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For as good as the Los Angeles Kings have been to start the season, they’ve struggled at home. On route to their 8-3-3 record, the Kings have gone undefeated on the road, with a 7-0-0 record, but have won just one of seven home games to this point, going 1-3-3.
While they may have arguably deserved a better fate in some of those losses, they’re also coming off what was one of their most disappointing defeats, where they fell 4-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers over the weekend.
Despite a pretty decent first period (and an especially strong first half), the Kings found themselves down through 20 minutes off a breakaway goal from Owen Tippett. Then while they outshot the Flyers 20-7 in the second period, two goals from Morgan Frost left the Kings in a big hole, though Carl Grundstrom did get on back for Los Angeles to make it a 3-1 game through 40 minutes. The Flyers then capitalized off a turnover to reinstate the three-goal lead early in the third period, and while Adrian Kempe made it a 4-2 game shortly after, the Kings really didn’t get much going in the third period, and Cal Petersen picked up the win for Philadelphia.
While the Kings did control a lot of the play through 40 minutes, the lack of intensity that we’ve seen through a lot of the season and disappointing third period left a lot to be desired. As a result, with two games remaining on their homestand and now riding a brief two-game losing streak through the first half of the home set, the Kings face an opportunity to build a bit of momentum back, starting with the Florida Panthers tonight.
The contrast between home and road success isn’t necessarily something entirely new either. While the majority teams would obviously have better records at home, back in the 2021-22 season, Los Angeles also had a better road record than home record (just not nearly with this large of a discrepency between their home and road success).
Kevin Fiala and Arthur Kaliyev swapped places in the lineup against the Flyers, and both are expected to remain as part of their new lines tonight, along with Jaret Anderson-Dolan drawing into action for Alex Laferriere. Fiala and Dubois should be counted on as two of the Kings’ most important forwards, but with both players struggling a little over the last number of games, hopefully the switch will be enough to get both players going.
In smaller news, Samuel Fagemo was also re-claimed by the Kings earlier in the week, while Jacob Moverare has been called up, with Tobias Bjornfot assigned to the AHL on a conditioning loan.
It’ll be a great test for the Kings tonight, facing a red-hot Florida Panthers team riding a five-game win streak. The home ice struggles remain somewhat of a strange problem for the Kings to have, and we’re still looking at a small sample size of play to this point, but hopefully, this is where the Kings can get back on track with a home win.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM NOVEMBER
- Kings dominate in 4-1 win over Leafs
- Kings get past Senators to stay undefeated on the road
- Kings keep rolling with 5-0 win over Flyers
- 4 players who are exceeding expectations with the Kings early on
- Kings stay perfect on the road, extend streak with win over Golden Knights
- Kings' winning streak ends in overtime loss to Penguins 
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
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