2008–09 Los Angeles Kings season
The 2008–09 Los Angeles Kings season was the 42nd season (41st season of play) for the National Hockey League franchise. The Kings showed improvement while fielding the youngest team in the league (in terms of average age per player), but came up short of breaking a playoff drought that stretches back to the 2001–02 season.
| 2008–09 Los Angeles Kings | |
|---|---|
| Division | 5th Pacific |
| Conference | 14th Western |
| 2008–09 record | 34–37–11 |
| Home record | 18–15–8 |
| Road record | 16–22–3 |
| Goals for | 202 |
| Goals against | 226 |
| Team information | |
| General manager | Dean Lombardi |
| Coach | Terry Murray |
| Captain | Dustin Brown |
| Alternate captains | Matt Greene Anze Kopitar |
| Arena | Staples Center |
| Average attendance | 16,489 (91.0%) Total: 676,042 |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | 32, Alexander Frolov |
| Assists | 39, Anze Kopitar |
| Points | 66, Anze Kopitar |
| Penalty minutes | 145, Raitis Ivanans |
| Plus/minus | +2, Sean O'Donnell |
| Wins | 21, Jonathan Quick |
| Goals against average | 2.48, Jonathan Quick |
Despite a tough schedule that saw them play 17 of their final 24 games away from the Staples Center, the Kings managed to stay in the playoff hunt for much of the year. They played in 43 games decided by one goal, and their record in these games was 20–12–11.
Alexander Frolov led the team in goals with 32, his fifth-consecutive season with at least 20 or more goals. The last King to post five consecutive season with over 20 goals was Luc Robitaille in the 1993–94 season. Moreover, defenseman Sean O'Donnell reached a milestone by playing in his 1,000th career NHL game on March 14.