Another game, more changes on defense — that’s among the numerous headlines heading into Sunday night’s first Freeway Faceoff game of the 2024-25 season.
Fresh off a multi-week road trip, the Kings have slept in their own beds the past few nights and are now ready to get back to work. Although the team is home, that doesn’t mean the ‘road trip’ is over. Technically speaking, there are two more road games scheduled before Crypto.com Arena finally sees action this coming Thursday.
First things first, though, beginning with a showdown at the Honda Center tonight. Recent memory would lead you to think that this should be an easy two points for the Kings to pick up. After all, LA has won nine of the last ten previous matchups with Anaheim. However, don’t be easily fooled by the past. This is a Ducks team that is getting increasingly better as their younger players gain experience. They’re not quite the pushover team they were even a year ago. Look for a hard-fought game tonight between these two SoCal rivals.
Shifting to lineup changes for Kings coach Jim Hiller, it’s all about the defense. Joel Edmundson is slated to return after missing two games to be with his family. He is expected to be reunited with Brandt Clarke, and they should form the second pairing — a spot one rung up the ladder from where they started this season, as the third pair. Vladislav Gavrikov jumped up to the top pair with Mikey Anderson a few games ago and he appears set to remain there… for now. Rounding out the blueline pairs will be a third pair consisting of Jordan Spence and Andreas Englund.
Up front, one has to wonder when Akil Thomas enters the lineup for his season debut. With Anaheim not being a necessarily physical or large team, it could make sense to give Andre Lee a rest and let Thomas get a crack on it, but we will have to wait and see what Hiller does come puck drop. Not that preseason is the best measure of anything, but Thomas did score a goal the last time he was in the building.
Statistically Speaking
— Tonight marks the final game on Bally Sports West, as the channel is rebranding tomorrow (full story here).
— The Ducks have yet to score a powerplay goal this season, they are 0-for-14 with the man advantage through four games. Meanwhile, the Kings have scored four power play goals in 21 tries (19%).
— When playing on the road against the Ducks, LA has a 33-34-7-9 record all-time. In their ten most recent matchups against Anaheim, LA has a record of 9-1-0.
— Anze Kopitar has been a Duck killer throughout his career. Coming into play tonight, the captain has 87 points in 89 games against the Ducks. However, don’t sleep on what Adrian Kempe has been doing vs. Anaheim. He too is nearly a point-per-game player against the Ducks and has been especially hot when playing at Honda Center throughout his career. In 18 career games there, Kempe has produced 19 points (13G, 6A).
— How does Kempe stack up to other players around the league? Since his 2016-17 NHL debut season, only Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Nathan MacKinnon have put up more points vs. Anaheim than Kempe.
— Which active Ducks player has the most points vs. the Kings? That would be defenseman Cam Fowler, who has 28 points in 62 career games against LA.
— Kevin Fiala has nine points (6G, 3A) in his six games against the Ducks since joining the Kings.
— Brandt Clarke has four points in five games on the young campaign.
— Both teams will be showcasing their new jerseys for the first time against each other in the regular season.
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Ducks
The following projection is more of a guesstimate, as the Kings did not hold a morning skate today. If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Laferriere – Danault – Moore
Fiala – Turcotte – Foegele
Lee – Lewis – Jeannot
Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmundson – Clarke
Englund – Spence
Rittich (starter)
Copley
Likely scratches: (F) Thomas (D) Burroughs, Jones
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 5:00 pm Pacific Time and will be televised locally by Bally Sports West. Additionally, a Kings radio feed is available on the ESPN LA app (which is the new home for Kings radio this season, they’ve moved off of the iHeart platform).
More on the ongoing TV situation here.
Across the Ice
Anaheim is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to Colorado on Friday. Here is how they lined up for that contest:
Gauthier – Carlsson – Killorn
Fabbri – McTavish – Zegras
McGinn – Strome – Terry
Johnston – Harkins – Leason
Mintyukov – Dumoulin
Zellweger – Gudas
Fowler – Luneau
Dostal
On This Day in Kings History
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