Having earned three of four points so far on their season-long homestand of five games, the Kings took a day off in preparation for their matchup with the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
The interconference clash with a last-place team will signify something of a temperature change from their hotly contested overtime loss to the division-leading Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. There should be plenty of warmth between the benches though, as Kings assistant coach D.J. Smith guided these same Sens for four seasons and 26 games of this campaign before he was let go.
“D.J., of course, was their head coach, so we know them quite well because of him,” Kings interim head coach Jim Hiller said. “They’re a dangerous team, they can score goals, that we know.”
While the Sens have jockeyed around the top 10 to 15 in goals per game, they ranked 30th of 32 teams in goals-against average entering Wednesday’s slate of games.
They and the Kings indirectly swapped goalies, with the Kings’ playoff starter Joonas Korpisalo signing with the Sens and Cam Talbot making the move to Southern California via free agency as well. Korpisalo has been dealing with an illness and Ottawa will also be playing the back half of a back-to-back after facing the Ducks on Wednesday, making it unclear if the Finn will face the Kings on Thursday.
Talbot has recaptured his top form, playing well enough early in the season to earn an All-Star nod and then shaking off some midseason malaise to perform effectively of late. Since Feb. 18, he’s gone 4-1-1 with a .951 save percentage that has been tops among goalies with at least four starts in that span.
Ottawa has been stuck in first gear in a rebuild that went from a motto of “the kids are alright” to a maxim with much less confidence and perhaps more profanity. They’ve failed to find consistency or gain traction in a competitive division and again find themselves well outside the playoff picture with Friday’s noon trade deadline fast approaching.
Although they just acquired defenseman Jacob Chychrun last season, he’s again surfaced on the hot stove, similar to how their association with winger Alex DeBrincat only lasted one year. There’s no uncertainty about veteran Vladimir Tarasenko, who after spending his entire career with the St. Louis Blues will now be skating down the wing for his fourth team in two campaigns. Ottawa, who signed him after a rental period with the New York Rangers, traded him to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday for a pair of mid-round draft picks.
For the Kings, Hiller said the deadline was not diverting their attention from the tasks at hand in the thick of a dense pack of teams in both the Pacific Division and wild-card races.
“There are some teams, in different circumstances, that it’s more [of a distraction]. Whether they’re trying to add a big-name player or sell a big-name player,” Hiller said. “It’s been pretty quiet around our team.”
The Kings did make some roster moves Wednesday, waiving forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan and defenseman Jacob Moverare. They will head to the minors if they both clear waivers. The moves were part of the broader machinations to become cap-compliant ahead of the deadline, not to add players from other teams but rather to be able to accommodate the group of players – some combination of Adrian Kempe, Mikey Anderson, Viktor Arvidsson and Carl Grundstrom – that were expected to return from injury later this month.
But was Hiller pining for a marquee talent?
“No, we’ve got plenty of them here already,” he said.
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: Bally Sports West
Continue reading...
The interconference clash with a last-place team will signify something of a temperature change from their hotly contested overtime loss to the division-leading Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. There should be plenty of warmth between the benches though, as Kings assistant coach D.J. Smith guided these same Sens for four seasons and 26 games of this campaign before he was let go.
“D.J., of course, was their head coach, so we know them quite well because of him,” Kings interim head coach Jim Hiller said. “They’re a dangerous team, they can score goals, that we know.”
While the Sens have jockeyed around the top 10 to 15 in goals per game, they ranked 30th of 32 teams in goals-against average entering Wednesday’s slate of games.
They and the Kings indirectly swapped goalies, with the Kings’ playoff starter Joonas Korpisalo signing with the Sens and Cam Talbot making the move to Southern California via free agency as well. Korpisalo has been dealing with an illness and Ottawa will also be playing the back half of a back-to-back after facing the Ducks on Wednesday, making it unclear if the Finn will face the Kings on Thursday.
Talbot has recaptured his top form, playing well enough early in the season to earn an All-Star nod and then shaking off some midseason malaise to perform effectively of late. Since Feb. 18, he’s gone 4-1-1 with a .951 save percentage that has been tops among goalies with at least four starts in that span.
Ottawa has been stuck in first gear in a rebuild that went from a motto of “the kids are alright” to a maxim with much less confidence and perhaps more profanity. They’ve failed to find consistency or gain traction in a competitive division and again find themselves well outside the playoff picture with Friday’s noon trade deadline fast approaching.
Although they just acquired defenseman Jacob Chychrun last season, he’s again surfaced on the hot stove, similar to how their association with winger Alex DeBrincat only lasted one year. There’s no uncertainty about veteran Vladimir Tarasenko, who after spending his entire career with the St. Louis Blues will now be skating down the wing for his fourth team in two campaigns. Ottawa, who signed him after a rental period with the New York Rangers, traded him to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday for a pair of mid-round draft picks.
For the Kings, Hiller said the deadline was not diverting their attention from the tasks at hand in the thick of a dense pack of teams in both the Pacific Division and wild-card races.
“There are some teams, in different circumstances, that it’s more [of a distraction]. Whether they’re trying to add a big-name player or sell a big-name player,” Hiller said. “It’s been pretty quiet around our team.”
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The Kings did make some roster moves Wednesday, waiving forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan and defenseman Jacob Moverare. They will head to the minors if they both clear waivers. The moves were part of the broader machinations to become cap-compliant ahead of the deadline, not to add players from other teams but rather to be able to accommodate the group of players – some combination of Adrian Kempe, Mikey Anderson, Viktor Arvidsson and Carl Grundstrom – that were expected to return from injury later this month.
But was Hiller pining for a marquee talent?
“No, we’ve got plenty of them here already,” he said.
Ottawa at Kings
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: Bally Sports West
Continue reading...
