The Los Angeles Kings and visiting Chicago Blackhawks will get to know each other even better when they play the first of back-to-back games on Thursday night.
The Kings will host the Blackhawks again on Saturday night before Chicago closes its four-game road trip on Sunday at the Anaheim Ducks.
The Blackhawks opened the road trip with a 4-3 shootout loss against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
Chicago has dropped six of seven (1-4-2) after getting off to a 10-5-4 start, but Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill was pleased with their latest effort.
“We did a lot of good stuff,” Blashill said. “On the road against a team that’s probably considered one of the Stanley Cup favorites, certainly one of the teams that looks like they could come out of the West. In the end, we outchanced them. We’re in the position to win the hockey game, and part of this whole process is I put people in situations where they grow.”
The only glaring mistake by the Blackhawks occurred in the final minutes of regulation when a mis-timed line change allowed Braeden Bowman to score the tying goal for Vegas.
“There’s spurts in the game where we looked really good and we were outplaying them,” Chicago forward Frank Nazar said. “Just continuing to get rid of those small little mishaps.”
The Blackhawks are 1-6 in games that have gone beyond regulation, something they’d like to flip if they hope to be serious playoff contenders.
“We’ve got some young, young guys out there in critical moments,” Blashill said. “That’s good. That’s what this is about, continuing to grow.”
Connor Bedard scored his team-best 17th goal, giving Chicago a 3-2 lead early in the third period.
The Kings ended a five-game point streak (4-0-1) by the Blackhawks with a 3-1 victory in Chicago on Oct. 26.
The Kings lost 3-1 to the visiting Washington Capitals on Tuesday night, ending a five-game point streak (2-0-3) of their own.
Los Angeles has been held to two goals or fewer in four of the past five games and six of eight.
“It seems like every night we have a close game going into the third period,” Kings forward Alex Laferriere said. “I think it’s really good building blocks for our team and it’s a long season, and we’re going to need those to be wins at the end of the year. I think for us, it’s just about staying positive.”
Los Angeles forward Phillip Danault is among those who are overdue.
The 12-year veteran does not have a goal in 26 games this season. He scored 17 goals in 78 games for the Kings in 2023-24, but was limited to eight goals in 80 games last season.
He’s averaging 16:24 of ice time, his lowest since 2016-17 with the Montreal Canadiens, and played just 12:58 against the Capitals.
“Probably the ice time is a bit of a reflection on the evaluation, right?” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “He just hasn’t really got it going yet this year and he’s not playing special teams as much.”
Hiller moved Quinton Byfield onto a line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe during the loss to Washington, but still came up empty.
“(Byfield) wasn’t getting a lot done in the middle with (Kevin Fiala and Joel Armia), so we go back and see if there’s any magic from the old days,” Hiller said.
Kempe scored the Kings’ lone goal against the Capitals. He leads the team with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists).
