Kings start seven-game homestand with 0-3 record at home

The Los Angeles Kings open a seven-game home stand on Thursday night against the Ottawa Senators, seeking their first victory at Crypto.com Arena in the 2026-2027 season. The team is 0-3-0 on home ice, the only record of its kind in the league among remaining teams.

The Kings finished a five-game road trip with two wins and three losses. Their most recent game ended in a 2-1 defeat at Chicago, where captain Drew Doughty did not play after a strong performance the previous night. Quinton Byfield committed a turnover on the game-winning goal against the Blackhawks.

The team has struggled to score consistently. In six of its eight losses, the Kings managed only one goal. Across 11 games, six results were decided by one goal or an empty-netter, and the Kings won only one of those close contests. The squad has scored nine fewer goals at home than the Florida Panthers, who are the next lowest-scoring team in that venue category.

Quinton Byfield acknowledged the difficulty of the current stretch in a postgame interview. “It sucks not winning the last game,” Byfield said. “From our start, going 3-2 is still a little bit of a positive for us.” The Kings hold a 3-6-2 record overall.

First-year head coach Peter Laviolette pointed to third-period execution as a key area for improvement. “We’ve been here too many times in the third period, 1-1, with a chance to win a game, and we didn’t get it done,” Laviolette told reporters. “Our record could be a lot different if we were closing out third periods.”

General Manager Ken Holland has made moves to strengthen the offense, acquiring Artemi Panarin in February. Panarin has three goals and fewer assists than goals, a reversal from his career average where less than 35 percent of his points came from scoring. Mats Zuccarello, another recent acquisition, has one point and two stints on injured reserve this season. Kevin Fiala is recovering from a broken leg sustained at the Olympics.

The matchup against Ottawa brings back two former Kings players. Defenseman Jordan Spence, traded to Ottawa in 2025 for draft picks, leads all Senators defensemen in 5-on-5 expected-goals percentage. Cody Ceci, whom the Kings acquired to replace Spence, has been a healthy scratch recently. The Kings went 3-1-0 in games where Ceci did not play, but are 0-7-0 when he is on the ice.

Forward Tim Stützle leads Ottawa in scoring with 16 points this season. Stützle was available in the 2020 draft when then-Kings assistant coach Marco Sturm evaluated him for the German national team. The Kings selected Quinton Byfield with the pick in that draft. Byfield has two points this season and 193 career points, while Stützle has 425 career points.

The Kings face the Senators at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena. Ottawa enters the game with an 8-5-0 record and 16 points. The Kings are 3-6-2 with eight points. The game will be broadcast on ABTV.