Somehow, this insane season is far from over.
Following yesterday’s Trade Deadline, Los Angeles believes they are still primed to make a push for postseason play. When the Canadiens and Kings hit the ice in downtown LA later this afternoon, new bench boss DJ Smith’s club will be three points out of a playoff position, and four points behind Edmonton in the Pacific Division.
When you sit and really think about that, it’s almost bewildering. A win tonight will move the Kings within two points of a position in the Pacific Division playoff spot.
Of course, then there are the deadline moves. GM Ken Holland made the necessary moves to set himself up for ultimate freedom and flexibility this summer when the roster will be reconstructed. He collected draft capital and moved veterans like Corey Perry and Warren Foegele for picks.
Additionally, the Kings added a centerman in Scott Laughton from Toronto. Laughton is expected to anchor the third-line center role the rest of the way. He brings experience and a presence in the room that should give the bottom six a boost.
Overall, it’s easy to see that Holland had to make a pivot. After acquiring Artemi Panarin, signs pointed to the Kings being all in this season. Then, Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko suffered season-ending injuries. After that, Joel Armia and Quinton Byfield were injured, as well. Holland chose to go a safer route. He planned for the future while also giving the club a chance to sneak into the playoffs.
However, there remains a lot of work to make that latter goal become a reality.
Fresh Quotes from Smith
Smith on Byfield:
“Q’s doing better. He’s going to continue to be monitored. If he were to play soon, certainly it’ll help us, but that’s going to be up to him and the trainers. But if he can, that’s going to give us a big boost. He’s another guy that I think can really skate, and I’m really going to push him to forecheck and be physical on the forecheck — hitting guys, getting to the net. I think that can help him take his game to the next level; getting some more ugly goals and making it hard on defensemen. When you just walk by Q, he’s a big dude. And I think when you come into Crypto.com Arena, you’ve got to feel our speed, but you’ve also got to get hit. And I think Q’s a guy that can really do that for us.”
Smith on the power play with Perry now in Tampa:
“We’ll put Laferriere there as a righty, and then we’ll wait [and see] what happens when [Byfield] eventually gets back, and we’ll try and figure out the hands. A lot of power plays in the league — the best ones, you have to have the right hands, you know — righty, lefty, you know, whatever the scenario is. And that power play that we’re running, you know, fits with the righty on the goal line right now.
“So there’s some things that we can do, you know, when Q does get back, because I want to give him a real good spin with those top guys. You know, you could slide 72 down there, you could slide Clarkie down there and Juice on the top — there’s a lot of things you can do to make those hands right. But Laferriere has got an opportunity. Laferriere has been, you know, arguably one of our best players all year, and this is another dimension to his game — that he could really take it to the next level. And I said to Blakey, I think when I was only here for a half a year, I think [Laferriere] had the exact same points as Zach Hyman as a rookie, and I had Zach Hyman in Toronto.
“And I said he reminds me a lot of him. And people would say now that Zach Hyman’s got 54 goals — but I think, or he had 54 that year — his stats, they were the exact same. Eleven goals, 28 points or whatever it was, I can’t remember. And that was like — they remind me a lot of each other. I think at that time, Babcock had really pushed Hyman to be at the net, be at the net, be at the net. And I think if Laferriere can be at the net, be at the net, be at the net — I think he’s gonna find himself scoring more on top of those rush goals. And then all of a sudden you start to find your touch on the power play. I’m not saying he is Zach Hyman — there’s a lot of similarities there for me.”
Statistically Speaking
— The Kings carry a nine-game winning streak against the Montreal Canadiens, dating back to Oct. 30, 2021, which marks the teams’ longest active winning streak against a single opponent.
— Panarin scored his first goal as a member of the LA Kings on Thursday to clinch his 10th career 20-goal season. He is the first undrafted skater with as many such campaigns since Martin St. Louis (11), per NHL PR.
— On Thursday against the Islanders, captain Anze Kopitar became the 25th player in NHL history to skate in 1,500 games, and one of just 12 players to record a point in their milestone game. He is also just the fifth born outside North America to play 1,500 games and is the ninth player to do so with a single franchise.
— Kopitar carries a four-game point streak against the Montreal Canadiens into his final regular-season contest against the Quebec-based club, dating back to Dec. 17, 2023.
— Drew Doughty picked up his 12th assist of the season on Thursday night, the 538th career helper of his career, breaking a tie with former Kings defenseman Rob Blake (537A) for sole possession of the 32nd-most assists by a blueliner in NHL history.
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Canadiens
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Panarin – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Turcotte/Byfield – Laferriere
Wright – Laughton – Joseph
Malott – Helenius – Ward
NOTE: Byfield will be a game-time decision, based on comments yesterday. Smith will address the media approximately one hour before warmups.
Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci
Kuemper (starter)
Forsberg
Likely scratches: (F) Byfield, and (D) Moverare
Injured Reserve: Armia, Fiala, Kuzmenko
How to Watch the Game
Puck drop is set for 4:00 pm Pacific Time and will be televised by FanDuel Sports. Additionally, a Kings radio feed is available on the ESPN LA app.
With the television landscape changing at a rapid pace, we have all the latest news regarding some current FanDuel issues here — including how some teams cancelling contracts impacts LA’s plans for the balance of their 2025-26 season.
Across the Ice
Montreal is coming off a 6-5 loss to Anaheim on Friday. Here’s how they lined up in that matchup:
Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov
Bolduc – Evans – Dach
Anderson – Danault – Gallagher
Hutson – Dobson
Matheson – Guhle
Struble – Carrier
Montembeault
On This Day in Kings History
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