Jim Hiller, LA Kings Hit the Road with a New Plan

The LA Kings are about to embark on a four-game road trip, with interim head coach Jim Hiller looking forward to it.

Back-to-back wins may not seem like much to some, but the LA Kings are nonetheless flying high after beginning a new winning streak. The silver-and-black did, after all, shut out an Edmonton Oilers team that had won 17 of their last 18 games. To add to the achievement, the Kings scored four goals on their divisional opponents. That was the first time in 19 games the Oilers had surrendered more than three goals in a contest. But it’s onward and upward for the Kings as they now embark on a four-game Eastern road trip.

That road trip begins on Tuesday when the LA Kings visit the Buffalo Sabres.

On Monday, Jim Hiller spoke to Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider about how practice went for his team.

“We had a really good first practice, a good second practice, a good game, and we wanted to make sure today was an intense practice, that we worked on all the same things that we’ve worked on since day one,” the 54-year-old noted. “We didn’t want to get too far away from all this kind of stuff. Just focus on what we’ve needed to improve and what we have been improving.”

A New Look

Monday’s practice, though, saw a different kind of layout.

Hiller was seen to have turned certain segments of practice into competitions. That had been seen on Monday as competition between lines and also forwards and defensemen. In fact, according to the aforementioned Zach Dooley, said layout was “intended to stimulate that competitive side of the players during practice settings.”

Hiller explained.

“We try to build them that way, to always have some type of a game,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. For all of us, we could be playing Monopoly and we’re going to get serious about it. These guys are ultra-competitive, so you turn something into a game for them and it amps way up. It’s just human nature and these guys are built even a little bit different than most of us, they’re even higher. So, you always get the best out of them when there’s something on the line.”

As for the players, it was evident that they were liking this version of practice, so to speak.

“I think we’ve been having a lot of battle drills,” added Hiller. “We were on a break for a week. So, the two practices we had before Edmonton were pretty crucial because they already had two games in hand. So, for us to do a lot of battle drills and kind of get our bodies going, get our energy back, it’s been really good. We’ve got to keep it going.”

It will be determined soon enough just how well this new version of practice translates to in-game success.

Wrap Up

At 22-25-4, the Sabres have struggled overall this season. But don’t think that the Kings are overlooking this team. After all, the Sabres have enough viable weapons from Tage Thompson to Jeff Skinner. They also have their leading goal-scored J.J. Peterka and leading point-getter  Casey Mittelstadt. Plus, while they are coming a big win, the LA Kings are just looking to keep up their winning ways as Jim Hiller looks to keep his head coaching unblemished.

On another positive note, Viktor Arvidsson continues to practice with the Kings. Yet, while he is eyeing a near-return to the lineup, don’t expect him to be suited up in Buffalo. Hiller did nonetheless say that 30-year-old is “getting close” to returning.

The Kings and Sabres drop the puck on Tuesday at 4pm PST (7pm EST).