February 28, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Kings right winger Adrian Kempe (9) celebrates after scoring in the third quarter against the Calgary Flames at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Image The Los Angeles Kings will have a new coach behind the bench when they host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.
Jim Hiller was fired on Sunday morning and replaced by DJ Smith. DJ Smith will try to start his team just three points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference with 23 games remaining.
“At this point in the season, we believe a change in leadership is necessary to give our group the best opportunity to reach its potential and compete at the level we expect,” Kings general manager Ken Holland said. “Decisions like this are never made lightly, but our responsibility is to position this team for success now and moving forward.”
Los Angeles may have sealed Hiller’s fate in two games after Milan Cortina’s Olympic schedule was interrupted for three weeks.
In the first game back, the Kings hosted the Vegas Golden Knights, still without five key players who were resetting after participating in the Olympic gold medal game, and lost 6-4.
The next night, Los Angeles hosted another team to play the second game of a straight set, losing 8-1 to the Edmonton Oilers, their most lopsided loss of the season.
The Kings earned a 2-0 win over the visiting Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon, but it appears the decision has already been made.
“Sometimes when the losses pile up like this, it feels like you can’t get away,” Kings forward Alex Laferriere said after the Calgary game. “But there are so many games this year that I know we will win in the end.”
Smith, who was the head coach of the Ottawa Senators from May 23, 2019 to December 18, 2023, will have the tough task of facing the NHL’s No. 1 team in his first game back.
The Avalanche have won two of three at the break and have shown little trouble beating the Kings in their first two meetings this season. The Kings lost 4-1 to the Avalanche in the season opener in Los Angeles and then lost 5-2 in Denver on December 29.
Colorado most recently defeated the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Saturday night.
“I think our defense was the tightest of the first three games,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said after the win. “I think that’s a really good first step coming out of the break on how we want to get into attack mode.”
Gavin Brindley broke a 1-1 tie with a goal at 7:31 of the third period, breaking a 25-game goal drought. Cale Makar sealed it with an empty-netter, his second goal of the game.
“That was a big thing in terms of confidence,” said Brindley, who played just five shifts for a total of 3 minutes and 26 seconds. “Keep going.”
Nathan MacKinnon continues to lead the Avalanche with 40 goals, but he’s piled up assists coming off the break, giving him two goals in each of his first three games.
The Avalanche are 10-of-10 on the power play in three games after the break, including 0-for-7 shooting in the past two games, but Makar scored his first goal Saturday night four seconds after the power play ended.
“They gave us a huge goal and it took us 2 minutes and 4 seconds to achieve it,” Bednar joked.
–Field level media
