The best moments for the Los Angeles Kings come the hard way.
They barely made it through the play-offs door in 2012, grabbing the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference, then overcoming road-ice disadvantages all the way to their first Stanley Cup championship.
Last year, the Kings were No 6 seeds. They lost the first three games of their opening Stanley Cup series, against the San Jose Sharks, before reeling off four successive victories to clinch the best-of-seven series and, three series later, a second Cup.
RELATED
– Many questions lie ahead for Toronto Maple Leafs with no answers in sight
– Follow the numbers (and Patrick Roy): Pull your goalies, NHL coaches
So, perhaps, they are setting themselves up for more of that infamous come-from-nowhere drama.
The defending champions have been loitering outside the play-offs picture most of the year, some observers blaming the grind of last spring’s 26 Stanley Cup games.
Others point to more specific problems that seemed to typify their season.
Mike Richards, the centre with a US$69 million (Dh253.4m) contract was so bad (47 games, five goals) the team sent him to the minor leagues in January.
Defenceman Slava Voynov was suspended six games into the season after being arrested in a domestic violence case.
Young linemates Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli, whose scoring had been keeping the Kings afloat, were injured a day apart in early Jaunary – Pearson with a broken leg, Toffoli with mononucleosis.
All teams have their own barriers to hurdle, but the Kings were being defined by theirs. Even coach Darryl Sutter responded to his team’s struggles with a less-than-defiant stand.
“I said before the season started it was going to be tough to make the play-offs,” he said. “And it is.”
Maybe so, but the last Stanley Cup champions to miss the play-offs the following season were the Carolina Hurricanes in 2007.
On February 7, the Kings were tied with two other teams for 10th place in the 14-team Western Conference, five points out of a post-season berth.
Time to start playing?
Over the past 11 days, a five-game winning streak has lifted the Kings into the ninth spot, just two points out of the last qualifying spot.
Toffoli has been back on the ice since the beginning of the month, and his line – with Jeff Carter and Dwight King – has provided the offensive spark.
The trio have collected 10 goals and 11 assists in the five-game stretch while the team rediscovered its grind-it-out soul.
The signature win in the revival was a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals, a vintage, offence-choking effort, with goaltender Jonathan Quick stopping 27 of 28 shots.
“We’re a good team when we’re a good checking team,” Trevor Lewis told the Associated Press, after scoring the game-winning goal, but insisting his better contribution was on the defensive end.
Whether or not the Kings have another impressive rally in them, just to have a chance to defend their title, may depend on another revival – their road skills. A year ago, they were an identical 23-14-4 home and away.
This year, they are 7-12-6 away from LA, and 16 of their final 26 games will be on the road. It is a deep hole they have dug, but historically this is where they find their strength.
“We just have to keep rolling,” Toffoli said.
Rolling from behind is their story, and they are sticking to it.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us at our new home on Twitter @NatSportUAE