Thursday's hockey: Ex-Wing Jim Hiller to debut as coach with struggling Kings
El Segundo, Calif. — Jim Hiller, a former Northern Michigan University forward who played one year with the Red Wings in 1992-1993 and was a Detroit assistant coach for one year in 2014-2015, realizes he only has a little time to get Los Angeles’ season back on track.
The one thing the Kings’ interim coach is hoping to do, though, is help his players regain confidence after struggling for the past month.
Hiller held his first practice as coach Thursday as the Kings returned from their All-Star break. It was the first time the team had been together since Todd McLellan was fired last Friday.
McLellan was let go midway through his fifth season behind the Kings’ bench after they won only three of their last 17 games.
“I know people probably are saying, what are tactics, and which things are going to change? The most important thing for me after being around the team, which played very well for the first 24 games, is getting our frame of mind back where it needs to be,” Hiller said.
“Because if we can help those guys get back there, we’ll have time to implement some other changes that eventually you guys will say maybe they are doing something different.”
It’s also a full-circle moment for Hiller, who made his NHL debut as a player with the Kings in 1992 after being selected by them in the 10th round in 1989. Hiller was a head coach at the junior level for five seasons, but Saturday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers will be his first as an NHL head coach.
“I don’t know how many people have done that, but it’s pretty special to me,” Hiller said.
Los Angeles is in contention for a playoff spot, but doesn’t look like a Stanley Cup contender.
The Kings (23-15-10) hold the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 56 points, but are only four points from falling out.
Los Angeles had 44 points after 31 games, tied for the most in team history, before its 3-8-6 tailspin. That disappointing stretch included five one-goal losses in regulation or overtime.
“I’m sure it was a hard day for (general manager) Rob (Blake) to make that decision,” Kopitar said about McLellan’s dismissal. “I know it’s hard for us too (in the locker room) to see someone go who's done so much for the organization and kind of turn it around the last couple years.
"Obviously, not the result we wanted in the playoffs (first-round losses to Edmonton the past two years), but we took a step forward.”
Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty said Hiller’s biggest strength is communication, especially with younger players.
Doughty also realizes there might not be time to make major changes with only two months remaining in the regular season.
“You can’t just go in and change everything because then we’ll probably drop a few games as we’re learning to do new things,” Doughty said. “We’re already on things we didn’t focus on too much before, which should help us get better.”
Doughty also hopes the time away benefitted the rest of his teammates.
“The first couple days into the break was one of the first times I wasn’t thinking about hockey and losing all those games. No matter where I was (before the break). I was always thinking about what we could do differently or why we weren’t winning,” he said. “We had unbelievable energy at practice, which was good. Everyone’s excited to be back.”
Thursday's NHL games
(At) Boston 4, Vancouver 0: Brad Marchand and Danton Heinen scored short-handed in the first period in a matchup of the NHL’s top two teams.
Linus Ullmark stopped 17 shots for his first shutout of the season. Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha also scored, and Charlie Coyle set up both short-handed goals as the Bruins bounced back from a 4-1 loss to Calgary at home Tuesday.
It was the eighth victory in 10 games for Boston, which tied Vancouver atop the league standings with 73 points.
Thatcher Demko made 21 saves for the Canucks, but his nine-game winning streak was snapped. Vancouver had won 10-of-12, with one loss coming in overtime and the other in a shootout. The Canucks will be in Detroit on Saturday afternoon to face the Red Wings.
(At) Carolina 5, Colorado 2: Martin Necas scored a natural hat trick in the first 17 minutes, the first three-goal game of his career, and Carolina beat Colorado despite changing goalies twice.
The Hurricanes led 3-0 with 3:09 remaining in the first period thanks to Necas, whose hat trick was the fastest to begin a game in franchise history.
Michael Bunting and Seth Jarvis also scored, and Teuvo Teravainen had a career-high four assists as Carolina avoided what would have been its first two-game pointless stretch in two months.
Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 16 shots while playing the first and third periods. He was pulled in favor of Antti Raanta, who lasted only the second period before departing with a lower-body injury. Raanta was unscored upon in nine shots.
Zach Parise, a recent free-agent acquisition, and Samuel Girard scored in a seven-second span in the final minute of the first period for the Avalanche.
(At) Florida 4, Washington 2: Ryan Lomberg scored the game-winning goal with 6:52 left, Matthew Tkachuk had three points and Florida defeated Washington.
The goal was Lomberg’s third of the season and his first since Nov. 14, snapping a 35-game drought with a quick shot from the slot off of a feed from Dmitry Kulikov. It gave the Panthers their fifth win in six games and their first since entering the All-Star break.
Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen also scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots, and Florida coach Paul Maurice got the 849th win of his regular-season career – tying Ken Hitchcock for fifth-most in NHL history.
