“The most important play is the next play.”
While admitting it doesn’t get much more cliché than that, those was Blake Lizotte’s thoughts this morning on moving on. Whether it be a goal against, an in-game mistake or an overall loss like yesterday in Minnesota, it’s an important mindset to have.
“The most important thing is just to go out and make the next play, start to feel good again,” Lizotte explained. “Say you give up a goal, maybe it’s on you, or your linemate, the most important play is the next one. Come out, make a good play, start to feel good again and get that momentum back. When it comes to mental approach, this is a cliché, but the most important play is the next play and that’s the mindset for sure.”
It’s something the Kings have done well for a lot of this season, bumper shifts as Todd McLellan refers to them. Shifts after goals have been a strength for a large chunk of games and efforts to revert momentum after conceding have generally been strong. The Kings also had a three-month stretch in which they lost consecutive games only once. On the smaller scale, and the larger scale, they’ve responded well.
In the first period yesterday, however, the Kings gave up two goals in 50 seconds, seeing a three-goal lead shrink to one at the intermission. The second period saw three goals spaced out, but without that pushback response in between, the momentum just continued to build for Minnesota, leading to the team’s third consecutive defeat.
“I think it’s happened a couple of times this year, we have to respond after a goal, push back instead of sit back,” forward Phillip Danault said. “I think that’s what we did [yesterday]. We have to learn.”
(Photo by Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
To talk about bouncing back, first you have to identify what you’re bouncing back from.
The Kings led three goals to none midway through the first period yesterday afternoon in Minnesota and wound up on the wrong side of a three-goal defeat.
“You score a power-play goal, you score a shorthanded goal, you get a 3-0 lead on the road, there’s no reason why you’re not in it at the end of the night and we weren’t,” McLellan said, after the game. “Really disappointing.”
Earlier today, we looked at the communication breakdowns that hurt the Kings in Minnesota. Part of the issue, but overall since the team was struck with a rash of injuries, the higher-danger chances have gone up against.
Lizotte noted that today, looking at least in his first game back yesterday, he felt as if the Kings are giving up 10 of those higher-danger looks in a game, as opposed to 6-7 earlier in this season. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but against teams like the Wild, those add up.
Since March 7 – the date that Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson were injured – the Kings have conceded double-digit high-danger chances in 63 percent of games, compared to just 36 percent before that date. Over those last 16 games, the Kings have conceded an average of 10.5 per game, up from 8.8 in the season schedule prior, resulting in an uptick from 1.03 HDGA per game to 1.25. It doesn’t look like all that much, but against teams like Minnesota, it’s enough to swing the game.
“Every mistake can be in the back of your net, it can make a big difference in the game,” Danault said. “Whether it’s 5-on-5, PK, even PP. Just a learning lesson and we’ve got to keep pushing.”
Now that we’ve established what needs to be bounced back from, for the Kings, last night needs to be the last time it’s talked about. The Minnesota game is a loss, but all sights forward are set on the Chicago game tomorrow night.
There are now eight games remaining in the regular season and all eight games are extremely important for the Kings. Dwelling back on a previous defeat does little moving forward. Having all eyes on Chicago does a lot.
“Even today, our approach was as much about the spirit as it was about the play,” McLellan said. “I think we did a good job of weaving the whole team, coaches, trainers, everyone, with having a pretty good spirit, leaving last night behind us and moving on.”
Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images
Danault, of all people, is one to know. He’s been to the postseason three times in his NHL career, including his run with Montreal to the Stanley Cup Final just last year. He understands the importance of having a short-term memory in these types of situations. Putting a goal behind him, a play behind him, a game behind him and moving on.
He was also certain not to separate a game like yesterday into a young guys or old guys situation. Sure, he’s been in games like that before, whereas many of the Kings haven’t, but as Todd McLellan said following yesterday’s game, it’s a collective group. Danault had similar messaging.
“It’s not only the young guys, it’s us as a group, we have to learn as a team,” he added. “We always have ways to learn, as a person and as a player, so you can always help [young players] off the ice a little bit, stick with it, we’ve got other games coming on the trip, but it’s a part of hockey. Other teams are good at the end of the year, they’re not only in a playoff push, but they’re in the playoffs for sure and they played like it.”
Tomorrow’s opponent, Chicago, is not a playoff team. But it really doesn’t matter.
The Kings began the season taking care of business just about every time out against non-playoff teams, but are just 3-4-1 in their last eight games against teams currently outside the playoff picture. No game in the NHL is an easy one and any thoughts to the contrary can look no further than the last time the Kings and Blackhawks met, a 4-3 shootout victory for the latter.
Expect a battle tomorrow evening at United Center.
“Whether it’s Minnesota, Chicago or Colorado, it doesn’t matter, we need two points,” Lizotte added. “The focus is on ourselves and how we play, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing. It is important to point out that every team is good in this league, you can’t let the standings affect how you approach the game.”
The importance of each game at this point in the season is obvious.
I asked Todd McLellan this morning if any players in particular stand out when it comes to bouncing back, moving forward after a game like yesterday. He noted that, while certain individuals do, it’s up to the group as a whole to do it tomorrow, and that’s what’s important.
“Right now, there has to be 25 of them, because we have to take the mentality of, if it doesn’t go well, fix it and move on,” McLellan said. “I think, if you go back in history and you look at people in the playoffs talking about it – and the Kings organization knows better than anybody in that reverse sweep – you’ve got to move on. I’ve said it before, we’re in the playoffs right now, so we’ve got to move on. There are things that we need to fix, there are things that are being addressed, lineup shuffles, changes, repair work that needs to be done, we need players to elevate their games. We’ve got to move forward. The answer is, yes, there are some really good guys at doing that, but we’ve all got to learn it.”
It all starts tomorrow against the Blackhawks.
*Insiders, this note regarding Drew Doughty surfaced after the publication of the story was set to publish. Will address that information in tomorrow’s game preview.
Defenseman Drew Doughty underwent successful wrist surgery today & will not return this season.
He is expected to make a full recovery for next season. pic.twitter.com/vNtgSZ1fS9
— LA Kings (@LAKings) April 11, 2022
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