LOS ANGELES -- If there's one thing Los Angeles Kings fans have grown accustomed to, it's seeing their team down a skater.
The fourth most penalized team in hockey heading into Thursday's matchup against the Vancouver Canucks, the Kings continued their penalty troubles headlined by a five-minute match penalty from Tanner Jeannot.
Tanner Jeannot is handed a match penalty for this hit on Brock Boeser 🤕 pic.twitter.com/m4vbDlpRi0
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) November 8, 2024
A foolish, undisciplined play from Jeannot that will likely earn his team a suspension and allowed Vancouver back into the game, it was a good representation of the Kings' lack of discipline this season.
With 58 penalties through 15 games (averaging almost four penalties a game) the Kings are consistently shooting themselves in the foot. Their penalty kill has been about league average early on, but this isn't a trend they want to continue.
As they've seen in the last three postseason's, special teams can be the difference in a playoff series. You can't constantly be playing down a player, especially against the league's top teams.
Offensive zone stick infractions have been the biggest issue, making the penalty issue even worse. There are penalties you can live with and penalties you can't, offensive zone stick infractions and needless match penalties are the penalties you can't live with.
Head coach Jim Hiller had a more lenient view of the penalty post game.
"No, that's one, the time it's close," said Hiller of the penalty. "Not much you can do, that's a split second reaction, that's not being lazy and hooking somebody or carrying your stick higher than you should be."
The not being lazy part of that quote is a big one, but it's still a tough penalty for the team to take, especially given the team's penalty problems this season.
The problems go far beyond just the Jeannot penalty, but that lack of discipline from the team as a whole must be addressed. You can't win games consistently taking penalties at this rate.