After taking care of business on Saturday afternoon at home — in what was about as must-win as a November game can be — the Kings are back in Northern California looking for redemption against the Sharks.
With points in seven of their first nine games this season, coach Jim Hiller had to be feeling good about his team heading into game No. 10 on the docket back in late October. Yet, his club proceeded to lay a complete egg in San Jose that night, giving one of their worst performances in recent memory. Now comes an opportunity for redemption against LA’s long-time rival.
Fortunately for Hiller, he has been getting great goaltending from David Rittich during the absence of Darcy Kuemper. Over his last four starts, Rittich has put together a .940 save percentage: more than enough to give his team a chance to win every night. In other good news, the Kings killed two birds with one stone, so to speak, on Saturday with the power play finally finding the back of the net thanks to Quinton Byfield. If both of those things can get going, Hiller’s club will find themselves victorious more often than not.
Coming off a rather quiet week on the schedule, things will pick back up again for the Kings, with four scheduled contests. All will be played in California — split evenly, with two on the road and a pair at home. Three of the games are against teams not currently in a playoff spot. All things considered, this should be an opportunity for LA to collect points and further their grip on a solid position in the Pacific Division.
There could be a lineup tweak or two tonight. Despite most NHL coaches not liking to make changes following a win, Akil Thomas and/or one of the healthy defensemen could draw in to get some playing time. Kyle Burroughs was a member of the Sharks organization last season, but Hiller hasn’t always gone with the traditional, ‘this guy is playing because it’s his former team.’ approach.
Although the Kings have made a few goaltending moves in recent days (i.e. flipping Erik Portillo and Pheonix Copley again yesterday) — and will likely continue to do so until Kuemper returns — Rittich is expected to continue as the starting netminder. Hiller’s first major decision on this front will come later this week, though, when LA has back-to-back games following Thanksgiving.
Statistically Speaking
— Only Shane Doan (112 GP) has played more games against San Jose in league history than Anze Kopitar (95 GP).
— In those 95 games played vs. the Sharks, Kopitar has 27 goals, 43 assists and a plus-2 rating in his career.
— While waiting for their special team numbers to round into form, LA’s performance 5-on-5 continues to get the job done:
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Sharks
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Turcotte – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Fiala
Foegele – Byfield – Laferriere
Jeannot – Helenius – Lewis
Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmundson – Clarke
Moverare – Spence
Rittich (starter)
Portillo
Likely scratches: (F) Thomas (D) Burroughs, Englund
Injured Reserve: Jones, Kuemper
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 7:30 pm Pacific Time and will be televised locally by Fan Duel Sports. 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
San Jose is coming off a 4-2 loss to Buffalo on Saturday. Here’s how they lined up for that contest:
Eklund – Granlund – Zetterlund
Kunin – Wennberg – Toffoli
Goodrow – Celebrini – W. Smith
Kostin – Dellandrea – Grundstrom
Walman – Ceci
Ferraro – Liljegren
Thompson – Rutta
Blackwood
On This Day in Kings History
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