The Los Angeles Kings have been a difficult team to analyze so far in 2014-15. At home, the Kings are a strong side with an 11-4-1 record. On the road, their record is 4-6-5. It’s been a tale of two teams and the Kings are currently performing below the great expectations assigned to the defending Stanley Cup victors. As other teams in the West continue to pull ahead, the Kings find themselves battling for the Wild Card. Drew Doughty knows this is a trend which needs to end.
Via LA Kings Insider, Doughty preached urgency and understands the Kings need to turn things around and in a hurry.
“We need to have a sense of urgency, that’s for sure. I can tell you that we’re not yet worried that we’re not going to turn it around and we’re not going to make the playoffs or anything like that. We know we still will do that. We just need to turn this thing around quickly, because we’re losing points and other teams are gaining ground on us. We need to win these games, especially when we come over to the east. That’s our opportunity to win games and kind of get up there in the standings.”
Doughty and the Kings have a few key things going for them. First, there’s a lot of time left in 2014-15 and the Kings have plenty of time to turn things around. They may be trailing the Anaheim Ducks by a decent margin right now, but it only takes one decent hot streak for LA to be right back in it. Secondly, the Kings have been in this position before. You may recall a season in which the Kings barely squeaked into the playoffs and ended up hoisting the Cup. They’ve proven they are able to turn it on when it matters most.
Long story short, the Kings have a lot of things they need to work on. The most important area is their mentality and overall approach on the road. The Kings haven’t been able to replicate their success and fire at home when they are in the opponent’s arena. This may be a case where the Kings have seen that they can win the Cup while coasting through chunks of the regular season and as a result they aren’t keeping their foot on the pedal so far in 2014-15. While things worked out in the past, it’s doubtful the Kings will find similar success considering the West has improved since their most recent Cup victory.
Will the Kings be able to turn things around?
