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Kings’ Quinton Byfield catching fire at the right time

March 27, 2026

It’s the final countdown for the Kings and one player they’ve been counting on is finally coming through in a big way.

Their match against the Utah Mammoth on Saturday will kick off a seven-game homestand that’ll conclude their season schedule at Crypto.com Arena. As they sit a point back of a playoff spot, it’s been Quinton Byfield stirring their drink of late.

Byfield, whose evident lack of offensive confidence and dearth of tangible production had been concerns for most of the season, has turned a corner.

Perhaps no player had more lingering doubts from last year’s team-wide collapse in the playoffs – his failed clear in Game 4 against the Edmonton Oilers was one of innumerable errors that led to a blown 2-0 series lead but was widely scapegoated anyway – and maybe no player has benefitted more from the palate-cleansing coaching change the Kings made at the start of the month.

Byfield has been on the ice for the last six Kings goals and 13 of 17 during their past half-dozen games. That included all four in Thursday’s 4-0 thumping of lowly Vancouver after he scored both goals in a 3-2 shootout loss against only slightly less lowly Calgary. Across those six contests, Byfield has compiled five goals, nine points and +5 rating.

“I’m feeling good right now. A lot of [credit] goes to my linemates, too,” said Byfield, referring to Alex Laferriere and Trevor Moore. “Since we got together, there were a lot of chances that we were having, and it feels like now we’re getting some more bounces and putting them in the back of the net.”

Byfield had been on pace for 16 goals and 41 points before his recent outburst, a significant drop from the 21.5 goals and 54.5 points he averaged over the past two campaigns, which were also marked by inconsistency. He’s now at 17 and 40, with 72 of 82 games in the books.

His lack of potency was especially troubling since the Kings seemed to get only one line to heat up at a time. Prior to the Olympic break, it was the sizzle of Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko keeping the Kings’ attack at least lukewarm. After the pause, both those players were lost for the season, but the addition of Artemi Panarin via trade microwaved the top line.

Now, Byfield and chums are hitting their stride at the right moment. They trail the Nashville Predators by one point for the final postseason berth behind top wild-card qualifier Utah. But they have just a two-point edge on the Seattle Kraken, who have a game in hand. Within three points of Seattle are three more competitors, including the St. Louis Blues. They’ll face St. Louis and Utah, as well as Nashville twice, during their upcoming residency.

“There’s a lot of massive games coming up here. We’ve got Utah and Nashville, some of the teams that we’re trying to battle and get some spots off,” said Byfield, also mentioning the April 11 showdown with archrival Edmonton. “Our playoffs started a couple games ago, and that’s the mentality that we have.”

The Kings returned from a road trip that began in Utah with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Mammoth, whom they beat 4-2 back in December. In all, they went 1-0-2 on the swing, continuing to collect one-point efforts.

They have the fourth-fewest wins overall and are tied for the second fewest in regulation this season. At home, they’ve placed 30th among 32 franchises in wins, regulation wins and points percentage, trends they’ll seek to reverse abruptly with seven of their final 10 dates scheduled on home ice.

Utah at Kings

When: 6 p.m. Saturday

Where: Crypto.com Arena

TV: FDSN SoCal, KCAL (Ch. 9)

Orange County Register

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Kings’ Quinton Byfield catching fire at the right time

Utah at Kings

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