Winless through their first six games of the season, the Los Angeles Kings enter Tuesday night’s road contest against the Chicago Blackhawks with victories in three of the past four contests.
Each win has come away from home, a surge the Kings will aim to maintain against the slumping Blackhawks.
Defenseman Drew Doughty sparked Los Angeles’ latest victory on Monday, contributing a goal and two assists in a 6-3 win over the New York Rangers. Artemi Panarin and defenseman Joel Edmundson each scored and set up a goal as 12 Kings players registered at least one point.
“I thought it was really good from start to finish,” Los Angeles coach Peter Laviolette said. “We played the game fast, and we made good decisions, and we attacked. So there was a lot of positives that came from it. To get the whole bench involved like that I thought was really good.”
Laviolette added that managing minutes is especially crucial in the first leg of a back-to-back set. Only four players exceeded 20 minutes in Monday’s game, with Doughty the leader at 21:37.
Laviolette earned his 849th career victory on Monday, matching Ken Hitchcock for sixth place on the NHL’s all-time wins list.
“I mean, I’m fortunate to be around the game long enough to say that you reach a number like that,” said Laviolette, 61. “So many great players and so many great coaches I’ve worked with and organizations. I’m blessed to have been in it this long.”
Improvement remains the objective for the Blackhawks, whose six points are the second fewest in the Western Conference but still just two behind Los Angeles.
Chicago is 2-4-0 on a seven-game homestand and has scored two goals or less in five of its last seven games overall. The Blackhawks also have lost three games in a row, most recently 3-2 against Florida on Sunday in a game that saw the Panthers capitalize on a poor line change by Chicago to score the game winner with 2:23 remaining.
“There’s going to be frustration; we’re 3-8,” Chicago captain Connor Bedard said. “You’ve got to use that in the next game and try to dig ourselves out. When you play with that edge, you play a little better.
“If we can do that the rest of the year, that’d be great.”
Ryan Greene put the Blackhawks ahead with a goal early in the first period, and Roman Kantserov got the equalizer in the second.
Struggles on the power play mounted before, between and after those tallies.
Chicago finished 0-for-7 with the man advantage and produced only one shot during a four-minute power play in the second period. The Blackhawks failed to convert on any of their five power plays during a 4-1 loss to Montreal on Friday.
“The power play is mirroring our five-on-five game: We can’t score,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “I can’t say that we don’t get any chances; I think we do. Power plays are funny animals. You can get (poor) power plays and score and good power plays (and) not.”