Los Angeles Kings Shouldn’t Panic Yet
By PowerPlayCJ
@powerplaywithcj
Richard Mackson- USA Today Sports
The Los Angeles Kings’ season has been a roller coaster ride with ups, downs and everything in between through 12 games. Losing to the absolutely abysmal Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh highlights the team’s struggles, as does the fact they have yet to win a game away from the Staples Center. Having said that, there is every reason to believe the team will turn things around in due time.
For starters, while I’ve preached patience in the past with struggling star Mike Richards, the team is likely at the end of their rope with the center. Either Richards is going to start producing soon or be somehow, some way, shipped out of town in a manner that could be viewed as addition by subtraction and gives the team added salary cap room to address other areas of need. Richards scored his second goal of the season in the loss in Carolina, meaning there could be light at the end of the tunnel for what appears to be Richards’ never ending struggles.
The other positive to take away from the loss is that stars Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik returned to the lineup after missing time with injuries. While the duo was scoreless, their return makes the Kings the dangerous team that they are. Going forward, a healthy Kopitar and Gaborik will be major factors to any success the Kings have this season.
The Western Conference is better than it has ever been and the Kings cannot afford to struggle for too long without seriously jeopardizing their position in the standings. On the flip side of the coin, every team, regardless of how great they are, goes through struggles over the course of 82 games and the Kings have hit their rough patch in the last week. Look for these struggles to be ancient history as the Kings right the ship in the coming weeks. This early season adversity will surely benefit the Kings in the long run as they will look to defend their Stanley Cup.
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