For only the third time in this year’s exhibition season, the Kings played in an actual NHL building on Thursday night — against the same team they faced two nights earlier in Boise. Things were a bit different, though, as coach Jim Hiller iced a lineup that was as close to what he’ll present on opening night next week as he’s done at any point over the past few weeks.
Fans in Utah were treated to a full slate of names they know on the visiting squad, including players like Kopitar, Kempe, Doughty, Clarke, Fiala, Byfield, and more. Perhaps the only surprise — and we use that term very loosely here — was the decision to go with Anton Forsberg in net. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as both he and regular starter Darcy Kuemper were expected to split the final two regular preseason games either way.
Alex Turcotte has spent most of training camp talking about his excitement over what appears to be an expanded role with the Kings this year, and perhaps that’s fueling his play on the ice. He scored another goal on Thursday and was a player who stood out among his peers throughout the contest.
After falling 2-1 to the host Mammoth, there was a seven-round shootout (just for fun). Kevin Fiala scored a beautiful goal during what amounted to a practice session in front of an arena full of fans. Warren Foegele also beat the goalie during the seven-round affair.
Game highlights can be viewed here:
Additional game notes:
— Drew Doughty led all skaters in the game with a whopping 25:31 of ice time (and only 38 seconds of that came short-handed). The next closest Kings player was Mikey Anderson at 20:29.
— A trio of LA players tied with four shots on goal, including defenseman Brian Dumoulin. He also had three blocked shots.
— One interesting note on the lineup was having Turcotte play left wing opposite Sammy Helenius. The former had been playing center during training camp and indications were that’s where the team expected him to largely play over the next few months.
— Former Kings defenseman Sean Durzi did not play for the Mammoth.
— Up next for the Kings, they’ll play their only true home game of the preseason when they host the Ducks this Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
Pregame notes and lineups can be found in the article linked below.
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