Jarome Iginla is on fire for the Los Angeles Kings, but his rejuvenation likely won't be enough to get his new club into the playoffs.
The 39-year-old found the back of the net in his third straight game Friday night in a win over the Vancouver Canucks, but Iginla's longest scoring streak of the season can't do much to improve his new team's slim postseason hopes.
While the Kings - who acquired Iginla from the Colorado Avalanche on deadline day - have now won consecutive contests, they are eight points behind the Nashville Predators for the second Western Conference wild-card spot, and both clubs have five games left.
The Kings have a 0.4 percent chance to qualify for the postseason, according to Sports Club Stats.
Los Angeles' dwindling playoff aspirations haven't deterred Iginla, who has nearly equaled the goal-scoring output he produced in more than 60 games with the league-worst Avalanche before the deal.
| 2016-17 | GP | G | A | P | Goals/Game | Shots/Game | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COL | 61 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 0.13 | 1.97 | 6.7 |
| LA | 14 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0.43 | 1.93 | 22.2 |
When the Kings landed Iginla on March 1, they were only a single point behind the St. Louis Blues for the second Western Conference wild-card spot.
On that day, he said he "really" believed the Kings were a Stanley Cup contender.
But Los Angeles is 7-6-1 since the deadline, and some of their division and conference rivals have simply left them in the dust. The Anaheim Ducks went 10-2-2 in March, the Edmonton Oilers were 9-3-1, and the Blues have gone an NHL-best 11-2-2 since the calendar flipped on deadline day.
Iginla has had his share of memorable moments in his brief Kings tenure. He now has game-winning goals in back-to-back games, and he posted a Gordie Howe hat trick in what was possibly his final game in Calgary on Thursday.
The veteran winger was nominated for the Masterton Trophy last week (for enduring nearly three-quarters of a season with the Avalanche), and he capped a two-goal night with the overtime winner to beat the Predators earlier this month.
One man can't do it all, though, and despite his unexpected renaissance, the Kings clearly needed to do more than adding Iginla and goaltender Ben Bishop at the deadline.
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