What's Wrong with the Kings?

You might seem to think that nothing can go possibly wrong with the Los Angeles Kings at this point in the season. They were going through a miraculous run in the early portions of October and November. December seemed like an okay month for this team as well.

Unfortunately, this January homestand is not looking great for them. They are now sitting outside the Western Conference playoff picture around losing eight of their last nine games; their only win coming last Saturday in a 6-4 win over the Blue Jackets. They had a potential to lose that game and end up losing nine in a row, but the Kings came away with a victory after the Blue Jackets failing to keep their puck in the eye while retreating their goalie.

But who doesn't beat Columbus these days? The Kings fan are getting scared, especially since their cross-county rivals (and my team) the Anaheim Ducks have won seven of their past eight and have won three straight going into Phoenix tonight. Kings fan are only hoping that they can win tonight after the Edmonton Oilers.

But we know that there are problems with the Kings right now that mostly falls under the category of scoring. The defenses of opposing teams have strictly positioned themselves to give themselves an edge over the Kings in their matchups. Jaroslav Halak did very well in a Blues' 3-1 victory over the Kings two nights ago, providing Kings with questions about how they're going to come back.

Jonathan Quick is definitely not getting the help in offense that he needs in order to have a big game. This is a much similar situation like Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils but the Kings are in panic mode to try and get back in while the Devils seemed to have been lost after trading captain Jamie Langenbrunner.

But back to the Kings. You can't win all the games in an 82-game season (except maybe the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA) but no one expected that the Kings would fall this flat after being at the top of the Western Conference over a month and a half ago.

Where does this team turn to now in order to get back on track? I think they win against the Oilers but then they face the Stars and the Blues, two teams that know how to beat the Kings in recent history. So perhaps a sign of hope would not be coming yet, but they really need to find their groove, because if they don't, they could very well end up like Edmonton.