By Bobby Berger
The Los Angeles Kings currently sit atop the Pacific Division with an 8-4-0-2 record, but that has been largely with some very uneven play. Jack Eichel has shown last year's career bests were no fluke and Jared Cowan has been a solid addition. Further the goalie tandem of sebastian Cossa and Viktor Fasth are trending right around .915 SV% which is where they were expected to be. The real rub comes when looking at what had been the second line. Riley Tufte, Jared McCann, Matvei Michiv, Vince Dunn, and P.K. Subban have all been minus players thus far this year. The team also is only a +2 in GF/GA.
As a result, GM Berger swapped the lines for the start of the game vs. the NY Rangers. The Kings moved Tufte up to line 1, with youngster Roby Jarventine moving back to line 2. Denis Gurionov and his defensive prowess has been moved up to line 2, dropping rookie Michov to the 3rd/4th lines. Less ice time for Michov, but the hope is for a more well rounded roster, even if that means a very young 3rd line.
This team also started out slowly on the power play, but rejoining PK Subban on the blue line with Cowan on PP 1 seems to have ignited a fire under the unit. The Kings penalty kill has been a huge bright spot thus far, currently ranking 2nd in the NHL at 97%. The Kings need to keep excelling on special teams if they hope to maintain the place in a tight Western Conference.
7/3/2026 - 260 words
