One more…
No need to waste much time, so let’s jump right into it. Thursday night brings a rather meaningless regular season contest before the Kings kick off their playoff run vs. the Edmonton Oilers — Monday evening, on home ice. For tonight’s regular season finale, the Calgary Flames are in town after recently having their playoff hopes snuffed thanks to a very hot St. Louis Blues team.
There are two key storylines heading into Game 82:
Building on the news first reported by Mayor’s Manor writer Anthony Collazo late Wednesday, it looks like forward Tayor Ward is being recalled to join the Kings for his NHL debut. We have a full feature story on this now posted here — be sure to give it a read:
What does all this mean for coach Jim Hiller? Well, add in the expected return of Anze Kopitar and Quinton Byfield and the forward puzzle starts to become a little clearer.
However, Hiller’s blueline plays remain a bit of a mystery at the moment. We’re not expecting Drew Doughty to play. The status of Mikey Anderson and Joel Edmundson should be known later today.
Overall, there’s one goal for tonight: for nobody to get hurt. Even with several regulars out for rest, there’s still a game to play. The last thing Hiller wants is for one of his players to suffer an injury in game 82 before the postseason. Thus, the starting lineup is anyone’s guess right now.
One side note, though, the Kings have the opportunity to set a franchise record for points tonight. Currently at 105, which ties a franchise-best from the ’70s, any point earned tonight would be good enough to check that final box on another impressive regular season for the club.
Statistically Speaking
— Alex Turcotte is set to skate in his 100th career NHL game Thursday against Calgary. He scored his first power play goal of the season, his ninth tally of the year overall, before recording his 16th assist to secure his third multi-point effort of the campaign in Tuesday night’s win over the Seattle Kraken.
— The Kings enter tonight’s contest with 48 wins on the year, tied for the most wins in a season in franchise history with the 2015-16 Kings, who posted a record of 48-28-6. Should the team collect a victory, it would set a new single season record while adding to their franchise-record 31 wins on home ice this season.
— Since the Trade Deadline on March 7, the Kings are 17-4-0 with a points percentage (PTS %) of .810%, pacing all NHL teams in the span. The Kings also lead the NHL in goals-for (80 GF) and goals-against (39 GA) in that timeframe.
— LA’s overall record in Game No. 82 is 15-6-6, tied for the second most cumulative wins in the closing fixture among all NHL clubs since the League adopted an 82-game schedule in 1995-96.
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Flames
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
tentative guestimate given above info
Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Lewis
Foegele – Turcotte – Ward
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Malott – Helenius – Thomas
Anderson – Clarke
Gavrikov – Spence
Moverare – Burroughs
Kuemper (starter)
Rittich
Likely scratches: (F) Thomas and (D) Doughty, Edmundson, Jones
Injured: Jeannot (out for extended time period)
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 7:30 pm Pacific Time and will be televised by ESPN. 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
Calgary is coming off a 5-4 victory over Vegas on Tuesday. Here is how they lined up for that contest:
Huberdeau – Kadri – Klapka
Coleman – Backlund – Coronato
Sharangovich – Frost – Pospisil
Lomberg – Rooney – Farabee
Hanley – Weegar
Bahl – Andersson
Bean – Pachal
Wolf
On This Day in Kings History
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