It's hard to believe that we are already two months into the 2025-26 NHL season, time is flying. After the first two months of the season, the Los Angeles Kings (12-6-7) currently sit at second place in the Pacific division with 31 points. They trail only the Anaheim Ducks who also have 31 points but hold the tiebreak over LA with their 15 wins. Through all the ups and downs it has been a solid start to the season for the Kings.
Today, we are going to dive into the best, and worst moments while recapping the hectic month of November.
Los Angeles played 13 games in November, posting a record of 7-3-3 in that span. There is virtually no room for complaints when you collect 17 of a possible 24 points. Their play in November caused a notable improvement from October where they went 5-3-4. Even when they lose, the Kings have done a terrific job clawing out points as they currently have the second most overtime/shootout losses. Although it's not typically a stat to boast about, the NHL is a league where every single point matters.
Now let's get into the good, the bad, and the ugly for the month of November.
The Good
Locking Up Kempe
After months of negations and speculation, Adrian Kempe and the Kings finally got a deal done. On the afternoon of November 16th, the news broke that Kempe had agreed to a massive eight-year contract extension worth $85 million, with an AAV of $10.625 million. This was massive for the everyone involved as a major distraction went away. Since signing, Kempe has just two goals and one assist in six games played. Although the 29-year-old has struggled since putting pen to paper, his extension was the shining moment of the month in Los Angeles. However, in the Kings most recent victory against the Canucks he did just register his first multi-point night since October 23rd. Hopefully his recent effort is the beginning of a much needed hot-streak for the Kings official face of the franchise moving forward.
Kings And Adrian Kempe Agree To Long-Term Contract ExtensionThe Los Angeles Kings secured superstar Adrian Kempe for eight more years, keeping a key piece of their future in Los Angeles.Six Game Road Trip
The Kings began a six game road trip in Pittsburgh on November 9th, and for the first time all season, the Kings played four games in a calendar week. In those four games, LA went for 4/4 with victories over the Penguins, Canadiens, Maple Leafs, and Senators. At that point, the trip was already a huge success. They did lose to the Capitals and Sharks in the final two games, but managed to finish with a 4-1-1 record, collecting 9 of a potential 12 points. Road dominance was easily the on-ice highlight of the month for LA as they now have a 9-2-4 record away from home.
Play of Darcy Kuemper
Veteran goaltender Darcy Kuemper was the star of the month for the Kings. In November, Kuemper went 5-2-2 and was the main reason that some games were competitive. In nine games last month, the 35-year-old posted a 1.99 GAA as well as very respectable .920 SV%. Kuemper's best game came on November 24th in a 2-1 victory over the Senators where we saw the netminder stop 27/28 shots while posting a 1.15 GSAx. After two months, Kuemper is now 8-4-5 with a 2.39 GAA, .907 SV%, and a GSAx of 11.1.
The Bad
Drew Doughty Injury
On November 15th, Kings legendary blue-liner Drew Doughty blocked a shot in a bout with the Senators, prompting him to exit the game. The 35-year-old has not been seen in action since. He was originally designated as 'week-to-week' before being placed on injured reserve on November 20th. Although he remains on the IR, Doughty did skate on November 29th but there was no update on his current status. Before being sidelined, Doughty had two goals and six assists for eight points in 19 games. He even became the Kings all-time leader in goals by a defenseman when he scored his 162nd career goal on November 4th against the Jets, passing Rob Blake.
Kings Defenseman Drew Doughty Out ‘Week-To-Week,’ Will Not Play Against CapitalsLos Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty has been sidelined with a lower-body injury that he suffered on Saturday. He'll miss Monday's clash with the Washington Capitals.Warren Foegele's Health & Production
It has been an incredibly rough start to the season for Kings forward Warren Foegele who dealt with injury and offensive struggles. At the end of October, Foegele was injured after being on the receiving end of an awkward body check. He missed five games before returning to the lineup on November 9th. In the next eight games, the 29-year-old was playing well, scoring three goals in the span. On November 25th, Foegele left practice early and has been listed as day-to-day since with no update otherwise. A brutal blow for the speedy winger who was seemingly finding his game after a very shaky start to the season. In 18 games, Foegele has just four goals.
Devastating Loss To The Ducks
On November 28th, the Kings played in perhaps the biggest game of the season so far. They did battle with the Ducks in a game where first in the division was up for grabs. After a hard fought 40 minutes the score was 2-2 and early in the third period LA took a stranglehold on the game after scoring two quick goals to take a 4-2 lead. It seemed as if they were going to steal two massive points from their divisional foe until the lead slipped away from them as the Ducks tied the game with just 1:31 left. Anaheim then went on to win in a shootout, resulting in the worst loss of the year for the Kings. Despite the frustrating result, the rivalry between these two teams has reached another level level as this game could very well be a playoff preview.
How Likely Is A Freeway Face-Off First-Round Playoff Series?It's a new era of the Freeway Face-Off as the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles are neck and neck in the Pacific Division standings. With that, it may not be long before we see a first-round matchup between the two teams for the first time ever.The Ugly
Andrei Kuzmenko Situation
Last summer, the Kings signed forward Andrei Kuzmenko to a one-year contract extension worth $4.3 million with the expectation that he would continue to perform how he did after joining the team at the trade deadline. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Last season, Kuzmenko played 22 games with LA where he put up five goals and 12 assists for 17 points with a +6 rating. In the same amount of games played this season, he has just three goals and four assists for seven points with a -3 rating. After he scored in the first game of the month against the Devils, the 29-year-old failed to register a point the rest of November. He was also healthy scratched three times last month. Of course there is a ton of hockey to be played this season but Kuzmenko has not lived up to expectations thus far.
Dreadful Power-play
There isn't much to say about the Kings production with the man advantage, besides that it's absolutely dreadful. The Kings have a 14.1% success rate on the power-play which is good for 28th in the NHL. In their last 10 games, LA has gotten 31 power-play opportunities, scoring on just three of them. Brace yourself, because this is hard to look at. 3 for 31 equates to 9.6%. It's hard to believe a team with guys like Kempe, Fiala, Kopitar, and Byfield has struggled to score with a man advantage but here we are. Anze Kopitar leads the team with just three power-play goals.
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