During their first three-game winning streak of the campaign, the Kings have often had their “A” game, and if last season’s series with the Dallas Stars was any indicator, they’ll need it again when they welcome the green and white on Wednesday.
After being outscored 13-3 in a clean sweep of the three-game set last season, the Kings will face the Stars for the first time in 2024-25. Described recently as being simultaneously prone to playing down to lesser opponents and incapable of rising to the occasion consistently against top teams, the Kings have quieted doubters. After a highly convincing win over the delight of the early season, the Winnipeg Jets, they tallied two victories in two days over the .500-ish Ducks and Ottawa Senators.
Overall, they’ve outscored opponents 11-4 during their surge.
“We’ve just got to keep rolling and keep building in the right direction. We’re getting better,” Kings forward Trevor Moore said. “We’re playing really good defensive hockey right now, goals are starting to come and we have some confident guys.”
The Kings also quieted another narrative, one based largely on two poor third periods in San Jose, the last of which condemned them to a 7-2 loss to the Sharks on Nov. 25. Against both Ottawa and the Ducks, they entered the final frame tied, pulling away to reaffirm their status as one of the NHL’s most prolific teams in the closing stanza.
“That third period in San Jose was obviously not up to our standard, and we’ve obviously done a good job rebounding from that,” Moore said.
Among their six injured players, goalie Darcy Kuemper seemed closest to making his return. Drew Doughty continued to have a longer timeline. Another two-time Stanley Cup champ, Trevor Lewis, will be stuck on 999 games for another four to six weeks, Jim Hiller told reporters Tuesday.
Lewis has 101 career goals and 232 career points as he sits on the precipice of what’s now a deferred milestone.
Of the 267 forwards with 1,000 or more NHL games played, there are only 49 with fewer goals than Lewis has total points. There are but three forwards in league history with 1,000 games played who have actually recorded fewer points than Lewis. Two were outright enforcers with authoritative nicknames like “The Chief” (Craig Berube) and “The Don” (Donald Brashear). Another, Steve Staios, had over 1,000 career penalty minutes, too. Today, Staios is the general manager of the Senators, Berube coaches the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brashear is still playing at age 52 in a Quebecois minor league.
Only the sandpaper-laden fourth-liner Cal Clutterbuck (293 points) and longtime Detroit penalty kill specialist Kirk Maltby (260 points) joined Lewis among other 1,000-game forwards who didn’t penetrate the 300-point barrier.
In addition to being a mainstay on the PK, Lewis has proven a popular teammate that’s also a willing extension of the coaching staff, giving him value that overflows from the playing surface onto the bench, into the dressing room, during film sessions and even aboard the team plane, as Hiller explained.
“(Lewis) just does so much for our team. He’s a really hard guy to replace,” Hiller concluded.
Heading into Dallas, 37-year-old Kings captain Anže Kopitar has eight points in his past five games. The Stars’ own ageless wonder, Joe Pavelski, retired this past offseason, but veterans Matt Duchene and currently injured Tyler Seguin ranked Nos. 1 and 3 in team scoring.
Though he’s had a relatively slow start to the season, Arcadia native Jason Robertson has five goals and 12 points in his past seven games against the Kings, six of which were Dallas victories.
Dallas at Kings
When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
How to watch: TNT, Max, Victory+