Discipline is a key issue for the the Kings who have the fifth most penalty minutes and the sixth worst penalty kill percentage this season.
Kings Discipline Struggles
The Los Angeles Kings are 4-2-2 in their first eight games this season. While this record has them in the playoff picture, there is one issue that continues to plague the Kings defence: penalties. The team has occurred 91 penalty minutes averaging 5.13 penalties per game. That places them at fifth most penalty minutes in the league.
Taking a lot of penalties is never ideal, but it can be overlooked. It is quite simple: if a team is going to take penalties, they need to be able to kill them. Right now, the Kings are not doing that enough. The team currently has a 72.2 percent penalty kill rate which is sixth worst in the league. Although a rate north of 70 percent seems okay, looking deeper reveals a problem.
A 72.2 percent kill percentage means the Kings allow one goal every four to five penalties taken. Factoring in the team taking around five penalties per game means that they are allowing an average of at least one goal on the penalty kill every game. In tight contests, this goal can be the difference between winning and loosing.
Why is this Happening?
Taking a high volume of penalties typically means that a team is either struggling to keep up defencively or that they are simply undisciplined. For the Kings, it is a combination of the two.
Loosing veteran defenceman Drew Doughty long term in the preseason dealt a major blow to the team’s defencive core. Doughty ate key minutes, especially on the penalty kill. The team’s younger defencemen are now shouldering these minutes.
Brandt Clarke in particular is struggling to adjust to this new responsibility. While some growing pains were and continue to be expected as the youngster sees his first full season of NHL action, he is also currently leading the team in minor penalties with six. Kevin Fiala trails Clarke with four minor penalties. This is not uncharacteristic for the left-winger. He led the team in minor penalties with 26 last season. The “Fiala Hat Trick” of a goal, an assist, and an offensive zone penalty is even a joke amongst Kings fans.
We are on Kevin Fiala hat trick watch after 20 minutes:
Goal❌️
Assist❌️
Offensive zone penalty✅️#GoKingsGo— Kyle Garcia (@Kopitar4HOF) October 21, 2024
Trevor Lewis ties Fiala at four minor penalties. This is very uncharacteristic and, given the veteran’s limited ice time on the fourth line, concerning. Both of these players are clearly struggling with discipline.
Behind them, three Kings defencemen, Jordan Spence, Kyle Burroughs, and Mikey Anderson, have three minor penalties a piece. This is a telltale sign that the defence is struggling to keep up with the play. Defencemen taking penalties results in a negative feedback loop. With the defence already struggling, loosing a defenceman for two minutes of game play only adds more pressure.
What Can Be Done
The Kings must do whatever is necessary to lighten the load on the defence including avoiding undisciplined, offensive zone penalties. With less penalties to kill, the defence should have the energy to keep up with the play resulting in less defencive zone penalties.
While working on the penalty kill in practice is always helpful, this is currently an urgent issue for the Kings. There are ways for the team to improve on the kill in the short term as they work on reducing the volume of penalties taken in the first place.
Drew Doughty should return in a few months and bolster both the penalty kill and the defence as a whole. In the meantime, the Kings just need to make sure that they can tighten up their discipline so they can find themselves in the playoff race when he returns.
Main Photo: Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images
