The Los Angeles Kings finally begin receiving a steady dose of home cooking starting with hosting the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
The Kings kicked off the season with 10 road clashes in their first 14 games. They return to Los Angeles riding a two-game winning streak and having won seven of their last 10 — a 7-2-1 stretch capped with an impressive 5-1 win over the Minnesota Wild in Saint Paul on Tuesday (which came one night after a 3-0 blanking of the Nashville Predators).
“These points are always crucial,” said forward Trevor Lewis, who scored twice at Minnesota. “You want to always be in a playoff spot. So, I think we just got to keep building. There’s still things we can get better at. We just got to keep building on our game and keep grinding.”
Despite a road-heavy stretch, the Kings are tied with the Vegas Golden Knights atop the Pacific Division prior to Wednesday’s action with 19 points. They now play nine of 13 games at home.
“Hopefully we can carry this momentum,” forward Quinton Byfield said.
Byfield was talking about his team, but he also would love to build off his performance against the Wild. Byfield, who enjoyed a breakout 20-goal, 55-point season in 2023-24, finally scored his first goal of the season last outing.
“I’ve had a lot of Grade-A (chances),” said Byfield, who also collected an assist against the Wild. “Honestly just on myself, maybe gripping a little too hard right now. I’ve had multiple breakaways, two-on-ones, stuff like that. In practice, burying all those and then comes to the game, I don’t know. … Feels good. Get it off the back and hopefully they start falling.”
The Canucks arrive also on a two-game winning streak and are looking to complete a sweep of the three California clubs. Vancouver opened its trip Saturday with a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks before handing the Anaheim Ducks a 5-1 thumping on Tuesday.
Like the Kings did against Minnesota, the Canucks trailed 1-0 before scoring five consecutive goals, simply taking over the game after falling behind.
“All four lines contributed. I thought it was a well-managed game,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “To win this game, (and we’re) 2-0 on the road trip, we learned a little bit from the San Jose game.”
After finishing atop the Pacific Division standings last season, the Canucks surprisingly struggled to start the season by losing their first three games, albeit the first two in extra time. Since then, they have won six of eight games and five consecutive road affairs.
Making the Anaheim win even sweeter was the accomplishment of captain Quinn Hughes, who collected three assists to give him 300 in his career. Hughes, who reached the mark in his 376th game, is the fastest player in Canucks history to reach 300 assists, and the third-fastest defenseman in NHL history, behind Bobby Orr (346 games) and Brian Leetch (368). Hughes is the third-fastest United States-born player to reach 300 assists behind Craig Janney (356 games) and Leetch.
“It means a lot. I’ve had a lot of great teammates and people that have helped me,” Hughes said. “I’ve made some great friendships over the years and hopefully we can just keep going the way we’re going.”
