By Jordan Long
The L.A. Kings sit at 5-11-1 with 11 points, the least amount in the NHL. Their season has been rocky to this point. They lost their starting goaltender Jonathan Quick on October 31st because of knee surgery. The Kings decided to fire Head Coach John Stevens on November 4th and replaced him with Willie Desjardins. The Kings lost another goaltender to injury, this time Jack Campbell. He will be out 4 to 6 weeks because of knee surgery.
Campbell was the backup to Quick. Once Quick went down, he became the starting goaltender. Campbell has been a disappointing 5-7 with a goals against average of 2.33. The Kings aren’t moving the puck out of their defensive end which causes scoring chances on Campbell.
The record for Campbell doesn’t speak to how well he played before the injury. His save percentage is an impressive .923. Campbell is able to make the saves and not allow many rebound chances. It takes a wide open look or a tip-in for opponents to score on him.
With him out the Kings turn to Peter Budaj who started last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He allowed 4 goals on 19 shots for a save percentage of .789. In 2 games in a Kings’ sweater Budaj has not performed well. He is 0-1 with a .833 save percentage with an unimpressive goals against average of 5.50. The save percentage must increase and he needs to make saves. If Budaj plays poorly like he did last night, he may not be with the Kings too much longer.
The Kings called up Calvin Petersen from the AHL (American Hockey League). Petersen is a rookie and saw his first action in relief of Budaj. He played 36 minutes. In those minutes he made 15 saves and allowed 1 goal. That is not a bad debut. Petersen may see more action if Budaj continues to struggle.
The Kings know the play in net must improve. If it can, they will have a chance to win games while Campbell is out of the lineup. If not, this lost year may end up as one of the worst in Kings’ history. They might have the top odds of landing the #1 pick in the NHL Draft Lottery.
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