Just like in fashion and music, what’s old is new again in NHL hockey circles. More specifically, LA coach Jim Hiller appears to be rolling with more Top Line Trevor; of a slightly different vintage, though.
For those new to the scene, #TopLineTrevor was a hashtag used in various social media circles back in the Darryl Sutter era of around 2012-2014. Back then, it was for his occasional use of Trevor Lewis on his top line. Although the 37-year-old has surprisingly seen some time back up there this season, that’s not in play at the moment. We’re talking about Trevor Moore — so, perhaps Top Line Trevor 2.0 is more appropriate.
The Kings leading goal scorer has gotten off to a slow start this season. Yet, he’s currently riding a six game points streak, likely giving Hiller encouragement to use Moore with the always reliable Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.
Tonight will be a good test for Hiller’s semi-new look lineup. He finished Monday’s game with a similar alignment and it seemed to jumpstart an otherwise flat Kings team in Calgary. Tonight, the group will be looking to get back in the win column after two straight losses.
Now closing in on the 20-game mark this season, the Kings still seem to be a bit of a puzzling team. Sure, we were very transparent over the summer about our expectations of Hiller needing 25 games or so to piece it all (i.e. new personnel, the systems, etc.) together this season — and then Drew Doughty was injured in camp.
With all that in mind do the Kings know the type of team they are heading into puck drop tonight? Perhaps not yet. Some nights they have no problem scoring goals, others they can’t seem to get much of a flow going no matter the combinations Hiller throws out there. Some games it’s an elite defensive team that shuts down opponents, while sometimes individual mistakes on the back end come back to haunt them.
Despite all of this, the Kings are atop the Pacific Division with 21 points (they are third in Pts%).
Before the Kings can hop on a plane and return home to Los Angeles, they must first take on NHL point leader Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche tonight in Denver.
Hiller’s squad will take to the ice with a slightly different look on the back end. Almost on queue, it’s time for Caleb Jones to rotate in. Per the alignment at practice on Tuesday, he’ll draw in on the fourth pair.
After two straight losses, Darcy Kuemper could be the odd man out tonight. However, were thinking Hiller will like the idea of a motivated Kuemper taking on his old club.
Statistically Speaking
— Brandt Clarke has set new career highs in time on ice the past two games.
— Clarke is one of four Kings defenseman to have at least 13 points through the first 16 games of a season while being 22 years of age or under. He joins Drew Doughty, Rob Blake, and Larry Murphy.
— No active skater in the NHL has more points against the Avalanche than Anze Kopitar, who has 61 points in 64 career games.
— Although the Kings have struggled in Colorado historically, bringing a 33-38-3-1 record into tonight, they have picked up points in two of their last three stops in Denver.
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Avalanche
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Moore – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Danault – Thomas
Foegele – Byfield – Laferriere
Lee – Helenius – Lewis
Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmundson – Clarke
Jones – Spence
Kuemper (starter)
Rittich
Likely scratches: (F) Jeannot (D) Burroughs, Englund
Injured Reserve: Turcotte
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm Pacific and will be televised by TNT. 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).
Across the Ice
Colorado is coming off a 3-2 overtime win against Nashville on Monday. Here’s how they lined up for that contest:
Lehkonen – MacKinnon – Rantanen
Ivan – Mittelstadt – Kovalenko
Kirivanta – Kelly – O’Connor
Prishchepov – Tynan – Wagner
Toews – Makar
Girard – Manson
De Haan – Malinski
Georgiev
On This Day in Kings History
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