As the calendar flips to December, the LA Kings sit in an unfamiliar position – atop the Pacific Division standings.

The last time you could say that on December 1 was in 2017, when only Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Adrian Kempe were on the roster. The Kings played a game on that day in 2017 and Marian Gaborik was in the lineup. So yeah. It’s been a minute.

It’s just interesting to look at things from the bigger picture right now. Back on October 7, as the Kings prepared to host Colorado on Opening Night, if you said that on December 1, the Kings would be tied for the top spot in the Pacific Division, playing at a 102-point pace, I think every one of us would have taken it, no questions asked.

As we actually sit here on December 1, all of those things are true. The Kings have 31 points from 25 games played, which is a 102-point pace when projected out over 82 games. The Kings are level on points with the Anaheim Ducks and even on games played, with only the regulation wins tiebreaker giving Anaheim the edge. If the season ended today, the Kings would host Game 1 of a first-round playoff series in Los Angeles, whether your you’re sorting by points or points percentage. Only three teams in the Western Conference have a better points percentage than the Kings and all three play in the Central Division. In the entire NHL, only seven teams sit ahead of the Kings, whether you go by points percentage or total points.

All of those things feel really good, don’t they? And yet, we sit here wondering almost what’s been wrong with the Kings or missing with the Kings, why we have still yet to see the best version of this group, the highest potential of this group? Why we haven’t seen the same balanced scoring that ended last season or why the power play has not found anywhere near the form we saw after the trade deadline. Why the team is struggling to find consistency in their performances, not just game-to-game but period-to-period?

Jim Hiller was asked today about the fact that his team is tied for first place as the calendar flips to December. I thought his answer was interesting.

“I know it hasn’t felt like we’ve been playing like a first-place team, start to finish, but what it does tell you is how close it is and how we’ve just continued to grind our way through it. It’s been frustrating at times, but the players have stuck with it. The fear always is that when it gets frustrating, that it starts to fall apart, then you can snowball. There’s some times we’ve been challenged, but we’ve stuck with it. I think it’s a good sign.”

Got some real Brad Pitt in Moneyball vibes there.

There’s a lot in that quote.

He’s right, in that it hasn’t felt like the Kings have played like a team tied for first in their division, like a Top-10 team in the NHL, but they are those things. I would also agree whole heartedly that the team has continued to grind, continued to remain level, continued to stick with things despite very little coming easy for the Kings. Even when goals have been hard to come by, I have not seen very many instances of anyone cheating the game for offense. Even the best of wins haven’t been easy, haven’t presented the opportunity to coast and that can be mentally grinding to do every night. It’s been a fight just about every time out and the Kings have, largely, been the dog in the fight. A lesser group might have, as Hiller mentioned, started to come unglued. I don’t think we’ve seen that very often from this team.

That’s not meant to paper over the inconsistencies or the things that haven’t gone well. But I think it’s an honest assessment of where things are at. The margin for error right now is extremely slim. The Kings have played overtime in 12 of 25 games this season, the most in the NHL, and it actually goes a lot deeper than that.

Of their 12 wins this season, nine have been one-goal wins. Of the other 3, one was a two-goal win over Chicago with a late empty-net goal. Of their 13 losses, regulation + OT/SO, nine have been by one goal and one was a two-goal game against Pittsburgh with a late empty netter. If you factor in all of those games, 18 of 25 games have been decided by one goal and 20 of 25 games this season have essentially been one-goal games. That’s absolutely staggering. Only Chicago has more one-goal losses. Only Dallas has more one-goal wins. No team has more than the Kings when you put them both together.

What it’s led to is a team that has once again established one of the best defensive styles of hockey in the NHL, scoring just enough goals to pick up wins and collect points. Defenseman Joel Edmundson pointed to the defensive play as continually getting better, which I agree with, and a belief that the goals are going to come sooner rather than later. It’s a group that feels good right now and with that should come an uptick in scoring. Forward Quinton Byfield used three words to talk about what he feels hasn’t gone well – “the power play” – but pointed to a team that has continually just found a way. Found a way to force overtime, found a way to win 2-1, found a way to keep putting points in the bank. Hard to argue with the resolve, the mentality or the results.

What I like as an optimist is that the Kings are still finding their way as a team, yet they’re doing so as a team that is in first place despite not having that way found.

Often times, the things we’re talking about are those of a team outside the playoff picture, with the need to battle back in. The Kings are there with an identical points percentage to where they were at on December 1 last year. .620 through 25 games on December 1 in 2024-25 and 2025-26, only last year, Vegas was two points ahead. While the script has been a little different, the path feels similar. Remember, it took 60 games for the Kings to really find their way last season before they finished 17-5-0, including a lame-duck loss in Game 82 that didn’t matter. They kept winning enough games to put themselves in a good position until they eventually exploded in the right direction. Through 25 games here this year, there have been some really impressive wins and the points are right where they need to be. Now, with that base created and points in the bank, they’re doing the same kind of thing. It’s not a guarantee they’ll put it all together and take that next step, the way it came last year. But as they continue to make changes and search for solutions, especially offensively, they’re doing so from the top of the pile, on pace for another strong regular season, as opposed to chasing it.

Pretty good place to be as we enter the final month of 2025.

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Wanted to add, Insiders, that the Kings made some changes during today’s practice.

I’ll dive more deeply into those changes tomorrow in the game preview but wanted to at least share what I saw here for discussion.

Forward Lines
12/11/9
22/55/40
14/24/96
39/15/10

This is how the finished last game and how it looks like they will start tomorrow against Washington. Adrian Kempe with Anze Kopitar and Trevor Moore and Joel Armia moves with Kevin Fiala and Quinton Byfield, which creates a third line of Alex Laferriere and Andrei Kuzmenko on the wings with Phillip Danault at center.

First Power Play
92/96/9/22/11

The second power play, I wasn’t able to get the full personnel, but can confirm that Brian Dumoulin will be the defenseman on that unit. Quinton Byfield and Corey Perry were for sure on that unit as well, but I wasn’t positive on the other two players. Missed that on my end, apologies, but we should expect to see these changes starting in tomorrow’s game versus Washington.

Will have more detail tomorrow on the PP changes, but I want to talk with Clarke and Dumoulin first, which should come tomorrow morning. Will have their thoughts in the preview as the lead section!