January is traditionally considered the harshest time of year for Kingswhich has not had a winning record this month in the past three seasons. But winter has arrived dark and gloomy a little earlier than usual, because December is hardly a walk in the park.
Happy Tuesday defeat with a score of 3:2 In favor of the Seattle Kraken, the Kings head into the NHL's three-day Christmas break having lost six of their last seven games. And things aren't going to get any easier anytime soon: When the team returns to the ice on Saturday, it will host the Ducks, who lead the Pacific Division in wins and then close out 2025 on Monday on the road against the Colorado Avalanche, who lead the NHL in wins.
“Things aren’t going the way we all want them to,” go ahead. Kevin Fiala said. “But you know, it's going to happen to everyone. So it's up to us to do something about it. Who can get us out of this? No one else.
“I'm not worried. I'm confident we'll get out of this. But right now it's unacceptable.”
And unless things change now, the rest of the season will be as cold as winter's frost for the Kings.
It's not easy What the team loses, but How The biggest worry is losing. The Kings (15-12-9) rank 31st among the 32 NHL teams in scoring, 30th in power play and have scored more than two goals just twice in 11 games this month. That negates a defense that ranks second in the league in goals allowed.
“Sometimes it’s hard to make sense of things,” coach Jim Hiller said when asked to explain the slide that has sent the Kings into the middle of the division standings. “We just feel like we haven't had any good games where we feel like, win or lose, we really like the way we're playing.
“That's something we'll continue to move towards. We just don't have it yet.”
Last season, the Hiller Kings set franchise records for regular season wins and points and posted the best home record in team history. They are 4-8-4 at Crypto.com Arena this season, the second-worst home record in the Western Conference. And general manager Ken Holland answers questions about Hiller's future behind the bench.
“I expect him to be here until the end of the season,” Holland said last week, but it’s not exactly a full vote of confidence.
However, despite all the difficulties, December was a continuation of what had plagued the Kings all season.
“We all have high expectations for ourselves,” Hillier said. “We just haven't gotten there yet. That's the part we're chasing. That's what we have to focus on. We have to take that step.”
“Of course, these are difficult times.”
On Tuesday, Hiller tried to shake things up by mixing up his options, most notably pairing Fiala with Andrey Kuzmenko with center Alex Turcotte. And although Fiala and Kuzmenko responded with goals, they did not score until the Kraken took a 3-0 lead.
The first goal came from Jordan Eberle, who was left alone in front of the Kings' net, giving him plenty of room to take a pass from Matty Beniers before moving the puck around the goalie. Phoenix Copley and scored his 13th goal of the season under the crossbar. It was the fourth power play goal the Kings have allowed in the last two nights and their sixth in four games.
The Kraken doubled their lead with a freak goal less than eight minutes later: Copley misjudged a deflected shot from Seattle's Frederic Gaudreau, allowing the puck to come off his glove and then pass through his legs and toward the net.
Ben Meyers extended Seattle's lead to 3-0 with less than four minutes left in the second before the Kings finally got on the board with Fiala's unassisted goal, his 13th of the season, 11 seconds later.
Kings coach Jim Hillier watches from the bench during the second period of a 3-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
(Luke Hales/Getty Images)
The Kings will now have three days to think about it, although Fiala said that by the time he finished showering, he had already dealt with the game.
“If you win five in a row or lose five in a row or whatever, it's forgotten. It's in the past,” he said. “I think we take the good with us and hopefully analyze the bad and become better.”
For Hillier, the break couldn't have come at a better time. Or worse timing, as the team's current seven-game slump is its deepest since the winter of 2023-24. That one it cost coach Todd McLellan his job.
“I hope the players can relax and be refreshed,” Hillier said. “It's been from September to now, given the schedule and how busy it is. And 85% of our games we've played within one goal.”
“It's tough physically and mentally. So I'm sure these guys need a break.”
