LOS ANGELES — The back of the net continues to be elusive to the Los Angeles Kings as they have been held to less than three goals for the seventh straight game. 

Tuesday night’s affair against the Seattle Kraken was a different formula that ultimately yielded a similar result, as the Kings registered the most shots on goal in over a month in their 3-2 loss to the Kraken. 

“Forecheck was good,” head coach Jim Hiller said. “Physical, stole pucks. Give (the Kraken) credit, they had people in and around their net, but we played good. The two goals we scored were, I thought, pretty nice goals. Just didn’t get the random goals that have been difficult for us to come by this year.”

The Kings registered 37 shots on goal in this one, the most since November 13, but Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord was stellar and stopped 35 of them. This was the first game in their seven-game stretch of scoring less than three goals where the Kings eclipsed 30 shots on goal.

The Kings also controlled play for most of the game, but weren’t able to generate as many high-danger scoring chances as they liked. Throughout the game, the Kings only tallied four shots on goal from the slot. 

Late in the second period, the Kings pinned the Kraken into their own zone, and the Kraken defenders were trapped on the ice for over three minutes. Despite being up against exhausted defenders, only one shot made it to the net for Daccord to stop. 

Moments later, the Kraken tallied their third goal of the period to add salt to the wound. 

“I thought we had some really good looks up until that point,” Hiller said. “It didn’t feel like that was a game we should have been down 3-0.”

Power play goals also continue to be hard to come by for the Kings as they went 0-for-2 on the night. The Kings are now goalless in their last 10 power play opportunities. 

Kevin Fiala’s unassisted back-hander that found the roof of the net put the Kings on the board and Andrei Kuzmenko’s wrap-around goal cut the lead down to one, but it was too little to spark a comeback. 

Kuzmenko now has four goals in his last seven games after only scoring three in his first 24 games. 

With this loss, the Kings have now lost six of their last seven games, two of them in overtime, and maintain a 15-12-9 overall record. 

“If you win five in a row or lose five in a row or whatever, it’s forgotten,” Fiala said. “It’s in the past. For us, I think we take the good things with us and the bad things we hopefully analyze and get better at.”

Needless to say, the three-day holiday break could not come at a better time for the Kings. It’s an opportunity for a struggling club to mentally reset for the second half of the season. 

“I hope the players are able to relax and refresh themselves,” Hiller said. “It’s been, from September until now, with the schedule and how busy it is, and 85% of our games we’ve been playing within one goal. It’s taxing physically and mentally, so I’m sure those guys need a break.”

When play resumes on Saturday, the Kings will be tested immediately as they square off against the rival Anaheim Ducks. The last matchup against the Ducks was a heartbreaking shootout loss, where the Kings lost a two-goal lead late in the third period. 

The Freeway Faceoff is always intense, but given where both teams sit in the standings, the stakes are a bit higher this time around. As frustrating as the last seven games have been, the Kings will need to use that frustration for good. 

“Not really happy, obviously,” Fiala said. “I mean, it’s not going the way we all want to, but that’s going to happen for everybody. Not just players, but the whole team. So it’s us who have to do something about it, who can pull us out of it. Nobody else. It’s happened before. 

“It’s character showing of players and teams to get back out of it. I’m not worried. I’m sure we’re going to get out of this, but like I said, it’s not acceptable. Right now, how we play, we have to get better.”