LA Kings prepare for playoffs with Pacific Division race

LOS ANGELES – At this stage in the regular season the Los Angeles Kings have an uncommon goal in their sight.

They have a decent shot at winning their second divisional banner in their organization’s history, which feels a little strange considering how much postseason success the team has seen in recent years.

The Kings have more Stanley Cup banners (two) than divisional banners, and since they won the Cup as an eighth-seed in 2012 they’ve been known as a group that slogs through the regular season before turning it on in the postseason. That’s not the case this year.

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Going into Saturday’s slate of games the Kings lead the Pacific Division with 91 points, four ahead of the second-place Anaheim Ducks. Los Angeles can clinch a playoff berth Saturday at home against the Boston Bruins.

“We definitely wanted to kind of address that problem that throughout the regular season we didn’t play our best hockey and when the playoffs came around we kind of woke up and played our best hockey,” defenseman Drew Doughty said. “We wanted to make sure we played a good regular season and played our best hockey then and then once the playoffs roll around we’ll be rolling that way, so we put a lot of emphasis on having a better regular season than we’ve had before. We’d love to win the division. That’s our ultimate goal.”

The greater stress on the regular season came from last year’s disappointment where LA missed the postseason after winning the 2014 Stanley Cup. They learned the hard way that the regular season needed a better degree of focus.

“I think we have a different mentality,” defenseman Alec Martinez said. “I think last year was a big-time learning experience and a big-time wakeup call. We just had to be better. I think we’ve kind of had just a different attitude this year. I think that may be part of the difference.”

Kings coach Darryl Sutter has always stressed the importance of every game to his team. But the players often didn’t buy in until the postseason. This year his team better understands that if they don’t listen to the coach’s message then they may find themselves out of the playoff picture.

“Darryl talks a lot and it’s a matter of, ‘Where do you want Game 7? Do you want it in Anaheim or do you want it in LA? Do you want it in San Jose or do you want it in LA?,’” Martinez said. “The idea is you finish as high as you can because home ice advantage oftentimes comes up big in the playoffs.”

At this stage of the season, the Kings have hit their playoff stride. In the past two weeks they’ve beat contenders like the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars and New York Rangers. 

The past week they really served notice to the rest of the league by crushing the Hawks and Stars, teams they may play in the Western Conference playoffs at some point, by a combined scored of 10-2. Los Angeles also ranks first in the NHL defensively, allowing 2.24 goals per-game. Both years the Kings won the Cup, they've ranked in the top two in the NHL in goals allowed per-game. 

“We scored a couple of early goals in both games,” Doughty said. “We had 2-0 leads on both teams. When we have the lead we’re a very good defensive hockey team. 

There’s not a lot of worry from the Kings that they’ve peaked too early. In today’s NHL there tends to be less emphasis on the regular season for contending teams as a whole and more on the last 10-15 games. Los Angeles is right in that timeframe where they can form good habits heading into the postseason.

“When playoffs come around it’s at the end of the season and you’re a little banged up and stuff like that but that’s the most fun hockey to play and you get up for those games no problem,” Doughty said. “I don’t think you have to balance them out (the regular season and postseason). Once the playoffs roll around, it’s a whole new thing in your mind kicks in and it’s a whole new season.”

Also winning the division is a marker the team has looked at this season to help keep up their motivation. Especially during an 82-game season it’s important to have different targets to shoot for at segments of the year. Right now for the Kings that’s pushing for the divisional crown.

“You try to make goals in a season to achieve so you stay sharp and stay on top of your game and one of them is winning the division,” forward Milan Lucic said. “It’s definitely a good feeling when you accomplish a goal like that so you can focus on the postseason to achieve the ultimate goal.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper