Coming off the Kings seven-game road trip to open their 2024-25 campaign, much of the talk was about needing to tighten up defensively. There had been very little chatter about wanting goal production from LA’s rearguards. That’s exactly what happened on Saturday afternoon, though, as coach Jim Hiller’s squad locked down a 3-2 victory over the visiting Utah HC.
With the win, LA improves to 5-2-2 on the season and a rather astounding 16-3-1 during the regular season at Crypto.com Arena with Hiller behind the bench.
Joel Edmundson and Brandt Clarke were elevated to second pair responsibilities vs. Utah and the extra playing time certainly paid off. Clarke opened the scoring midway into the middle frame with a power play goal (assisted by Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala). Meanwhile, Edmundson found the back of the net in both the second and third periods, giving him the first multi-goal game of his NHL career. Clarke also assisted on the latter marker, yielding him his second multi-point night of the young season.
He’s Back: Darcy Kuemper returned in net, stopping 23-of-25 shots faced. It was his first start since being sidelined with a lower body injury early last week. He’s now 2-0-2 on the season over his four appearances thus far.
Something or a Nothing-Burger: The Fiala situation is potentially something to keep an eye on over the next few says. After explaining that he was none too pleased with the winger’s penalty late in Thursday’s game, Hiller watched his skilled forward take an interference call during P1, followed by a cross-checking penalty in P2. That was enough for LA’s bench boss, as he cut off Fiala’s minutes in P3, opting to double-shift players like Warren Foegele and Andre Lee instead. What will that mean (if anything) for the back-to-back games coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday? Monday’s practice should lend the first hints.
Late Lineup Notes: Caleb Jones drew in on defense, with coach Jim Hiller opting to sit Kyle Burroughs. This reconfigured LA’s blueline a bit, as Vladislav Gavrikov joined Mikey Anderson on the top pair, while Jones anchored the third pair with Jordan Spence. There were no changes at forward, as Akil Thomas remained the lone scratch up front.
RELATED CONTENT:
Follow @mayorNHL
Continue reading...
