Buckle up! After a much needed and earned two-week break, 19 of the final 29 Kings games will be at home, and everything gets underway Saturday night vs. Utah.
For many hockey fans, returning to regular season action might be strange after witnessing a thrilling 4 Nations Face-off tournament that ultimately saw Canada defeat the United States in Thursday’s championship contest. However, for coach Jim Hiller and his group in LA, they’re hoping the event served as a two-week opportunity for a healthy Drew Doughty to continue ramping his game up and fully prepared for a strong push into postseason action.
If you missed it, be sure to read his post-game comments here:
Darcy Kuemper is expected to get the nod between the pipes, after missing the final weekend of games just prior to the break. He helped LA earn a 3-2 victory over Utah earlier this season.
Up front, the forward lines will likely look the same as they did last time out against the Ducks two weeks ago. On defense, Mikey Anderson was moved to IR as a paper move. As we reported previously, he was always slated to be back no later than this game.
Despite having just been in Boston, Doughty is also penciled in for his return to wearing a Kings sweater.
How quickly the 35-year-old defenseman is reunited with Anderson remains an open question, as Hiller indicated the Kings will start the night with an Anderson-Gavrikov pairing.
Overall, things are about to get pretty interesting for the organization over the next few weeks, with the NHL Trade Deadline looming near. Will the Kings be able to add a right-handed scorer and who (or what assets) will have to go in return? Perhaps those are questions for another day. For now, the focus remains on jumping back in the deep end tonight and putting up a solid effort against Utah.
Making his return to Crypto.com Arena (and the Utah lineup) will be defenseman Sean Durzi, who has missed most of the season following shoulder surgery.
Statistically Speaking
— Warren Foegele enters tonight’s contest on a three-game point streak (2G, 2A), tying a career-long he has set eight prior times.
— With his 25th goal of the season on Feb. 8 against Anaheim, Adrian Kempe became the first Swedish-born skater, and the 14th Kings skater overall, to reach the quarter-century mark in four consecutive seasons.
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Utah HC
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
Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmundson – Doughty
Moverare – Spence
Clarke
Kuemper (starter)
Rittich
Likely scratches: (F) Thomas and (D) Burroughs
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 6:00 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.
For those live in attendance, the LA Kings Booster Club will offer their popular ‘Puck for a Buck’ contest — featuring former defenseman Andreas Englund for this game. Just $1 could win you an autographed puck from an NHL star. Visit their table outside sections 317-318 on the upper concourse for more information.
Across the Ice
Utah is coming off a 5-4 victory over Washington on February 9th. Here is how they lined up for that contest:
Keller – Kerfoot – Schmaltz
Carcone – Hayton – Guenther
Crouse – McBain – Doan
O’Brien – Stenlund – Bjugstad
Sergachev – Marino
Cole – Kesserling
Maata – DeSimone
Ingram
On This Day in Kings History
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