The Stanley Cup-winning team that began the season with nearly its entire roster intact somehow did the unthinkable: It missed the playoffs.
The seemingly dynasty-bound Los Angeles Kings won't have a chance to defend their title this year. How in the world could that be possible? Before you go blaming Anze Kopitar's diminished scoring or the loss of Slava Voynov, consider the numbers: 15-18-8 on the road, three overtime wins, two shootout wins.
Otherworldly in the postseason, relegated to mediocrity in the regular season, the Kings failed to find that playoff-type magic during critical points of critical games.
"Probably the disparity in home and road," coach Darryl Sutter told the media following Thursday's loss in Calgary. "If you looked at it, if you broke it down into individual stats and probably two or three team stats, there would be a big difference."
The Kings were inconsistent at best. They fell into a familiar pattern, where a solid winning streak preceded a long losing streak. Special-teams play was good when 5-on-5 play wasn't, and vice versa. Much of that can be traced back to the defensive personnel changes.
From Day 1, without the two-way presence of Willie Mitchell, the defense corps left something to be desired. Then came the loss of Voynov and injuries to Alec Martinez and Robyn Regehr. In recent history, the Kings have been arguably the best at protecting a one-goal lead, which was integral, considering they don't score an awful lot. But without the locked-and-loaded defenses of past, it wasn't quite as easy.
"I think a lot of the scoring was we'd be up two-nothing in a game and then we'd get three, four, five, six instead of scoring those big goals when you really needed them to either tie up the game or go up one goal," defenseman Drew Doughty said. "I think that was kind of what happened to us really with the season, but you can't put it all on the scoring. There's so many things that went into it. I really don't know what to say. It's just disappointing that we're done."
And building on leads wasn't easy either when L.A. was failing to generate any offense. The transition team saw that strength taken away with sloppy play in the neutral zone and a forecheck that lacked the edge it once had.
The Kings never really woke up from their Stanley Cup hangover. It's possible that three deep playoff runs in three years has worn them out.
"I think it probably did," Sutter said. "But you know what? We still have a game on Saturday that I want to make sure that we're ready for and try and that we try and win for our fans at home. We've won two championships there. You always want to win your last game."
Last May, Jonas Hiller wasn't afforded the chance to start in goal for the Ducks against the Kings in a clinching game. All of Southern California has wondered "What if?" Now with the Flames, this was Hiller's Game 7, and whether or not the Calgary goaltender was seeking some sort of vengeance on his old foes, he got it.
And now, the Kings will play one more game as the reigning champs before embarking on a summer that has significantly more questions than any in recent history. Jarret Stoll, Justin Williams, Robyn Regehr, Jamie McBain, and Andrej Sekera all will become free agents.
After Saturday, the defending Stanley Cup champs will have nothing left to defend.
