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the ice, they have defensemen who do the same thing. Alec Martinez was not only the man who won the Stanley Cup, he was a very solid two-way defenseman throughout the season, scoring 11 goals and playing solid defense. The same could be said of Slava Voynov, who chipped in with 30 assists. Jake Muzzin has a good shot as well and made a nice improvement on defense in his second NHL season. With Mitchell gone, Robyn Regehr and Matt Greene will take over as the top defensive options. Both players are big, physical defensemen who are very tough to beat. Overall, the Kings definitely have the pieces in place to be a very strong defensive team once again. Goaltending One of the benefits of having such good defense is that it makes the job of playing goalie quite a bit easier. That’s not to say that Jonathan Quick isn’t an outstanding goalie, because he is. Two seasons after being the Vezina Trophy runner-up, Quick posted outstanding numbers, limiting opponents to just a 2.07 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. While Quick wasn’t quite as stingy in the playoffs, he was still solid enough to lead the Kings to their second Stanley Cup victory. Quick’s backup will be Martin Jones, a player who filled in admirably while Quick was injured. In 19 games, Jones limited opponents to an anemic 1.81 goals against average while stopping shots at a rate of a .934 save percentage. Jones was so good in relief that he got Calder Trophy consideration despite playing in just 19 games. With Quick as the starter and Jones as the backup, the Kings are in good position to be the premier puck stopping team in the NHL again. Power Play One of the reasons the Kings have struggled to score goals has been a lack of success on the power play. With Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez, Slava Voynov, and Jake Muzzin, the team doesn’t have a lack of defensemen who are a threat to score from the blue line. The Kings also have plenty of forwards with a track record of scoring, but for some reason, they couldn’t put it all together in five-on-four situations. Overall, the Kings scored on just 15.1 percent of their power plays, ranking 27th in the NHL. The biggest problem in Los Angeles is a tendency for players to hold onto the puck too long, waiting for opportunities that never develop. However, the Kings were much more successful on the power play after acquiring Marian Gaborik. They converted on 23.3 percent of their power plays after adding Gaborik to the roster, and followed that up with a 23.5 success rate in the playoffs. Expect the Kings to have a more effective power play in the 2014-15 season. Penalty Kill While the Kings were a very strong team in terms of goal prevention throughout the season, their penalty killing unit was merely good, but not great. The Kings stopped opponents in 83.1 percent of penalty killing situations, ranking 11th in the NHL in the process. Penalty killing is where big, physical defensemen like Robyn Regehr and Matt Greene shine, as they do a great job of both blocking the puck and separating opponents from the puck. Other players who are a staple of Kings penalty killing include Anze Kopitar, who is a master of puck possession and excellent at disrupting passing lanes. Mike Richards loves to fish for shorthanded goal scoring situations while third-line center Jarret Stoll is also a go-to penalty killing option. All of these forwards are strong defensively, and combined, they help give the Kings a strong penalty killing unit. The Kings should be an above-average penalty killing team again this year. Prediction With a balanced and talented roster, the Kings should easily make the playoffs and will be a threat to make a deep playoff run again. However, repeating as Stanley Cup champions is a very difficult task. The Kings will go far but fall short in the conference finals. Scoreboard 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 PLAYOFF FINISH Stanley Cup Finals Conf Finals Stanley Cup Finals Conf QF Conf QF REGULAR SEASON 46-28-8 27-16-5 40-27-15 46-30-6 46-27-9 POINT TOTAL 100 59 95 98 101 SHOOTOUT RECORD 8-6 2-4 6-9 10-2 10-8 GOALS SCORED 206 133 194 219 241 GOALS ALLOWED 174 118 179 198 219 POWER PLAY % 15.1 19.9 17.0 16.1 20.8 PENALTY KILL % 83.1 83.2 87.0 85.5 80.3 PENALTY KILL % 83.1% 83.2% 87.0% 85.5% 80.3% Anze Kopitar PHOTO/NHL/Getty Images


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