Kings open critical homestand with loss to Utah that rattles their playoff hopes
The Kings are running out of time to secure the final wild-card playoff spot in the West, and their 6-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth doesn't help their cause.
Utah center Logan Cooley (92) scores past Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper during the first period of the Kings' 6-2 loss Saturday at Crypto. com Arena. (Jae C.
Hong / Associated Press) There is bad news and good news to report on the Kings ’ push for a fifth straight playoff berth. First, the bad. With a chance to move into a playoff position Saturday, the Kings came out flat and were routed 6-2 by the Utah Mammoth at Crypto.
com Arena, leaving them a point out of postseason berth with nine games to play. But wait, it gets worse. Saturday’s game was the first of a seven-game homestand, matching the Kings’ longest in 15 years, and that’s not the advantage it would appear to be.
Only the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers have been worse at home than the Kings this season. Read more: Darcy Kuemper and Kings shut out last-place Canucks for much-needed win The Kings are also bucking history. Eighteen of their losses have come in either overtime or a shootout and just one team — the 2012 Florida Panthers — have lost that many games after regulation and made the playoffs since the shootout was adopted 21 years ago.