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After the Kings began the season with a four-for-11 effort in penalty kills in their first three games, defenseman Sean O'Donnell thought the team's unit was, as he put it, "behind the 8-ball."
The picture looks much different now.
"We were in decent position, but we just weren't mentally there," O'Donnell said after practice Friday in El Segundo. "We were in the right position, but our stick wasn't on the ice, or our stick was here instead of being here. Just little tweaks, and I think we've done a good job with attention to detail."
The Kings enter Saturday's game at Staples Center against the Nashville Predators (6-7-1) with an 88.8% clip in penalty kills (24 of 27) in their last eight games. Coach Terry Murray attributes the improvement to a unit that is "taking a lot of pride in what they're doing." He also gave a lot of credit to goaltender Jonathan Quick, who has a 2.08 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage in those eight games.
The Kings were successful three out of three times in Thursday's 5-2 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. And while they still rank 27th in the league at 75.4%, that is simply the result of their poor start this season.
This statistic provides a better snapshot of the Kings' effort on the ice: They have held opponents to a combined 13 power plays in the last four games.
"If you don't give up a lot of opportunities, and you're on a pretty confident role, you should be able to go out and do the job most of the time," Murray said. "On the other side of it, when you're not doing it, it's a very difficult thing to practice, the penalty killing, because of the intensity required."
Comeback kids
The Kings have won consecutive games against Phoenix and Pittsburgh by multiple goals after trailing in the second period -- an effort Murray says requires a "maturity level."
Case in point: the Kings have trailed after two periods six times this season but only rallied from those deficits in the last two games.
"There is a real understanding that if you stay with it, good things can happen for you," Murray said.
High praise
With Luc Robitaille being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, O'Donnell, a former teammate, remains more impressed with Robitaille's off-ice persona.
"He's a guy that would have every right to have an aura of confidence or whatever you want to call it," O'Donnell said of Robitaille, who is the club's all-time leading goal scorer and current president of business operations. "But I don't think anyone can say anything other than he's the most personable, genuine, down-to-earth guy."
Hockey Hall of Fame writer and Times' columnist Helene Elliott is in Toronto this weekend for the induction and will provide full coverage on latimes.com.
mark.medina@latimes.com
twitter.com/latimesmedina
The picture looks much different now.
"We were in decent position, but we just weren't mentally there," O'Donnell said after practice Friday in El Segundo. "We were in the right position, but our stick wasn't on the ice, or our stick was here instead of being here. Just little tweaks, and I think we've done a good job with attention to detail."
The Kings enter Saturday's game at Staples Center against the Nashville Predators (6-7-1) with an 88.8% clip in penalty kills (24 of 27) in their last eight games. Coach Terry Murray attributes the improvement to a unit that is "taking a lot of pride in what they're doing." He also gave a lot of credit to goaltender Jonathan Quick, who has a 2.08 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage in those eight games.
The Kings were successful three out of three times in Thursday's 5-2 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. And while they still rank 27th in the league at 75.4%, that is simply the result of their poor start this season.
This statistic provides a better snapshot of the Kings' effort on the ice: They have held opponents to a combined 13 power plays in the last four games.
"If you don't give up a lot of opportunities, and you're on a pretty confident role, you should be able to go out and do the job most of the time," Murray said. "On the other side of it, when you're not doing it, it's a very difficult thing to practice, the penalty killing, because of the intensity required."
Comeback kids
The Kings have won consecutive games against Phoenix and Pittsburgh by multiple goals after trailing in the second period -- an effort Murray says requires a "maturity level."
Case in point: the Kings have trailed after two periods six times this season but only rallied from those deficits in the last two games.
"There is a real understanding that if you stay with it, good things can happen for you," Murray said.
High praise
With Luc Robitaille being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, O'Donnell, a former teammate, remains more impressed with Robitaille's off-ice persona.
"He's a guy that would have every right to have an aura of confidence or whatever you want to call it," O'Donnell said of Robitaille, who is the club's all-time leading goal scorer and current president of business operations. "But I don't think anyone can say anything other than he's the most personable, genuine, down-to-earth guy."
Hockey Hall of Fame writer and Times' columnist Helene Elliott is in Toronto this weekend for the induction and will provide full coverage on latimes.com.
mark.medina@latimes.com
twitter.com/latimesmedina
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