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Maybe LA Kings are as vulnerable as Vegas in West playoff race |
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Have we been looking at the wrong vulnerable team in the Western Conference playoff race?
The Vegas Golden Knights have been under the microscope because they seemed in danger of missing the playoffs. It would be a surprising development, given they were considered one of the preseason favorites in the West.
The Golden Knights have a roster overflowing with impact players. Mark Stone. Jack Eichel. Alex Pietrangelo, etc. You know the list.
Vegas is still on the outside looking in. They are three points out of the last wild card spot with eight games remaining in the season. The Dallas Stars boast 88 points, and the Golden Knights have 85. The Stars also have one game in hand.
The Nashville Predators have the first Wild card spot with 89 points, and they also have a game in hand.
The Golden Knights are 6-1-1 in their last eight games, but that missed point Tuesday against the Vancouver Canucks could haunt them. It was a frustrating loss, considering the Golden Knights rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game in the final minute of regulation on a goal by Shea Theodore.
The Golden Knights needed that OT win point and they didn't get it.
On the plus side, Mark Stone is playing again because the Golden Knights conjured up some perfectly-legal salary cap maneuvering to bring him off the long-term injured reserve.
Vegas players probably feel as if they have been in the playoffs for a month, or at least two or three weeks.
Five of the Vegas eight remaining games are against teams in a playoff position. The Golden Knights' fate may come down to an April 26 game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas.
The Stars have the schedule advantage. In addition to having an extra game, six of their nine games are against teams that are not in a playoff position. Three of their last four games are against Seattle, Arizona and Anaheim.
Not exactly NHL heavyweights.
But there is no guarantee that either the Stars or Golden Knights will win the games they are supposed to win. But they are both playing effective hockey. In their last 10 games, both the Stars and Golden Knights are 6-3-1.
That brings us to the team that no one is talking about -- the Los Angeles Kings.
They have 88 points, the same number as Dallas. But they own third place based on the tie breaker (regulation + overtime wins). But here is the important fact: they have played two more games than Dallas and one more than Vegas.
The Kings only have seven games remaining, one of them against the Colorado Avalanche.
All of the sudden the Kings' third place standing doesn't look secure.
That's particularly true when you consider that the Kings are 7-10 in their last 17 and 4-4-2 in their last 10. The Golden Knights are averaging 3.16 goals per game and the Kings are at 2.84.
No NHL team currently in the playoffs has a lower scoring average than the Kings.
The Kings' goal differential is +1 and Vegas is at +17. Maybe we have been looking at the wrong team when it comes to vulnerability.
But maybe not. Of the Kings' last seven games, only one is against a playoff team. They play Anaheim twice, plus Chicago, Columbus, Vancouver and Seattle.
That is not a difficult schedule.
Perhaps we are all guilty of over-analyzing strength of schedule and game in hand. No matter who you play down the stretch, you have to keep winning.
But the Kings might indeed have as much vulnerability as the Golden Knights.
Blogger •HHOF Writer's column on the NHL • 
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