LOS ANGELES — The Kings had won just one of their first six decisions as they took to the skies for a five-game trip without captain Anže Kopitar, who remained week-to-week with a fractured foot.
This journey will take them to St. Louis and Dallas before thrusting them into a back-to-back set in Nashville and Chicago, then sending them onto San Jose for the finale.
They have surrendered the game’s first goal in four of six games. They’ve given up three or more unanswered goals in five of their six matches and at least two in a row in all six. The rates at which they took and killed penalties were both problematic, and the team has yet to hold a third-period lead.
“Everybody knows that we’re gonna get wins, we’re gonna be better at the start of games and all that kind of stuff,” said Adrian Kempe, Kopitar’s right-hand man. “As the weeks and months come along here, we’ve just got to dial it in, keep doing our thing and we’re gonna start getting wins.”
They’ll have to “do their thing” minus Kopitar, who last Monday sustained his first major injury since 2011. Then, his skate became entangled with the boards in a matinee affair against Colorado, requiring surgery to repair his broken leg and causing Kopitar to miss the final seven games of the season plus a first-round playoff loss to San Jose.
Other than a 10-game absence due to an upper-body injury as a rookie in 2006-07, Kopitar has not missed double-digit games in a campaign. He has played nine times in every possible game and missed three or fewer games in 15 of his 19 years as a pro.
Yet in this his final rotation around the sun, and one in which he started out with four points in four games to put him just 25 points behind Marcel Dionne for the most career points by a King, Kopitar is sidelined, with any reasonable projection putting him out for at least a month.
With or without Kopitar, the Kings have struggled to produce results, possessing a .167 win percentage and a .333 points percentage, after tying a franchise record with 105 points last season and shattering their mark for home wins with 31.
During 2024-25, the Kings ceded four or more goals in a home loss just four times, but they have already done so three times in only three games at Crypto.com Arena in 2025-26.
Coach Jim Hiller said that despite trailing frequently and blowing a two-goal lead in each of the two games where the Kings managed to get on the board first, he hadn’t been concerned about a start until Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to Carolina. Similarly, Hiller said he didn’t feel that the Kings’ identity as a checking team had faded, despite their overall defensive struggles and what he considered poor game management.
“We did it again,” Kempe said afterward. “It’s whatever, our third overtime loss or shootout loss. It’s tough, obviously the start wasn’t good enough but we showed again that we can battle back and how good we can be. If you win three of those OT games, we’re standing here happy and laughing about it. It’s small details still, but we’re obviously not in the spot we wanted to be, so far.”
Hiller alluded to the Kings’ ability to rally from behind, as they pushed both Carolina and Minnesota beyond regulation in games where they slipped into a three-goal hole. They plucked two points, their only victory thus far, from a game against Vegas that saw the Kings give up four consecutive goals to face a 5-3 deficit in the third period.
“Well, it’s a positive thing that we can come back, obviously, but with that said, we want to take the lead and not always chase from behind,” said Kevin Fiala, who scored a goal Saturday. “It’s good to know we can chase, but it’s always nicer to have the lead.”
Fiala’s goal came as part of a line with Kempe and Quinton Byfield. The group was assembled last season briefly, too, and in both instances it showed tremendous promise. They’ve outscored opponents 4-0, out-chanced them 30-16, and come up with a dozen high-danger chances to just five against, per Natural Stat Trick.
“When it works, obviously, it’s a good thing and you want to keep playing (together), but with Kopi being out, there’s been a lot of different line combinations,” Kempe said.
This road trip could see more of that loaded-up trio, with the best team down the stretch last season, the Blues, on deck, and the always formidable Stars to follow. They’ve gotten off to identical 3-2-0 starts, similar to the Predators’ 2-2-2 mark. Chicago (3-2-2) has hoisted itself out of its usual position in the Central Division cellar, for now, while lowly San Jose (0-3-2) remained the only winless team in the NHL entering Monday’s schedule.