LOS ANGELES — These can be the dog days of the NHL season.
Everybody’s past the halfway point of the 82-game schedule, but the playoffs are still three months away. The games pile up, the midseason break – this time for the Four Nations international tournament Feb. 12-20, rather than an All-Star weekend – isn’t for another couple of weeks and you’ve just had three days at home sandwiched between back-to-back five-game road trips.
And if you get into a rough patch it can be tough to get out of it.
Then again, sometimes a simple play or a good bounce can do the trick.
Trailing the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers 1-0 in the third period on Wednesday night, and at risk of their fifth loss in six games – right before an upcoming Columbus-Detroit-Florida-Tampa Bay-Carolina excursion thanks to the Grammys – the Kings got that play, and that bounce. Samuel Helenius poked a loose puck past Panthers goalie Spencer Knight 6:41 into the period, for what turned out to be his first NHL goal, and that opened the door. Adrian Kempe’s 24th of the season 6½ minutes later gave L.A. the lead, Darcy Kuemper preserved it, and the Kings had a 2-1 victory that could be even more significant than two points in the standings.
Rest assured, those points matter. The Kings haven’t been getting nearly enough of them lately, following a five-game winning streak that had carried them into the new year with four losses in five games. The last, a 5-1 drubbing by Pittsburgh on Monday in the return home after a 2-3 trip, was a certified stinker. But in Coach Jim Hiller’s description the others weren’t bad games, just unsuccessful ones.
“We haven’t had some results recently, but we thought we played well,” he said. “Thought we played well in Calgary, lost (2-1). Thought we played well in Edmonton, lost (4-3). Had a bad first period in Seattle and then played pretty well, lost (4-2, two nights after a 5-1 win in Vancouver). And then, we just talked about Pittsburgh. So all of a sudden you’re going, ‘Oh, we’re not getting any points.’ We thought we were playing pretty good with the exception of the Pittsburgh game.
“So we didn’t overreact, the players just gathered themselves and probably were a little bit tired coming back from that road trip, I think if I look at it now in retrospect. But having said all that, in the end, the points are what you need. Points are important. I mean, you don’t get much for second place. But it did feel like we were still playing good hockey. And the points should come if you play like that.”
Helenius, called up earlier this season from the AHL Ontario Reign, called that first NHL goal “a dream come true.” (And yes, he’s keeping the puck.) He had eight goals in a full season in Ontario in 2023-24, and two in eight games this season before being called up. This time his timing was really good, as was that of Tanner Jeannot, who poked the puck lin Helenius’ direction.
“He deserves it,” teammate Kevin Fiala said. “He’s been grinding for so many years, for his whole life, and he deserved it. We’re very happy for him.”
The first goal might have come from an unexpected source. The go-ahead goal didn’t. Fiala shot from inside the blue line, and Kempe tipped it in for his 24th of the season.
And maybe this was just a case of the Kings being tired of struggling. They were severely outplayed in the second period but came out with renewed energy in the third. Sometimes it takes that combination of will and stubborness to rise above fatigue and ennui.
“Yeah, there are” the dog days, Fiala said. “But that’s what good teams (do). I mean, 82 games is a long season and it’s a grind. I know what you mean. It also helps a little bit to live in L.A., you know, in January to have sun days. But honestly, I think this team is just ready to play any day.”
And don’t look now, but the Kings are about to get an All-Star reinforcement.
Drew Doughty, who broke his left ankle in a preseason game, is skating with the team and conceivably could play some time during this trip. It will be a boost competitively to have him back on the ice, and it will be a boost in spirit and energy as well to have the two-time Stanley Cup champ chirping in the locker room.
“He’ll have an immediate impact, just coming back into the group,” Hiller said. “He’s a really popular, energetic player. It will take him some time. So we’re accepting that it’s likely going to take him some time to get back up to speed. And when I say time, (it means) weeks, you know what I mean? But that doesn’t mean that he can’t help us in the short term and, you know, maybe a lesser role and that, you know, we can build him back up as quick as we can.”
There is also this reason for Kings fans to feel some optimism: After this upcoming trip, the club will play 22 of its final 32 games at home and only five as far east as the Central time zone. After Wednesday’s win they are 15-3-1 at home.
If it feels like the dog days, that often means it’s a stretch in which you’re way too familiar with planes and hotels and luggage.
“What are we, three and a half, four days home maybe?” Hiller said of the brief interlude between trips. “This one is going to be more challenging than the last one, just based on that. … We’ll have to challenge the guys. Hopefully Drew and Laf (Alex Laferriere, out with an upper body injury) at some point can give us reinforcements on this trip.
“I think we’ll need it before too long.”
