A quick two-game road trip got off to a great start on Monday night when the Kings took down the Utah Mammoth by a final score of 4-2. Tonight, the Kings and their moms will be in Seattle to take on the Kraken for the first time this season.
Coach Jim Hiller has seen his club play two games since the disappointing performance against Chicago late last week, and the Kings seem to have a new pep in their step ever since. Last year, something similar happed, where an LA loss in San Jose was then followed by the start of a hot streak, where the Kings really found their groove. Could this year’s loss to Chicago — which had a similar vibe to it — provide just the spark the team needs? Thus far, they’ve rebounded quite nicely since then.
Something to keep an eye on tonight is the play of Kevin Fiala, who is starting to get hot after two primary assists in Utah on Monday. In the past, Fiala has proven to be a top winger in the league when he’s on his game. Adrian Kempe even went so far as to say that Fiala becomes unstoppable when he sees the ice as he did against Utah.
On the flip side, Quinton Byfield needs to start ramping up his output. The young centerman has been snakebitten the last few weeks, resulting in more shots off the post and crossbar than in the back of the net. Perhaps all it will take is for Byfield to sneak one in to finally open the floodgates. Once it does, the rest of the league may start to grow a little more concerned about LA’s offensive depth, as the defensive play continues to be strong as is.
Statistically Speaking
— The Kings have won three of their last four games at Climate Pledge Arena and are 5-1-1 all-time in the Emerald City.
— Things to be concerned about: LA’s stingy defense (giving up just 2.48 goals per game) is ranked third-best in the league, while Seattle’s offense is an NHL-worst 32nd. Then add in, the Kraken also feature the 32nd ranked penalty kill (66.2%), but the Kings will be countering with the 32nd ranked power play (13.6%). Thus, tonight could be a rather low scoring affair.
— Seattle enters the contest after earning points in nine of its 14 home games this season (6-5-3, 15 points).
— Jordan Eberle enters tonight with points in three consecutive games. He also leads the Kraken in goals (9), points (17), shots (68), and even-strength goals (7).
What You May Have Missed
The Reign are rolling, and you need to remember the name Kenny Connors, he’ll likely get an NHL callup later this season:
Jared Shafran wrote a nice piece here about the Kings moms:
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Kraken
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Per notes from today’s morning skate, look for Jeff Malott and Anton Forsberg to draw in.
Laferriere – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Byfield – Armia
Moore – Danault – Foegele
Malott – Turcotte – Perry
Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci
Forsberg
Kuemper
Likely scratches: (F) Helenius, Kuzmenko and (D) Moverare
How to Watch the Game
Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm Pacific Time and will be televised by TNT. 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
Seattle is coming off a 4-1 loss to Minnesota on Monday. Here’s how they lined up in that matchup:
McCann – Beniers – Eberle
Marchment – Stephenson – Tolvanen
Nyman – Wright – Kakko
Kartye – Gaudreau – Winterton
Dunn – Larsson
Lindgren – Montour
Evans – Mahura
Grubauer
On This Day in Kings History
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