Alex Ovechkin got the 833rd goal of his career and Anthony Mantha also scored for Washington. Darcy Kuemper made 37 saves.
Ovechkin has goals in three straight games since ending an eight-game drought on Jan. 27.
Calgary 5, (at) New Jersey 3: Jacob Markstrom made 37 saves, Connor Zary and Andrew Mangiapane each had a goal and an assist, and Calgary beat New Jersey for its third straight win following a four-game skid.
Mikael Backlund, Kevin Rooney and Andrei Kuzmenko also scored for the Flames, who were coming off a 4-1 win Tuesday at Boston to start a four-game trip. Calgary defenseman Noah Hanifan had two assists.
Ondrej Palat scored twice, Nico Hischier also had a goal and Jesper Bratt contributed three assists for the Devils, who were coming off a 5-3 win at home over Colorado on Tuesday.
(At) Philadelphia 4, Winnipeg 1: Travis Konecny had a goal, an assist and a fight in the first period – known as a “Gordie Howe hat trick” – to lead Philadelphia over slumping Winnipeg.
Morgan Frost added a goal and an assist, and Ryan Poehling and Tyson Foerster also scored for the Flyers, who have won both games since the All-Star break after losing five in a row. Samuel Ersson made 28 saves. The rebuilding Flyers are a surprising third in the East’s Metropolitan Division.
Kyle Connor scored for the Jets, who have dropped five straight. Winnipeg has fallen to third place in the West’s Central Division.
(At) N.Y. Islanders 6, Tampa Bay 2: Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat each had a goal and an assist in New York's victory over Tampa Bay.
Noah Dobson, Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Pulock and Casey Cizikas also scored for the Islanders, who won their second in a row since the All-Star break. Ilya Sorokin finished with 16 saves in his 16th win of the season.
Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel scored for Tampa Bay, but the Lightning lost their second consecutive game. Jonas Johansson made 18 saves.
Sergachev sidelined indefinitely
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev will be sidelined indefinitely after undergoing surgery Thursday to stabilize fractures to both the tibia and fibula in his left leg.
The team said there's no definitive timetable for the 25-year-old's return.
Sergachev was injured during the second period of Tampa Bay's 3-1 road loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. He left the ice on a stretcher after his leg bent at an awkward angle after an exchange of hits with Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere.
Sergachev was playing for the first time since missing the previous 17 games with a leg injury suffered in December.
Slafkovsky learning to trust his shot
Juraj Slafkovsky, the first Slovak player taken with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft in 2022, is now midway through his second professional season with the Montreal Canadiens.
He became the choice atop the draft partially because he showed in the months leading up that he could score goals with an impeccable release – and the 19-year-old is now learning to trust his shot.
“I’m trying, but sometimes I see someone else and I’m trying to make a pass, then to find out that it’s not the best option,” Slafkovsky said. “I’ll just keep shooting, I guess.”
Easier said than done for the 6-foot-3, 230-pound pass-first playmaker, who is only two years removed from a breakout performance at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. He helped Slovakia win its first Olympic hockey medal of any kind, was named MVP of the tournament and then was a point-a-game player at the world championships that spring.
Slafkovsky had just four goals and six assists in 39 games during an injury-plagued rookie year with Montreal. He already has doubled that production 50 games in this season, with 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists.
His shot is still a work in progress.
“It’s a progression,” said coach Martin St. Louis, who is in the Hall of Fame as a player. “He’s going to keep evolving in that department. You always kind of find a way to reinvent yourself all the time. With a young player like that, though, he’s working on his shot every day.”
Michigan-area hockey this week
Thursday
▶ Five Nations: Sweden 6, Switzerland 5 (OT)
▶ Five Nations: Czechia 5, Finland 0
Friday
▶ Manitoba at Grand Rapids, 7 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Michigan State at Michigan, 7 (Big Ten)
▶ Five Nations: Switzerland vs. Finland, 3:30
▶ Five Nations: Czechia vs. USA, 7
▶ Western Michigan at Nebraska at Omaha, 7
▶ Minnesota State at Michigan Tech, 7
▶ Bermidji State at Northern Michigan, 7
Saturday
▶ Canucks at Red Wings, 1 p.m. (BSD, 97.1)
▶ Manitoba at Grand Rapids, 7 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Michigan State vs. Michigan at LCA, 8:30 (Big Ten)
▶ Five Nations: Switzerland vs. Czechia, 3:30
▶ Five Nations: USA vs. Sweden, 7
▶ Western Michigan at Nebraska at Omaha, 6
▶ Minnesota State at Michigan Tech, 5
Wednesday
▶ Five Nations: USA 5, Finland 2
▶ Five Nations: Sweden 6, Czechia 5 (OT)
Tuesday
▶ Five Nations: Sweden 6, Finland 5 (OT)
▶ Five Nations: USA 7, Switzerland 1