Biggest Areas of Concern for Los Angeles Kings the Rest of the 2014-15 Season

The Los Angeles Kings jumped into a playoff spot with six straight wins. They now are tied for eighth with the San Jose Sharks. 

Can they continue to build on this success and make another deep run in the playoffs? Or, is this as good as it gets for a team that has struggled at times this year?

L.A. has plenty to be excited about at the moment, but a few issues could hold the team back. These are the biggest areas of concern for the Kings for the rest of the season.

Offense

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Can the Kings continue their current hot streak by scoring at least three goals per game?

L.A. has found ways to score, and that's the main reason behind its recent success. Goals have come off the rush, with shots from the point getting deflected home and on special teams. But, the Kings haven't been consistent up front this year, as they sit in the middle of the pack with 2.77 goals scored per game. 

The Kings don't need to average over three goals per game to win, even with their possession numbers down. However, they must be able to put up four or five goals on certain nights when things go wrong defensively. 

Health

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The Kings have a number of veteran players who have logged huge minutes over the past few seasons. Justin Williams, Jarret Stoll and Robyn Regehr all step up in the playoffs, but they must be healthy to make an impact. And before that, they're going to be asked to play big roles to finish out the season.

Tanner Pearson is already out indefinitely, while a number of other Kings have dealt with injuries and health issues this season. 

On top of that, they haven't put themselves in position where they can afford to lose games at this point. The Kings must continue to rack up the wins, or they risk missing the playoffs and watching the Sharks and Minnesota Wild push for the postseason. 

Penalty Kill

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For a team full of rugged, relentless and defensive-minded players, the Kings' power play is surprisingly bad.

The team is ranked 24th in the entire NHL, having killed off just 78.9 percent of penalties. Again, if the offense isn't able to provide three or four goals per game, the Kings are going to have to win tight, low-scoring games. They're certainly familiar with that, but they can't afford to sit in the box, let alone give up power-play goals. 

Whether it's Dustin Brown, Jarret Stoll or a young defenseman, players need to step up on the penalty kill. Better decision-making and being more effective in keeping the opposition to the outside will be crucial. 

Depth at Forward

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The bottom six probably can't be depended on to provide scoring. However, they need to be more effective in other areas and have a bigger impact each and every game. 

Dustin Brown, Dwight King, Trevor Lewis and Kyle Clifford are capable of chipping in offensively here and there, but they need to be outworking the opposition physically on every shift. Their defensive play needs to exceed that of the other third- and fourth-line players down the stretch. 

If these players cannot limit the opposition's ability to create offense, it's going to make things tougher for a defense that's already been stretched at times this season.