With five straight wins, the L.A. Kings continue to tighten their grip on the Pacific Division.
It might be a weaker division, but for a team that did not make the playoffs last season -- just a year removed from a Stanley Cup title -- the Kings aren’t interested in taking their chances by being mired with the rest of the Pacific pack as the second half of the season approaches.
Fresh off a four-game divisional road trip that yielded four wins in mostly dominant fashion, the Kings held on to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 2-1 on Saturday. Jonathan Quick made 29 saves for L.A.
That gives the Kings a 12-point lead on the Arizona Coyotes -- the second place team in the Pacific.
“It’s important – I’ve said it. It’s been asked. It got asked again on the road trip,” said Kings head coach Darryl Sutter, as per LA Kings Insider.
“Usually Anaheim’s running away with by now. I said it on the road. It does not change. We’re trying to be a playoff team. You don’t want to be fighting for the third spot. We tried it last year, and it doesn’t work.”