been far too inconsistent with our game. We’re not winning games,” he said. “The identity, any identity that you want to instill in a team, you want it to be in a successful way, and so therefore, we’re not anywhere near where we need to be. We gotta continue to work at it and push at it. Like I said, there’s good things that we did on the ice tonight, but we made enough mistakes to lose a hockey game, and right now that’s kind of the way it’s been. We’ve got to continue to work to clean it up, continue to try and find ways to create and score, [and] play better.”
The Kings conclude their seven-game homestand on Saturday at 7 p.m. against the Calgary Flames before beginning a five-game road trip.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
