The King’s defense is starting to separate itself from the middle pack of the NHL. The team is impressively doing so while having two factors in play. The first is that the defense is a makeshift group with a rotation that includes Andreas Englund, the currently injured Caleb Jones, Kyle Burroughs, and Jacob Moverare.
The other factor is their goaltending, which has not gotten enough attention.
The Kings’ team save percentage is .887, which is not good. Last season, they were fourth in the NHL with .904%. Darcy Kuemper wasn’t so much brought in as a solution in net, but rather a way out of a mistake in the Pierre-Luc Dubois acquisition and contract.
Kuemper has had his moments of brilliance, albeit in short bursts. The headlines on opening night were reserved for Anze Kopitar’s hat trick, but Kuemper was the best player on the ice. Other than that game and some moments here and there, the netminder has yet to be a genuine 1A for the Kings. His .899 save percentage does not dictate that he’s the team’s ‘ace’ in the crease.
Now, with Kuemper hurt, Rittich must hold down the fort. “Big Save” Dave has not been great, either. His .892 save percentage is also below the standard the Kings have come to expect from their goaltending.
For goaltenders with a minimum of ten games played, Rittich and Kuemper are 21st and 22nd, respectively, across the league in Goals Saved Above Expected (-1.7, -2.3). Rittich is 22nd, and Kuemper 23rd in GAA better than expected (-.19, -.23).
With these stats and events in mind, the Kings have opted to bring up their top goaltending prospect, Erik Portillo, instead of mainstay Pheonix Copley. Copley has suited up for only one game this season in relief of Rittich when the Kings got peppered in Toronto.
The long-range view is that Portillo can potentially be the true 1A of the franchise during his career. The big Swedish goaltender is on the cusp of starting his first NHL game and will do so with a very defensively favorable team in front of him.
The Kings’ Expected Goals against is the fourth lowest in the league and they are the sixth stingiest team allowing shots on goal. They allow the third-lowest high-danger chances against (26 total) and the fifth least medium-danger chances against (87 total).
Even with these numbers, LA has yet to have a solid duo in between the crease all season. That was also something to be expected before the season began. Cam Talbot was rejuvenated last year, and the Kings’ goalie-friendly structure supported it.
It’s too soon to definitely say whether it will work for Kuemper, but early signs show that it needs to be refined. The system has slightly changed with the switch to the 1-2-2, but the defensive structure is still goalie-friendly, and the numbers bear that out.
The goaltending was never expected to be elite. Still, if it improves marginally, the Kings can start to rack up wins quickly despite not having a netminder in the organization with the ability to steal games.
Staking that on Kuemper’s health, David Rittich, and a rookie goaltender, is a shaky resolution. Perhaps even a gamble.
