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The Los Angeles Kings have slipped a bit from near the top of the Pacific Division, as a result of their recent slide.
With two huge key divisional matchups this week, the Kings lost both and now find themselves sitting in third place in the Pacific Division. They’re most recently coming off a 5-2 road loss against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, which saw them surrender four goals in the first period.
They’ve now dropped four of their last six games and find themselves unlikely to even have home ice advantage in the playoffs.
With the loss, the Kings’ chances of finishing anywhere higher than third in the Pacific Division seem low, still sitting at just 100 points. They’re basically guaranteed to not win the division with the Vegas Golden Knights already at 106 points (which is the maximum the Kings could even reach now) and the Edmonton Oilers at 103 points, each with three games left as well.
With Vegas so far ahead, unless Edmonton is able to take over top spot in the division and push the Golden Knights down to second place, it looks like the Kings are probably destined to start the postseason on the road against the Oilers once again. There's also the potential for the Kings to get hot and the Oilers to slip, switching placement and giving Los Angeles home ice, but this seems less likely.
However, the Kings do legitimately need to be cautious about not slipping into a wildcard spot. The Seattle Kraken are four points back of the Kings, but do still have a game in hand. Plus, their next two games come against the Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes. They’re carrying a bit of momentum with a three-game winning streak, but will play Vegas in their final two games of the season. Still, there’s a possible scenario where the Kings are overtaken by the Kraken and end up in a wildcard spot. In this case, they’d be looking at facing either Vegas (or Edmonton) as the top team in the Pacific, or whoever wins the Central, most likely either the Colorado Avalanche or Dallas Stars.
The Kings will be back at home tonight against the Colorado Avalanche and Monday against the Vancouver Canucks, before ending the season in an away game against the Anaheim Ducks.
QuizMaker
OTHER ARTICLES FROM APRIL
Kings end road trip with back-to-back wins, clinch playoff spot
Kings come up short in another key showdown against Oilers 
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
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