Manor Projected Lineups: Kings at Lightning + Hiller on Clarke, and Doughty Schedule

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Things could certainly be going better for LA’s hockey team right now — and that’s probably putting it quite mildly. Very rarely are so many players struggling to score simultaneously, yet that’s what the Kings are dealing with at the moment. Unfortunately, things don’t get any easier, tonight is the second of a back-to-back against the always tough Tampa Bay Lightning.

Jim Hiller’s squad has yet to pick up a win on this five-game road trip, and it could even be argued that nearly every player in the lineup has some work to do to find their A-game again. Of course, several factors could be contributing to the struggle (i.e. dog days of the season, injuries, fatigue, etc.). Even so, this group must turn things around — and fast.

One silver lining in an otherwise disappointing stretch was the return of Drew Doughty, who played over 23 minutes yesterday — despite expectations of the Kings easing him back into action. As noted a few days ago, we’re not expecting Doughty to be back in the lineup tonight. Here is what we posted earlier this week regarding Doughty’s upcoming schedule:

His most probable return game will come in Florida on Wednesday. One thing is certain — or at least as certain as things can be in pro sports — the organization is not planning on using Doughty in both games of their back-to-back jaunt through Florida later this week.

In addition to his highly anticipated return to the Kings is a whole other discussion that has moved from lurking in the background to now center stage. On Sunday, it was revealed that Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was withdrawing from next month’s 4 Nations Face-Off event. Which had to be good news for Doughty. He has certainly never hidden the fact that he’d love to play for Team Canada if a roster spot opened up.

From what we’ve been able to gather, Canada has until Feb. 11 to officially name Pietrangelo’s replacement. However, officials are said to want to name the new player by Feb. 9 because their first team practice is on Feb. 10 in Montreal, and they would prefer to have all hands on deck from Day 1.

In speaking with people close to the situation, that leaves Doughty with five games to get ready — two on this road trip (Florida and Carolina), followed by three more games at home (Montreal, Dallas, and Anaheim). Perhaps what’s most interesting about that schedule is the final two games will be played on back-to-back nights at Crypto.com Areana.

Also related to Doughty’s return was the healthy scratch of Brandt Clarke on Wednesday. Despite the internet being abuzz with what this means, it was most likely nothing more than a coach going with who he believed were the six-best defensemen on that particular night. No, it doesn’t signal a trade is coming. Hear what Hiller had to say about the situation postgame in Florida:


Clarke is expected to draw back in tonight. Nothing will actually be official until Hiller meets with the media about an hour before game time, as the team did not hold a morning skate today given their back-to-back schedule.

What happens to the rest of the lineup is a bit of a question mark at this time. Hiller could opt to keep his 12+6 alignment used against the Panthers, simply swapping Doughty for Clarke. Another option would be to rest 38-year-old Trevor Lewis and have Kyle Burroughs draw back in with an 11+7 configuration. More information should be available later this afternoon.

Statistically Speaking​

— Tampa Bay is 6-8-1 in January.

— Tanner Jeannot skates into Amalie Arena for the first time as a visitor after spending the past two seasons as a member of the Lightning. During his time with that organization, Jeannot scored 18 points (8G, 10A) in 75 regular season games. Interestingly, 12 of those points, including seven of his goals came in the 36 games he played at Amalie Arena.

— Several Kings are looking to get back on the scoresheet as soon as possible, including Anze Kopitar, who has not scored a goal in his last 12 games.

— LA is just 11-13-5 on the road this season, despite being so dominant at home. January will be the lowest point total for the Kings so far this season, as they have a 5-6-1 record since the calendar flipped to 2025.

— The Kings are 8-9-0-6 against the Lightning on the road all time.

— Jim Hiller has now coached the Kings for 82 games (equivalent to a full NHL regular season). LA has accumulated 101 points over that period.

Kings Projected Lineup vs. Lightning​

If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.

Turcotte – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Jeannot – [Lewis] – Thomas

Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmundson – Spence
Moverare – Clarke
[Burroughs]

* note: one of [these players] will be scratched, see above explanation

Rittich (starter)
Kuemper

Likely scratches: (F) n/a (D) Burroughs, Doughty, Englund

Key Game Info​

Puck drop is set for 4:00 pm Pacific Time and will be televised locally by FanDuel Sports Network. 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​

Tampa Bay is coming off a 4-2 loss to Chicago on Tuesday. Here is how they lined up for that contest:

Guentzel – Point – Kucherov
Hagel – Cirelli – Geekie
Girgensons – Paul – Goncalves
Eyssimont – Glendening – Chaffee

Hedman – Raddysh
McDonagh – Cernak
Carlile- Perbix

Johansson

On This Day in Kings History​

On January 30, 1984, Rogie Vachon was named General Manager of the @LAKings. In eight seasons as GM, Vachon drafted Luc Robitaille, Jim Carson and Rob Blake, and acquired Wayne Gretzky, Marty McSorley, Kelly Hrudey, Larry Robinson, Jari Kurri and Paul Coffey.#LAKings #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/wN3BqGKJhw

— The Kingstorian (@Kingstorian) January 30, 2025

MORE LA KINGS NEWS:

NHL RADIO REPLAY: Mayor’s Minutes on Danault, Doughty, and Early Trade Deadline Outlook

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