It took nearly six weeks, plenty of ups and downs and even a coaching change, but the Los Angeles Kings are back into a playoff position as they face the New Jersey Devils on Saturday in Newark, N.J.
Thanks to a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday, the Kings jumped into the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot with 17 games remaining in the regular season.
Los Angeles last held a playoff position on Feb. 1.
“I think everyone is feeling pretty good,” forward Alex Turcotte told lakingsinsider.com. “We know where we’re at in the standings and it’s not exactly where we want to be at, but I think we’ve been playing the right way pretty consistently the last couple games, since (interim coach D.J. Smith has) taken over. Yeah, there’s a good vibe, good energy.”
The Kings, who will compete in the fourth outing of a five-game road trip, are on a 4-2-1 run to pull out of a free fall.
They were staked a three-goal lead and hung on to beat an Islanders team in a tough playoff battle of their own.
“We’re starting to believe that we’re a team that can make some plays,” Smith said. “We can hold on to pucks. Some guys are scoring that maybe haven’t scored. We’re blocking shots. There’s a lot of desperation in our game.”
Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who scored against the Islanders, is one point shy of tying Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne for the franchise record of 1,307 points.
Heading into the Devils game, Kings forward Adrian Kempe is riding a seven-game point streak, in which he has collected five goals and four assists.
While the Kings are looking to keep climbing the standings, the Devils are looking to rebound from a disheartening 5-4 loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
The Devils, who sit a dozen points out of a playoff spot, provided an underwhelming performance against a Flames team that is 31st overall in the league.
Calgary jumped to a 2-0 first-period lead and had a 5-2 edge before a pair of late goals made the score somewhat respectable for the hosts.
“You give up five, you dig yourself a big hole, so just a tough game out of us,” said forward Jack Hughes, who collected a goal and an assist. “I know my line was on for the first four goals, so that’s on us. Just not a great night out of us.”
The Devils have lost two straight since compiling a four-game winning streak. Although their playoff hopes are all but mathematically impossible, New Jersey has higher expectations, especially on home ice.
Plus, the porous defensive play cannot be habit-forming.
“We went so hard on the offense that we missed out on the defense,” said forward Jesper Bratt, who collected a pair of assists while on a line with Hughes and Connor Brown. “We take full responsibility for that. We’re a line that strives to be the best line for our team every single night. … That was not a good game at all.”
New Jersey won the other meeting of the season, a 4-1 affair back on Nov. 1 while the Devils opened the season with 13 wins in their first 18 games (13-4-1) before the season fell apart.
