The LA Kings came into the second game in a back-to-back trying to put a tempest in a teapot behind them. They had lost the night before in San Jose, 4-2, in a dispirited affair that saw them taking just two shots in the last period. It was a game played without the talented but mercurial Kevin Fiala, who was now on the spot to redeem himself from a bad week.

Fiala came to the team in 2022, costs nearly eight million bucks to employ, and had 29 goals and 73 points last year, but of late is getting labelled “selfish,” both by fans and by a player on the Ottawa Senators, who the Kings played two weeks ago in Ottawa.

As if to prove the point, he took an irresponsible penalty, actually two, against Utah last Saturday. This cost him a period, the third, sitting on the bench. When the press tried to get Coach Jim Hiller to talk about it after the game, he went all general. When the press went general right along with him, it was conversation over.

Fiala backed up that on-ice performance with the trick of missing the team meeting early this week and as a result, was benched—that is, not dressed—for the San Jose game. This time, Hiller talked, admitting frankly that this was unacceptable and that the player would be held accountable.

One day off that embarrassment, Fiala was wearing #22 once more with Vegas in town, and IH took the opportunity to put the specs on him to see if any change in attitude could be detected. Things seem better, sorta, but remember last year when the now-thankfully-departed “PLD” had his come-to-faith moment? He was going to be better. He was going to put out a full effort. He played a wholistic game for about three nights, and when the season ended, he was packed off to Washington. Fans hoped the door didn’t hit him on the butt on the way out. Actually, they didn’t give a darn, and the fact that he’s doing OK with the Caps bothers them not at all.

So now here’s Fiala needing an attitude adjustment. He admitted as much, as we’ll get to in a moment. How’d he do?

Wednesday began with Fiala being fed a long pass across the offensive zone and getting a shot. Next, Fiala  was seen cruising across the crease, backwards, hoping for a puck from his line mate, who was behind the net. He wasn’t floating. He was trying to look interested, more like. He was playing left wing on the line centered by Danault and flanked on the other side by Alex Laferriere.

Period two saw Fiala lose a puck battle behind the Vegas net. He was also seen in front of the Vegas net by times, waiting for the puck, as opposed to creating the kind of havoc that someone like Corey Perry might. Put it this way—you could read his presence there as useful, but also as a good excuse not to be in the corners, where his line mates had to go.

So through two periods, things were unconvincing if the Swede was trying to prove himself redeemed. But then Fiala wiped out speculation of the value of his efforts with what happened in the third period. He scored a goal and assisted on another within a minute and a half of each other.

The goal made the score 5-1 for Los Angeles, and came off a pass from Kopitar that Fiala toe-dragged and then snapped into the net from the high slot. The assist was the secondary one. Fiala got the puck inside the Vegas zone and curled up with it at the boards, then fed it to the near (right) point to Brandt Clarke. He put it across to Joel Edmundson, who snapped a wrister from inside the blueline. It sailed through traffic and eluded the goalie.

So it was talent proved. Attitude? Fiala certainly said all the right things after the contest. “I had a quick chance to make up for it—what happened yesterday—just happy to be back and happy to help the team win.”

He then explained that his alarm didn’t go off. His iPhone was broken, and he had only his IPad to use, and that didn’t ring the alarm. “That’s the truth, but I take full responsibility. I have to be better than that. I felt terrible and let down the teammates, so I was happy to move on.” He was asked about the seemingly funny timing of this happening on the heels of getting benched versus Utah, and his answer was, “There’s never a good timing for this, but … stuff happens, things go up and down, it’s a long season. Obviously, you don’t want things like this to happen, but It happens. You get a kick in the butt, and off you go. I have to take it as positive as I can, and … move on and help the team win.”

His coach commented on the matter after the game also: “There’s nothing malicious about anything Kevin did. He’s a team guy. He wants the team to have success. Sometimes he has problems controlling his emotions and he can take penalties, but it’s nothing that he is doing purposefully. That I understand.”

Observers will be looking for more performances like Fiala’s in period three as the Kings move on to play Chicago at 1pm on Saturday.