Off the Schneid

After going 14 games and a month without a victory, the Los Angeles Kings got one Sunday night, beating the Blackhawks here in the Windy City.

Sadly, my precarious financial situation prevented my attendance at this event.

And oddly enough, though the Kings had a 14-game winless skid, they earned 11 points over that time, thanks to nine ties and a pair of overtime losses.

The victory was also enough to bump the Kings up to eighth in the Western Conference standings, good enough for the final playoff spot.

Of course, this is still a far cry from where the Kings were when they last won, namely atop the Pacific Division standings. But, again, the win and two points were enough for the Kings to leapfrog both the Dallas Stars and the Phoenix Coyotes, moving from fourth to second in the division.

So, it's certainly not too late to turn things around. They certainly should compete for a playoff spot, and still have an outside shot at the division title (all important because winning the division means getting at least the third seed and home ice advantage in the first round, something the Kings last had when I was in grade school).

But, it would be a lot easier if they didn't have so many walking wounded: the top line, the "A to Z" line of Jason Allison, Adam Deadmarsh and Ziggy Palffy are likely all out for the remainder of the regular season, and only Palffy had even played this season; in addition to significant injuries to Martin Straka, Aaron Miller, etc., et al, so on and so forth.

Still, I remain an optimist, probably against all logic.