Kings finding right fourth line mix at right time

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Kings coach Darryl Sutter does not see his fourth line as a space filler. Oh no way. The group is maybe a lesser version of his third line – a trio that can win face offs, check, cycle, play defense and at the odd time, score a big goal.

“They’re out there to have an identity and help your team win,” Sutter said. “Biggest thing you take out of your fourth line is whether you win or lose.”

In a bizarre-o world way, as goes Kyle Clifford, as go the Kings in #sutterlogic.

Well not exactly – especially with a team that has Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. But the fourth line tends to be LA’s reason for postseason success.

In Los Angeles’ playoff runs, teams at least could try to hold Kopitar and Jeff Carter in check. But when Jordan Nolan, Dwight King, Clifford and others ground their opponents into the ground, the pace and the physical toll became unsustainable. See Sharks, San Jose and choke, job.

Currently the Kings have a trio of  Clifford, Nick Shore and Jordan Nolan in that role. Los Angeles normally finds this grouping late in the year, but when it does, the results tend to help the late season playoff push and postseason run.

In the Kings’ 8-2 drubbing of the Oilers on Thursday, Nolan, Clifford and Shore each played over 12 minutes. Shore won 78 percent of his face offs, Nolan scored a goal and Clifford added an assist.

It’s not that these guys are going to do anything special on a night-in, night-out basis. They’re not goal scorers. They’re not flashy. They just need to win draws and play physical hockey.

“It’s an effort from everyone in the lineup,” said Shore who is in his first NHL season and won over 54 percent of his face offs. “I think we’re a heavy team and we like to play below the goal line in other team’s end. Any time you’re doing that throughout the game you’re going to have success.”

As we’ve sat here and waited for the Kings to finally make a run (and waited and waited) maybe their lack of ability to find consistency has to do with a discovery of the fourth line.

With Jarret Stoll now back in the lineup and Mike Richards relegated to healthy scratch status, Los Angeles is finally freed to find this correct type of mix. No longer are the Kings playing guys because they own certain types of contracts or other ancillary reasons. They’re playing the guys who give them the best chance to win.

“There’s always a couple of moving pieces during the year,” Nolan said. “Guys are getting hurt, guys are moving up and down the lineup, so hopefully we can keep the fourth line the same and keep it going. I think we’re playing well. We’re playing physical. We’re getting goals here and there. If we can keep it going in the playoffs, it’s going to be a special year hopefully. “

And when you have a fourth line that can also possess the puck, like the Kings, it adds to LA’s sheer dominance at driving the play. According to Behind the Net, only Nolan has a negative Corsi 5-on-5 out of the current Kings’ fourth liners. While they’re not super high, this isn’t bad considering the fact that a fourth line’s job isn’t to play offensively and generate scoring chances. So any production is a positive.

With each step forward with them this year has led to an equally large step backward, hence the Kings' ‘In and Out’ postseason positioning. Los Angeles is tied with Winnipeg for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, but owns the tiebreaker in regulation and overtime wins. They both have five games left.

These guys could have an absolute stinker Saturday against Colorado. But that probably won’t happen if Clifford, Shore and Nolan have some sort of impact.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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