Game Preview: Hawks vs Kings 3/15

The Hawks take on the Kings tonight at 7:30pm CT here at home. Tonight we''ll see if the Hawks powerplay success can hold up to a team with an actual PK system. If the Hawks want to come out of this one with a W, they'll have to do more than special teams.

Starting off the season strong before a rough patch which saw coach Todd McLellan fired, the Kings find themselves fighting to hold 3^rd place in the Pacific. Their last 10 has been an inconsistent series of games, win one, lose one, etc. They are 5-4-1 in their last 10 and last played on Wednesday night, losing 3-1 to the St. Louis Blues. The Kings still hold a decent on-the-road record at 19-10-4.

As for the trade deadline, the Kings look the same after March 8 than they did before it. No moves were made despite several high-profile names being moved to conference rivals. It’s not like the Kings had a lot of assets to move anyways, they’re already thin on draft picks and the prospects they do have are better off staying with the Kings. In this years draft the Kings don’t have a 2^nd round pick, a 3^rd, or a 5^th.

Goal leaders for the Kings include Trever Moore with 25, Kevin Fiala and Andrian Kempe with 21, and prospect Quinton Byfield with 19. Total points leaders are Fiala with 57, Kempe with 53, Anze Kopitar with 53, and Byfield with 47. Their blueline has Drew Doughty providing the offensive punch with 14 goals and 28 assists, Matt Roy with 3 goals and 17 assists, and Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence with 17 points. Viktor Arvidsson, Carl Grundstom, and Phoenix Copley find themselves in the Kings sickbay.

What’s been hurting the Kings is their goal tending issues and their stars inability to score. The Kings are very good at possession, they have a 54.56 Corsi at 5v5, which ranks 4^th and their expected goals share (xGF) is third at 54.83%. However, their actual goals share percentage is 51.22, good enough for 15^th. The opportunities are there, they just can’t finish with stars like Pierre Luc Dubois only posting 28 points. In fact, they are the 4^th worst team in terms of shot percentage, only converting 7.33% of their shots into goals.

While the Kings haven’t been able to consistently win, they are still a solid 5v5 possession team. What makes them good at this is their 2-1-2 OZP setup. With 2 forwards down low and the F3 hanging around the slot, the Kings force teams to button up and then work the puck low-to-high in an effort to draw defenders out and open a shooting lane. This is where the Hawks need to be careful because they are a team notorious for puck watching. It won’t take much for the Kings to cause confusion in the Hawks defensive system and take advantage of space.

The Hawks must play tight, responsible defense if they want to keep the Kings from capitalizing on their solid possession. While the Hawks have had success on the power play as of late, they can’t count on it when the Kings are actually good on the PK. They are 86.5% on the PK, which sits at the top of the league.

Arvid Soderblom will also be in net, and we all know how that will go. Soderblom can ride the magical high of playing well against the Coyotes, but without good defense in front of him, things can go bad quick.

Landon Slaggert will be debuting after 4 years in college. He slots in on the left wing for the 4th line, which if things pan out for him he might have a good career there. A solid bottom six player is never a bad thing.

Reese Johnson is sitting this one out as he was placed in concussion protocol, most likely after that brawl on Tuesday's game.

The best we can expect is a competetive game against a team finding its groove before the playoffs. I will be surprised if the Hawks win this one.

Let's Go Hawks!