The Kings will ring in the New Year with its first heavyweight bout, kicking off 2025 with a showdown against the New Jersey Devils today.

Both teams have had to work to keep pace in competitive divisions. The Kings haven’t lost consecutive games in regulation since Nov. 13, compiling the third-best points percentage in the Western Conference since that time.

The only issue? Both teams ahead of them in that span were also in the Pacific Division. The Edmonton Oilers lost to the Kings and Ducks over the weekend after entering the holiday break as winners of 11 of 13 contests. The Vegas Golden Knights have won six straight games, 10 of 11 and 14 of 18 dating to Nov. 20.

The Devils have been the Metropolitan Division’s best performer since then and they tied with the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conference’s best points percentage across that stretch. They’ve been pushed by the Washington Capitals, who added two prominent former Kings this offseason, and the resurgent Pittsburgh Penguins.

For the improved Devils, there hasn’t been much ambiguity. Their sixth-ranked offense of 2023-24 again sits sixth in the league, but has been augmented by goaltending and defense that have dropped their goals-against average nearly a full goal. Entering New Jersey’s clash with the Ducks on Tuesday, Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom, acquired via trade from Calgary, had been impregnable in most of his past 20 appearances and put himself in the first-half Vezina Trophy conversation.

For the Kings, the reasons for their rebound have been less clear. They’ve had multiple players with statistical volatility — Quinton Byfield, Trevor Moore, Phillip Danault, Alex Laferriere and Brandt Clarke all spring to mind — as well as pronounced contrasts between their play at home (12-2-1, .833 points percentage, 25.7% on the power play) and on the road (9-8-4, .524 points percentage, 10.9% on the power play). They’ve also been doing it all without top defenseman Drew Doughty and, more recently, utility forwards Moore and Trevor Lewis, with the latter making swift progress toward a return for career game No. 1,000.

The Kings came from behind when trailing at the second intermission on consecutive days over the weekend, their first two such wins at home this season, further diversifying their burgeoning portfolio of home wins.

“At this point, there’s a belief,” coach Jim Hiller said. “You’d like to say there’s a belief at the beginning of the season, but every season the team is new, it’s fresh, there’s new players and you have to earn that belief in one another.”

“I think we start to get 36 games in and I start to think, ‘OK, we’ve done this, we can do this,’ and there’s just a feeling, it’s hard to describe. Some years, you never get it how you want to get it. This year, it feels like we have it.”

The Kings have multiple players on modest scoring streaks. Danault recorded a point in each of his past four games, while Clarke and Adrian Kempe each experienced three-game spikes. Byfield and captain Anže Kopitar powered a win apiece over the weekend, combining for four goals and six points in two wins.