The Los Angeles Kings are on the brink of doing something they have not done in 30 years. Los Angeles has officially made the playoffs, but this is the first step. They now want to win the Pacific Division, and it would be the first time they have won a division since the 1990-91 season, when they won the Smythe Division. With few games left in the 2024-25 season, they may need to make it a perfect 5-0 to make this interesting.
The Kings won the Smythe Division with a 46-24-20 record and 102 points. Since then, they have not won a division , albeit coming close in a few seasons. Los Angeles is six points behind the Vegas Golden Knights and the Kings have five games left to the four of Vegas. While the Kings making the playoffs is a reward for hard work, a division title would be sweeter.
The Kings remaining schedule looks like this as they play the Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, at the Edmonton Oilers, at the Seattle Kraken, and home to the Calgary Flames. The Golden Knights remaining schedule looks like against Seattle, against the Nashville Predators, at Calgary, and at the Vancouver Canucks.
Pivotal players for this final stretch include goaltender Darcy Kuemper and forward Andrei Kuzmenko. Kuemper has been amazing this season for Los Angeles and has outperformed many goaltenders this season. His stats include a 28-11-7 record, a .921 save percentage, 2.03 goals against average, five shutouts, and 10 penalty minutes. He has been elite all season but his true test will be coming in these last five games as some teams are still in the race and could be up for playing spoiler.
Kuzmenko came over in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers and has been nothing short of amazing. In his 17 games with Los Angeles, he has five goals and six assists for 11 points. In his last five games, he has three goals and four assists for seven points, heating up at the right time. He is exactly what the top line needed, a right-handed shot with speed and offensive creativity. He has fit right in and has been a shot in the arm for the offense.
The Kings still have a long, hard road ahead of them if they are to win another Stanley Cup. Getting into the playoffs is the easy part but it still takes dedication and hard work. Los Angeles has a team built for the playoffs, a low scoring, grinding game with a strong defense and good goaltending. Kuemper and Kuzmenko will be two players to focus on and see how they play late in the season and into the playoffs.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (photo: lakingsinsider; Zach Dooley) (photo: lakingsinsider.com; Zach Dooley)
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