THE Los Angeles Kings are one overtime loss away from etching their name in the NHL record books for the most overtime losses in history, and that’s not the kind of milestone any team wants to celebrate.
With 14 overtime defeats over the season, the most in the NHL, with only the Vegas Golden Knights With the same amount, currently in first place in the Pacific Division, the Kings have turned close games into costly missed opportunities, losing critical points in a Western Conference playoff race that has no margin for error.
A record that hurts more than it helps
It’s been an on-again, off-again roller coaster for the Kings this season; It’s the one problem they couldn’t escape. The inability to close out close games and come out of a win in overtime or regulation when it’s a one-possession game.
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Los Angeles also has the most overtime games, with 23, and a below-average record: 9-14tied for the most goals against (67) in the NHL with the Golden Knights And Minnesota Wild.
But with all that, Los Angeles is still very much alive in the West playoff picture. Despite all the hardships and heartbreaking defeats they have endured, the race remains very close.
The Pacific Division has been very inconsistent this season, with no team that could be considered to be at the top of the conference or a clear contender. Only three teams are exactly .500 or over .500 in the conference: Edmonton Oilers, San Jose SharksAnd Anaheim Ducks. Even the number one seed, the Golden Knights, are not above .500, with a record of 25-16-14.
Three against three reveals the weaknesses of kings
Three-on-three is designed to reward speed, skill, shot completion and execution. Although the Kings have had solid shooting and speed, they have struggled this season to score in the 3-on-3 format.
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Whether it’s the lazy defense that gets tired in overtime or the turnovers the Kings give up a lot late in games, Los Angeles, for most of this season, still loses the same way every game.
A warning sign
There is also a psychological factor in this repeat result for the Kings. With Los Angeles constantly losing the same way, especially in overtime games, it undermines their confidence, especially when the same mistakes keep resurfacing.
A team hoping to compete in the Western Conference shouldn’t learn how to close out games in February; we should have figured that out by now, because we’re well into the second half of the season and almost into the playoffs.
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Now, none of this means the Kings are a bad team; in fact, it means the opposite: Los Angeles can compete with anyone on any night and is competitive almost every night against the best teams in the league.
But being competitive without execution and clutch is how good teams become average or mediocre, and how playoff teams become first-round exits.
Modification of overtime
Now, proponents argue that much of this inconsistency, not only in the Pacific Division but other divisions as well, is due to overtime games. Fans have even argued that, from a competitive standpoint, draws would be preferable to constantly drifting toward 3-on-3 overtime games, especially for several teams that have shown no ability to win in this format.
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The NHL had connections; the last season was 2004-05, before the controversial 2005-06 change eliminated them and adopted 3-on-3 overtime and shootouts. But there has been no discussion in the NHL about changing overtime rules again or returning to ties, as other professional NFL leagues do.
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