In a season that’s felt more like three campaigns than one for the Kings, it seemed fitting that their destiny and destination would come down to the final date on the NHL’s calendar Thursday, when they’ll welcome the Chicago Blackhawks.
After soaring early, plummeting in January and regaining at least some of their touch from the fall following a coaching change, the Kings will not be able to make spring travel plans until the very second. Thursday’s docket will determine if they are headed to Dallas to face the Central Division champion Stars or to Edmonton to kick off the postseason against an Oilers squad that’s knocked them out in each of the past two years.
“Everyone is a wagon. Dallas is a good team, Edmonton is a good team,” Kings center Phillip Danault said. “There’s no real ideal scenario. We just have to play hard in the next game.”
Edmonton not only eliminated the Kings in two straight tournaments but it won three of four meetings this year, with the Kings averaging 2.33 goals per game and allowing 3.75 versus the Oilers despite winning one game 4-0. Against Dallas, the results were even more lopsided, with Dallas putting up 4.33 goals per game on the Kings and surrendering just one per game in a sweep of three meetings.
To decide their fate, the Kings will face one rival, the Blackhawks, and need help from another, the Ducks, on Thursday when the regular season concludes.
What the Kings can control is their own point total, as a victory of any kind in regulation would allow them to narrowly clear the bar set by the Vegas Golden Knights. But Vegas will be in action against the Ducks and a win of any kind for Vegas would keep the Kings at bay, sending them to Dallas for a showdown with the No. 1-seeded Stars.
While the Ducks have struggled this season and improved only from dead last to placing 30th among 32 franchises, they have beaten Vegas in two of three meetings. They’ll also have a new weapon in their arsenal with 2022’s No. 5 overall draft pick, Cutter Gauthier, making his pro debut.
The Kings will have their own former No. 5 overall pick back in the fold, Alex Turcotte, who returned to the parent club at the expense of Akil Thomas, who had three goals and an assist in seven games but was returned to the minors anyway.
Turcotte could join Pierre-Luc Dubois and Quinton Byfield on the fourth line, which would give the Kings a bottom trio consisting entirely of centers who were top-five selections in their respective drafts.
While Turcotte has been trying to resuscitate his game after multiple concussions and other injuries, the small roles for the large Byfield and Dubois could be seen as something of a concern.
Though Dubois has been productive at times, his 40 points represented a steep decline (he’s topped 60 in three of his six prior seasons in the NHL). He has compiled half his points since the All-Star break, responding well to some of the tweaks made by interim coach Jim Hiller.
Byfield compiled that same total of 40 points between Nov. 2 and Feb. 29 alone, during a period in which he emerged as the force the Kings had hoped he could be when they drafted him second overall in 2020, the franchise’s highest pick since Drew Doughty in 2008.
Yet getting both players going simultaneously has proven onerous. While Dubois has contributed more in some of the past 33 games, Byfield’s production has cratered. He has gone pointless in his past nine games and goalless in his last 19, all in a contract year for the hulking forward.
That hasn’t been for lack of support, as Byfield had primarily skated opposite Adrian Kempe as they flanked Anze Kopitar. Since Byfield’s last goal March 7, Kempe paced the Kings with 22 points and Kopitar placed second with 19 as both players competed in 19 contests (having missed one each due to injury during that span).
“I think he’s putting a little too much pressure on himself through this stretch. It doesn’t feel good for him, I’m sure,” Hiller told reporters Wednesday. “We just want him to take a break from that pressure of playing with Kopi and Juice and just go play his game.”
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It would be particularly critical for Byfield to find his game if the Kings were to confront Edmonton. He led them in scoring against the Oilers with six points during the regular season. Against Dallas, Byfield did not register a point, but only five Kings players did across all three less-than-competitive matchups.
In two prior clashes with surefire Calder Trophy winner Connor Bedard and Chicago, the Kings won both decisions by an 11-2 aggregate result. Dubois contributed four points and Byfield had two, while Kopitar and Kempe led the way with five points apiece.
Chicago at Kings
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: Bally Sports West