Throughout the remainder of the NHL season, ‘Dancing in the Reign’ will be recapping each week in the Pacific Division and Western Conference. Track the Kings’ push for a second consecutive playoff berth, see which teams are hot and who’s not, and note on key divisional and conference match-ups. This edition of Sunday Night Scoreboard Watch recaps the week of March 14 with a look ahead to the week of March 21.

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The Week That Was: Tuesday night’s 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators made history for the franchise. This was the final game of the Kings’ four game road-trip, which was traveled perfectly with a 4-0-0 record. This is the first time in franchise history that a Kings team has been perfect on a four-date road slate. This would be the high point of the week, as the Kings returned to Southern California to grace the torture chamber that has been Staples Center. The Kings have won just seven contests in their home confines since December 26th, and those struggles ensued this past week. Thursday night queued the start to five consecutive dates at Staples Center in horrific fashion. The 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues was simply inexcusable, all aspects of the Kings’ play failed miserably. Don’t want to harp on Tuesday’s monstrosity any further than that. As for the week’s finale, the Kings stumbled at home yet again. The Anaheim Ducks, who refuse to drift out of contention, left Los Angeles with a 2-1 overtime victory. Jonathan Quick saved the game, Ray Emery took it away. The week resulted in a 1-1-1 record for the Kings, picking up three of six points on the board.

Pacific Division Standings

TEAM                   GP     W     L     OT     PTS
San Jose                73     42    23     8      92
Phoenix                74     39    24    11     89
LOS ANGELES      72    40   26     6      86
Anaheim               72     40    27     5      85
Dallas                   72     38    25     9      85

Pacific Division Notes: We’ve got two hot teams in the division, both the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks reeled off perfect weeks, both clubs riding three game win-streaks. With that, the Sharks maintain their stance atop the Pacific Division, and the Ducks find themselves back in playoff positioning. The division continues to dominate the Western Conference‘s top eight, with the Dallas Stars as the only club excluded. Dallas is far from out, however. They’re standing pat with Anaheim’s 85 point-total, which is the current line that marks the edge of the Western Conference‘s cliff. Although the standings in the Pacific Division look quite intriguing, they’ve become quite irrelevant in the postseason race. The bigger, more important picture falls under the stat-line in the NHL‘s western regions.

Western Conference Standings

TEAM                      GP     W     L     OT   PTS
3. San Jose              73      42    23     8     92
4. Phoenix               74     39    24    11    89
5. Chicago               72     39    25     8     86
6. LOS ANGELES    72     40   26     6     86
7. Nashville             73     38    25    10     86
8. Anaheim             72     40    27      5     85
9. Dallas                 72     38    25      9     85
10. Calgary             74     37    27    10     84

Western Conference Notes: The Kings, even after a sub-par week, continue to maintain a position in the Western Conference‘s playoff picture. There’s no time to etch this into your comfort zone, as they’re only two points ahead of the 10th-seed Calgary Flames. To add to the stress, both clubs trailing the Kings in the standings are surging. The Nashville Predators and Anaheim Ducks are doing some heavy tailgating, both teams coming off of perfect a week with three consecutive victories. Slowly but surely, separation in the conference continues to evolve. Looking past the Calgary Flames, playoff contention is a long-shot for the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets. Although yet to be mathematically eliminated, both clubs must finish the regular season with near-perfect records to make a case for the Western Conference‘s top eight.

The Week Ahead

- March 21 Through March 28 -
Monday: VS Calgary Flames
Staples Center, 7:30 PM PST
Thursday: VS San Jose Sharks
Staples Center, 7:30 PM PST
Saturday: VS Colorado Avalanche
Staples Center, 1:00 PM PST

The Week’s Outlook: This week has three contests on the slate, with the storyline being home-ice. The Kings will finish their five-game homestand at Staples Center, a building in which this team has struggled mightily as of late. At this point, wins are needed regardless of location, unfortunately Los Angeles has been a difficult venue. The week’s schedule commences tonight against the Calgary Flames, who fell victim to Corey Perry and the Anaheim Ducks last night in similar fashion as the Kings did on Saturday. The Flames are 1-3-1 in their previous five games, they’re sitting in the Western Conference‘s 10th slot, just two points behind the Kings. Thursday night will be the San Jose Sharks‘ final trip to Los Angeles, and is the fifth of six meetings between the two clubs this season. They’re holding steady atop the Pacific Division and continue to soldifiy their 3rd-place spot in the Western Conference. San Jose enters the week on a roll with three consecutive victories. The week’s final date welcomes the Colorado Avalanche, one of the few teams out of playoff contention. For the Kings, winning games against sullen teams is just as important as the contenders. They failed to execute on the hopeless St. Louis Blues last week, the Kings cannot afford another loss to a team out of contention. Wins are a must at all costs, and rekindling success at Staples Center plays a crucial role.

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*Photo Credits:
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings – Home Primary: Michael Zampelli
Teemu Selanne, Anaheim Ducks – Home Alternate: Associated Press
Colin Wilson and Blake Geoffrion, Nashville Predators – Away Primary: Getty Images/Rick Stewart
Ryan Smyth and Rob Scuderi, Los Angeles Kings – Home Primary: Michael Zampelli

Notes on the game:
– Let’s start this out on a positive note. As for the Kings only goal tonight, how many times have we seen this sequence? Drew Doughty to Anze Kopitar on the sideboards, a hard wrister on net for a Michal Handzus rebound goal? Music to my ears, eye candy. Beautiful goal, an unfortunate high-point to tonight’s game.
– The Stars came out with a vengeance in the 2nd period. Dallas was able to capitalize on 3 of their 9 shots in the period, setting their tone to the game. The carousel that was the Stars power-play began to run in full-force. With three second period power-play goals, and four overall, the Stars keyed in on a struggling Kings penalty-kill.
– Former King Brandon Segal had a couple of solid scoring chances tonight.
– The Dallas Stars earned their first victory in tonight’s Pacific Division season-series finale.
– Every goal was recorded on the power-play. Tough outing for the Kings, as they only capitalized on 1 of 7 power-play opportunites, and allowed 4 goals when a man-down.

RSVP for the Event Here
Diego Restaurant in the MGM Grand

EL SEGUNDO, CA — After sitting at the station, watching the unrestricted free agent train pass him by on July 1 and then signing veteran free agent defenseman Rob Scuderi on July 2, which did nothing to fill the gaping hole the Kings had on left wing, Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi earned at least a bit of redemption on July 3 when he acquired left wing Ryan Smyth from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defensemen Kyle Quincey and Tom Preissing and a fifth round pick in the 2010 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

The trade is contingent upon the results of physical examinations of the players involved in the deal.

Last season, Smyth scored 26 goals and added 33 assists for 59 points in 77 games. He led the Avalanche in assists and was second on the team in goals. He was also tied for the team lead in power play goals (10) and game-winning goals (3). He also led the team withi 257 shots.

In fourteen NHL seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders and the Avalanche, Smyth has scored 310 goals and has added 350 assists for 660 points with 733 penalty minutes in 920 regular season games. In 81 playoff games, the 6-1, 190-pound native of Banff, Alberta has scored 25 goals and has contributed 27 assists for 52 points with 82 penalty minutes.

Read the Rest on Frozen Royalty

It’s been a while since we’ve had a player who deserves their own tribute video. Then, yesterday, the Los Angeles Kings traded Kyle Quincey, Tom Preissing and a 5th round pick to the Colorado Avalanche for Ryan Smyth. Enjoy the video!