Game 14: Kings 3, Stars 1

The Kings were able to absorb the loss of Drew Doughty when he went down to injury earlier this season. The question now is whether or not the Kings can keep on rolling with two key players out of the lineup.

If you look in the dictionary, under the word "resilient," someone scribbled in a Kings logo. O.K., so it was me, but you get my meaning. The Kings showed they are not a flash in the pan with a gritty win over division rival Stars.

Hey, look at that... someone defaced the page with "gritty" as well.

It was feared by many that the loss of Willie Mitchell and Alexei Ponikarovsky would be too much for the young Kings to handle. But as coach Terry Murray has shown time and again, the Kings' cogs are very much interchangeable. Out goes Mitchell, in goes Jake Muzzin. Out goes Ponikarovsky, in slides Brad Richardson. That is, ladies and gentlemen, the definition of depth.

Hey, there's no drawing on that page in the dictionary. Where's my pencil?

With the win, the Kings tied a franchise record for best start at home at 7-0. Jonathan Quick is now 9-1-1, which is admittedly mind-boggling. Dustin Brown and Justin Williams traded goals to share the goal scoring lead. Jack Johnson scored his first goal of the season, while Drew Doughty led all Kings skaters in ice time for the third game back from that concussion.

Not only that, but Kyle Clifford got into his second fight of the season, which also happened to be against the Stars. Actually, it wasn't that much of a fight, as Brandon Segal lost his footing. But that didn't stop HockeyFights.com to rule the scrap in favor of Clifford by an overwhelming amount. Clifford is 19 years old and is scary as hell.

But the most telling stat of all is this: The Kings currently have the No. 1-ranked penalty kill in the league and have the lowest goals against (1.9) in the league.

"But Matt," I hear you asking the screen. "The Kings are in the middle of the pack in their scoring. And the power play unit needs help. This team needs that top-tier scorer."

Really? A scorer is what you're focused on? When you play solid defensive hockey, you don't need that high-priced sniper to come in and pot two goals a night. I'll take the multi-headed hydra approach the Kings have now and enjoy a bunch of 2-1 and 3-1 victory, rather than watch a 5-4 offensive battle.

Defense wins championships, kids. And the Kings are shwoing they have plenty of moxie in that arena.

Hmmm, "moxie" in the dictionary... sure enough. There's The Crown.

• AP: Kings hold off Stars for 5th straight win

Dustin Brown realizes his Los Angeles Kings are getting every opponent’s best shots these days, legal and otherwise.  Not enough of those haymakers have landed to slow the Western Conference leaders’ knockout start to the season.

• L.A. Times: It's intense as Kings win, 3-1, tie club mark for best start at home

Playing their usual tight defensive game but adding the element of only their second and third power-play goals at Staples Center this season, the Kings defeated Dallas, 3-1, and tied a club record with their seventh straight home victory to start a season. The 1975-76 and 1980-81 teams also started 7-0-0 at home.

• LAKings.com: Kings beat Stars, still undefeated at home

The Kings, collectively held their breath through a handful of scary hits, including one on Drew Doughty – recently recovered from a concussion – that caused Doughty’s helmet to pop off as he sprawled to the ice in the corner, and a big shoulder check on Jarret Stoll.

• NHL.com: Kings beat Stars 3-1 to stay perfect at home  

"It was intense," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "I thought the second and third period got revved up pretty good. For the early part of the year, as it is, the intensity was high, the compete was high. Of course, you’ve got two division teams and that always adds a little bit to it."

They said it

“No team is coming in here not expecting to have a hard game. They’re coming in here with their best because they know we’ve been good, especially in the standings. We’re not going to catch anyone by surprise this year.” – Dustin Brown, on the Kings' success.

“The main thing about it is Quick and Bernier. They’re just playing extremely well. Quick has been our best penalty killer all year and Bernier, when he’s in the net, is playing great for us too. It’s easy when you’re playing in front of the goaltender when you’re not worried about giving up those shots. You can really let the goaltender handle some quality shots that you can give up and protect the rebound. " – Matt Greene, on the Kings' penalty kill.

"I don’t think anybody is necessarily taking a look at us and saying, `OK, we’ve got to go after them and try to intimidate them,’ and we’re not going to be intimidated. We were not last year, and we’re not going to be this year.” – Terry Murray, on whether teams might be targeting the first-place Kings with physical play.