The Los Angeles Kings are struggling at this time. They have only won two of their last 10 games and have fallen to sixth place in the Pacific Division.
In order for the Kings to get back into the win column with a little more regularity, they need some more offensive consistency from right winger Alex Laferriere of Chatham, New Jersey. Laferriere has five goals in his last 20 games. That seems to be ok. It just so happens three of the goals came in one game over this past week–a 6-1 Kings win over the Anaheim Ducks on December 27. That means Laferriere does not have a goal in 17 of his last 20 games.
Inside look at the hat trick
Laferriere’s first goal put the Kings up 3-0 at 10:21 of the first period. Adrian Kempe of Kramfors, Sweden and Kings captain Anze Kopitar of Jesenice, Slovenia had the assists. Laferriere then scored the last two goals of the game with both goals coming in the third period. Laferriere put the Kings up 5-1 at 4:24 of the final frame from defenseman Brian Dumoulin of Biddeford, Maine and Kopitar. Laferriere then closed out the scoring with six minutes and 45 seconds from defenseman Brandt Clarke of Nepean, Ontario and Kopitar. There is no doubt that Kopitar is continuing to plays NHL calibre hockey at a high level. He had three assists in the contest, in what is his final NHL season.
Laferriere in 2025-26
Laferriere has 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points in 39 games. He is a +5 with eight penalty minutes, one power-play point, two shorthanded points, one game-winning goal, 92 shots on goal, 64 faceoff wins, a faceoff winning percentage of only 43%, 22 blocked shots, 109 hits, seven takeaways, and 38 giveaways.
Laferriere’s game-winning goal came in a 1-0 Kings win over the Ottawa Senators on November 15. Laferriere scored the only goal of the game. It came at 9:19 of the first period. Defenseman Michael Anderson of Fridley, Minnesota and Quinton Byfield of Newmarket, Ontario had the assists.
First career NHL hat trick
The hat trick for Laferriere was the first of his NHL career. Laferriere was the Kings’s third round pick, 83rd overall, in the 2020 NHL Draft. He is currently on the Kings number one line, but needs to produce more consistent offense to stay on the number one line. The Kings only have 102 goals this season, the least in the NHL.
