Before the Kings return home from a five-game road trip, they have one more stop tonight in San Jose to take on their Pacific Division rivals at the Shark Tank in San Jose. Not only will coach Jim Hiller’s squad be capping off their time away from SoCal, but they’ll also help close out a day in which all 32 NHL teams are in action.
Now 10 games into the season, it’s the first minor benchmark that Hiller and new GM Ken Holland have reached together this season. They can briefly reflect and take stock in what they have, after what’s been a rather fascinating and bizarre stretch of games. On one hand, the Kings have had as difficult a schedule as anyone in the league. From the level of opponents to being on the road for most of the month, LA appears to have weathered the early storm; sitting just two points out of first place despite all the uncertainty.
There’s still additional context, though. For example, LA finds themselves in overtime and shootouts seemingly every night. What does Holland make of that? His club secured their first regulation win nine games into the season, and yet numerous clubs would gladly trade records with them.
Through it all, little clarity has been reached, beyond one simple point — when the Kings play how they are designed to play, they’re still capable of beating any team in the league. When they fail to play to that standard, things get ugly, as they have at times this season.
Shifting focus back to tonight, a win against Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks would complete an impressive road trip for Hiller and the Kings. Already holding a 3-0-1 record is impressive, as the team has started to hit its stride. Winning tonight would be a statement of sorts before the team returns home for the next four games.
The coming weeks will likely become more challenging, as forward Warren Foegele is believed to be sidelined with an upper-body injury sustained in Chicago on Sunday night. Will Hiller turn to his previously favored 11-7 alignment? Will guys like Jeff Malott and Alex Turcotte potentially get extra looks in the lineup? And what about guys like Akil Thomas and Andre Lee, and Franky Pinelli? Will one of them be recalled sometime next week to provide additional insurance and options? More on that in the days ahead.
First, a game in San Jose. And for now, we’d expect Joel Armia to bump up a line or perhaps Hiller will utilize Alex Laferriere in that spot (allowing Armia to rejoin the Fiala-Byfield pairing). If Turcotte gets a shot at more minutes in the middle-six, that could come with Sammy Helenius taking over at 4C. Conversely, Jeff Malott is the more natural choice to draw in should Armia bump up to LW3.
Statistically Speaking
— Anze Kopitar has found plenty of success against the Sharks throughout his career. In 97 games, LA’s captain has recorded 28 goals, 47 assists, and has a plus-7 rating.
— Darcy Kuemper has also done well against San Jose in his career, posting a 9-5-4 record, along with a 2.71 GAA and .910 SV%.
— Adrian Kempe sits at 13 points through 10 games, good enough for best on the team.
— Los Angeles played two games in San Jose last season. In those two games, they allowed a combined 11 goals, losing both contests.
— Neither team has been particularly good on the penalty kill. LA is ranked 21st (74%), while San Jose comes into action ranked only 29th (66%). With the man advantage, the Sharks are currently 7th in the league (28% conversion), substantially better than the Kings 16th position (21%).
What You May Have Missed
Kings Of The Podcast Ep. 250: Milestones and Memories LINK
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Sharks
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Armia – Danault – Moore
Malott – Turcotte – Perry
Dumoulin – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Anderson – Ceci
Forsberg
Kuemper
Likely scratches: (F) Helenius and (D) Moverare
Injured Reserve: Burroughs
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 8:00 pm Pacific Time and will be televised locally by ESPN. Additionally, a Kings radio feed is available on the ESPN LA app.
Get to know new Kings play-by-play voice John Kelly by checking out his interview here. He tells some interesting stories about joining the Kings broadcasts and what it was like calling games against them for most of his career.
Across the Ice
San Jose is coming off a 6-5 victory over Minnesota on Sunday. Here’s how they lined up in that matchup:
Toffoli – Celebrini – Smith
Eklund – Wennberg – Kurashev
Graf – Misa – Gaudette
Goodrow – Dellandrea – Reaves
Orlov – Liljegren
Ferraro – Iorio
Dickinson – Desharnais
Askarov
On This Day in Kings History
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