Life in the Pacific Division can be a bit whacky at times.
The Kings were done playing the Vegas Golden Knights before New Year’s Eve. However, they hadn’t faced the Vancouver Canucks yet and are now in the midst of playing them four times in their final 24 regular season games.
Coming off a perfect 3-0-0 homestand, the Kings will be looking to continue that momentum in Vancouver on Monday, when they kick off a four-game road trip through Western Canada.
Thus far, the Kings and Canucks have split a pair of contests, with each winning in the other’s barn. Perhaps LA has a slight advantage, in the sense their loss came in overtime, so they still picked up a point.
Both teams also appear to be hitting their stride right now, as each side is holding a three-game winning streak and has been playing solid hockey over their last 10 games.
For coach Jim Hiller, three of the four games on the trip — including tonight — could be a possible playoff preview, all depending on how the final standings shake out.
Against the first-place Canucks, a key to LA’s success could be for continued offensive contributions from the blueline. Saturday night was a prime example of how dangerous LA is when the back end is putting up points. Defensemen Mikey Anderson and Vladislav Gavrikov both found the back of the net in a thrilling overtime victory against Tampa Bay.
Another storyline continues to be the presence of Viktor Arvidsson in the lineup. The Kings have not lost a single contest with a healthy Arvidsson this season; they continue to be a different team when he draws in. Rather quickly, the Kings third line of Arvidsson alongside PL Dubois and Alex Laferriere is starting to build chemistry together. If this continues, that could give LA three potent lines — a protentional nightmare for opponents to match up against in the postseason.
On the goaltending front, the tandem of Cam Talbot and David Riitch continues to play very well down in the month of March. It doesn’t seem to matter who plays; they just find ways to stop the puck. Talbot is back to his All-Star caliber play that he showed in the early goings and Rittich is not too far behind his counterpart. In a season where GM Rob Blake took a gamble on some less expensive goaltending options, it has pretty much worked out in the best way possible thus far.
As we reported over the weekend, Alex Turcotte did not make the trip to Canada with the Kings, nor have they called up any reinforcements just yet. Most likely, that means Hiller will stick with the 11+7 configuration until at least the second game of a back-to-back set later this week. There is also the potential of Carl Grundstrom being available to return near the tail-end of the trip.
Statistically Speaking
— Coming soon
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Canucks
Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Fiala
Laferriere – Dubois – Arvidsson
Lewis – Lizotte
Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence
Moverare
Rittich (starter)
Talbot
Likely scratches: Kaliyev
Injured: Turcotte
LTIR: Copley, Grundstrom
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm Pacific Time and will be televised by Bally Sports.
Across the Ice
Vancouver is coming off a 4-2 victory over Calgary on Saturday.
Here’s how they lined up for that one:
Suter – Miller – Boeser
Hoglander – Petterson – Garland
Mikheyev – Lindholm – Lafferty
Podkolzin – Blueger – Aman
Hughes – Hronek
Soucy – Myers
Zadorov – Juulsen
Desmith
In their last 10 games, the Canucks are 7-2-1. As the home team, they’re 24-7-4 this season.
On This Day in Kings History
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