The Los Angeles Kings have to be pleased with their recent run of offense. They’ve played seven games since Feb. 21 and scored a whopping 23 goals over that span, an average of 3.28 per contest.
For most teams, that’s a nice surge in goalscoring
For L.A., it’s Krakatoa.
To put the recent 23-goal binge in perspective, the Kings scored 22 goals from Jan. 15 to Feb. 18 -- a span of 14 games. That included shutout losses to St. Louis, Phoenix and Calgary and one-goal outings against Edmonton, Calgary, Colorado, Carolina, Florida and the New York Islanders.
One would naturally tie LA’s newfound offense to the acquisition of Jeff Carter, but that’s not entirely accurate. He only has two goals (zero assists) since coming over from Columbus five games ago, and both were scored in a 4-2 win over Anaheim.
That said, Carter’s presence has made a difference. He’s teamed with Mike Richards and Dwight King to give the Kings a dangerous second line, which in turn has made life easier for the top group of Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Justin Williams. At no time was that more evident than in Tuesday’s 5-4 win over Nashville -- the Kopitar-Brown-Williams trio combined for four points as L.A. tied its season-high for goals in a single game.
Of course, scoring isn’t just about the guys up front.
“Our defensemen scored two goals by getting shots through, getting it past the first guy,” Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter said after the Nashville win. “That really was the difference. Our defense was more involved offensively than they have been.”
That’s been the case for the last while. Over the last seven games, Drew Doughty has three goals, Willie Mitchell has five assists while Matt Greene and Slava Voynov each have three points. It’s an impressive display considering GM Dean Lombardi dealt away a talented offensive defenseman in Jack Johnson to acquire Carter.
Add it all up, and you’ve got a Kings team surging at the right time. They’re currently on 74 points -- the same as eighth-place San Jose -- and very much alive in the wild Pacific Division chase. Current leaders Dallas (77 points) are just two up on Phoenix and three clear of both the Sharks and Kings.