LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings' success this season has been predicated on stellar defensive play and good enough offense.
Of late, you couldn't use "good enough" to describe the Kings offensively as their offensive deficiencies rear their heads.
In their last seven games, the Kings have scored more than two goals just once and are averaging just shy of two goals per game.
After another poor offensive performance against the Pittsburg Penguins on Monday Jim Hiller discussed the struggling offense.
"I don't have a real good answer for you, I think it's a little too early to say it's a slump, I don't want to go there yet," said Hiller. "Tonight we weren't close, we just weren't close tonight."
Hiller's right, seven games isn't a massive sample size, and things look a bit better when you stretch it to ten games, but this seven-game stretch raises some alarm bells when you factor in the context that offense was a massive question mark for the Kings heading into the season.
Adrian Kempe has remained the team's only consistent goal scorer with five goals and seven points in that stretch while the team's other star forwards have struggled. Anze Kopitar has zero goals and four points, Kevin Fiala has just one goal and three points and Quinton Byfield has just one point and no goals.
That lack of depth is a massive concern for a team that lacks true star power at the top. Kempe is a great player having a phenomenal season, but he can't be the leading producer for a team with Stanley Cup ambitions, even one as defensively stout as LA.
Depth scoring was a major factor in the Kings' early season success, with Warren Foegele and Alex Laferriere both exceeding expectations with hot goal-scoring starts, but both have fallen back down to earth in recent weeks.
Laferriere is currently injured but had just two goals in 15 games prior to his injury. Foegele's offensive struggles are a bit more recent with just one goal during the team's current scoring slump but three in his last 10 (a 24-goal pace).
That's before we get into the struggles of Fiala, Phil Danault and Trevor Moore, who are all on pace for big regressions from last season.
The other big problem for this team is that reinforcements are unlikely to arrive. Drew Doughty is almost back from injury which will give the Kings less than $1 million in cap space to play with at the deadline and they're limited in the assets they can move.
The chances of them adding significant scoring from outside the organization are slim and there aren't many internal options they can lean on. Akil Thomas hasn't established himself after a strong cameo towards the end of last season, despite fan chatter and impressive AHL numbers Samuel Fagemo isn't an NHL option and both Samuel Helenius and Andre Lee will never be players that light up the scoresheet.
The return of Doughty is their big addition, and maybe he has a significant impact on their power play, but he isn't the kind of offensive defenseman who can change the complexion of your team.
It isn't all doom and gloom for the Kings and the goals will return, but warning signs are popping up offensively, especially if Fiala and Byfield can't re-discover their offensive form in the second half of this season.
For Kopitar, the answer is simple, get back to the basics.
"When you're going through a stretch like this when you're not scoring a whole lot of goals, it's getting back to the meat and potatoes," said Kopitar. "Throw pucks at the net, go there, get a couple of ugly ones, and, for the most part, when you start shooting the puck a little bit more, you tend to create off those shots and make the so-called 'pretty plays'. Simplify and go from there."
Whatever the answer is, the Kings need to find it soon and get their offense back on track.