\u201cThat was super frustrating,\u201d Drew Doughty said postgame. \u201cWe played a really good game. Unfortunately, just a bad bounce at the end\u2026I thought we deserved better, but at the same time, you got to get more than one goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The recurring theme of the 2025-26 Kings was mentioned again. Once again, they suppressed almost everything the Stars tried to create, only allowing nine shots against through two periods of play, but the need to find ways to put the puck in the net is still looming over this group. There\u2019s definitely been a noticeable uptick in goals scored for the Kings as of late, and it\u2019s an area that has seen some subtle progression over the past handful of games, but against the Stars, the inability to score goals wasn\u2019t due to a lack of effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Minus the opening frame that quite literally saw nothing happen for both sides besides another Adrian Kempe turnover, which led to Wyatt Johnston scoring on the Stars\u2019 first shot of the game, the Kings were the dominant team. They controlled most of the play, spending significant amounts of time in the offensive zone and on the cycle trying to open up plays that could lead to high-danger chances in front of the net.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Drew](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Drew-Doughty-Kings-1200x800.jpg\")
Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty looks on after scoring an empty net goal against the Winnipeg Jets (Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
A lot of that dominant play in the offensive zone was courtesy of a line that has continuously brought good performances since being formed. Kevin Fiala<\/a> was all over the ice and looked dominant with the puck in the offensive zone. Complemented well by both Alex Turcotte and Andrei Kuzmenko, that trio has been the Kings\u2019 driving force offensively since their creation. Leading all forward lines in shots for percentage and scoring chances for percentage, those three desperately tried to get something going offensively.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not often a play doesn\u2019t die at the hands of a Kings defenseman other than Brandt Clarke on the blue line, but that\u2019s the way this roster has been constructed. There have been too many instances where the Kings\u2019 forwards will set up an opportunity at the point just for the puck to either end up being blocked or bobbled. It\u2019s a lot harder to score goals when there\u2019s a clear lack of offensive capability throughout the Kings\u2019 back end and the inability to provide much support in getting pucks to high-danger areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n Clarke is only one player, and we saw what can happen when there\u2019s a defenseman who can perform in an offensive scenario on the point. It was Clarke\u2019s keep at the blue line on the power play before he managed to thread a puck through to a wide-open Corey Perry<\/a>, who fed Quinton Byfield a freebie for his 500th career assist, which led to the Kings finally breaking through and tying the game at one.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOh, he\u2019s a tremendous skater. He\u2019s got that offensive instinct, and he\u2019s going to be a good player in this league for a long time. He\u2019s just getting better each and every game,\u201d Perry said of the offensively gifted defenseman.\u00a0<\/p>\n A lot would be different if the Kings had more offensive skill throughout their defensive group.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Kings\u2019 Inconsistency and Mediocrity Are Being Masked by an Anemic Pacific Division<\/a><\/p>\n Turnovers kill, and in a game where goals were hard to come by for the Kings, the last thing they needed were self-inflicted mistakes. Kempe\u2019s turnover led to the Stars\u2019 opening goal, and Doughty\u2019s turnover late in the third gave Mikko Rantanen a prime scoring opportunity right in the slot. Perhaps it was the only bit of luck the Kings received all game, as the goal was called back for offside after they challenged the play, but it was all for nothing. Jason Robertson\u2019s floater of a shot on the backhand from just inside the blue line bounced off of Mikey Anderson\u2019s pants and past Darcy Kuemper for the go-ahead goal with less than four minutes remaining.<\/p>\n Add unfortunate bounces to the list of struggles the Kings have been dealing with this season, because there have been more than a couple over the past few games that have killed them. They didn\u2019t play all that well in that blowout loss in Winnipeg last Friday, but three of the Jets\u2019 five goals were unlucky bounces that found their way to the net.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite the continuous push from the Kings in the second and third periods against the Stars, a weak flutter-puck decided their fate. The effort was there, the result wasn\u2019t, and unfortunately for the Kings, where they are right now in the standings, results are the only thing that matters.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBottom line is we need to get wins, and unfortunately, we didn\u2019t get this one, but we can definitely look at a lot of positive things on what we did tonight,\u201d Doughty said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Right now, the Kings are desperate for points. They are desperate to keep up in the standings, and they have a huge opportunity to inject some life into their playoff hopes with three huge games against Pacific Division rivals<\/a> up next. The Kings have what it takes to beat the Vegas Golden Knights and lay it down on a struggling Anaheim Ducks squad. They can win hard-fought games from time to time; the one thing that\u2019s been missing is consistency, and unfortunately, that\u2019s the most important element they need to find right now.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a>![\"SUBSCRIBE](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Kings_Banner-1200x122.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n