The Kings’ scoring woes were so bad early in their latest road trip that the bye week that followed nearly became a bye-bye week, as in time to say farewell to a playoff berth this season.
A four-point performance by MVP contender Jeff Carter launched them into their break with a win and possession of the second Western Conference wild card spot. But they’ll face more challenges after they reconvene next week and they can’t count on an impact trade to bail them out before the March 1 deadline.
“I don’t see us getting into it, and I certainly don’t see us getting into it to any degree where we’re throwing around first-round picks anymore,” said General Manager Dean Lombardi, who wasted a first-round pick on defenseman Andrej Sekera in 2015 and traded another first-rounder to Boston for Milan Lucic, who left via free agency after one good season.