Kings doing special teams backwards as home struggles continue

Right now, the Los Angeles Kings’ penalty-kill unit is more likely to score a goal than their power-play unit. Needless to say, that isn’t a formula for winning hockey.

Joel Armia scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game late in the third period, but went 0-for-5 on the power play and couldn’t generate any even-strength offense either in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins. It’s the second straight game in which they scored shorthanded, but didn’t manage any power-play goals out of at least four opportunities, leaving them looking for answers.

“I mean, we’re getting chances,” Kings forward Anze Kopitar said. “Last night we got some good chances. Tonight we got some good chances. So just keep on battling, keep on going. Maybe try and simplify a little bit. Try to get more stuff to the net and create off of that. And just work at it.”

The Kings’ power-play percentage entered the game at 15.4%, good for 27th in the NHL, and dropped even further after the contest finished. They even had a two-man advantage in the first period, but couldn’t score on that either.

"The five-on-three, they have one good block on [Adrian Kempe's] first shot, and then [Andrei Kuzmenko] found him through the seam on the second one, good save," Kings head coach Jim Hiller said. "But just, yeah, just not good enough. Not good enough execution."

Now the unit is facing something of a reckoning, with Hiller acknowledging that changes are probably needed — a reality made more complicated by Drew Doughty’s absence.

“It’s something we’re thinking about, and it doesn’t look good, and it’s cost us games,” Hiller said. “So when you get to that point, at some point, you might have to make some changes.”

The positive out of special teams right now is the penalty kill, and particularly Armia. The Kings prevented their opponent from scoring on the power play for the sixth straight game, and are now tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with five — more than they had all of last season.

“We’re maybe one of the most aggressive teams on the penalty kill in the league, so when we’re all on the same page, it’s really hard,” said Kings forward Trevor Moore, who assisted on Armia’s goal. “And you can force guys into turnovers. They want to make plays, and you make them make a mistake, and you can go the other way.”

Armia’s shorthanded goal was his third such goal of the season, the most in the NHL thus far. After arriving in the 2025 offseason as a free agent, he has made an impression on his teammates and coaches with his work ethic and versatility.

“We’ve seen him move up and down the lineup,” Moore said. “He’s kind of a Swiss Army Knife guy. He can play with a lot of skill and also a lot of responsibility. He’s been great for us.”

But as great as the shorthanded goals can be, as much as they indicate the Kings’ strength and intelligence on the penalty kill and their willingness to grind where grinding is needed, they don’t usually lead to wins on their own. The Kings need to generate some other goal-scoring methods if they want to contend for the playoffs and, more urgently, find the home wins that have mostly eluded them thus far.

“[It’s] really frustrating,” Moore said. “We want to win at home. We’ve been good here historically. So it’s frustrating. Something we’ve got to figure out.”

While they have to solve their issues at home, they seem to have some smaller issues to solve along the way. Now they hope the wins will come if those more specific problems get worked out.