Although the Kings have secured their spot in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, there is still business to attend to in the regular season. With three games left on the campaign, LA turns their attention to the fight for a seed in the Pacific Division. Vegas is chasing from behing and trails LA by just one point in the standings, so every game still matters.
And then there’s the little matter of revenge.
With Saturday’s home contest serving as Mexican Heritage Night, we’ll stick with the theme and title the game Dia de Venganza.
The Ducks arrive in town to close out this year’s Freeway Faceoff series and fresh off a win in Anaheim earlier in this week, where they embarrassed the Kings in Orange County.
When pointed out to coach Jim Hiller that he was perhaps most angry this season after the team’s loss in Calgary a few weeks and after Tuesday’s loss at the Honda Center, he jokingly noted there’s been other times too. All joking aside, though, he wants to see his team consistently deliver heading into the postseason. The Kings erased any memories of the Flames game with a solid performance on Thursday, now it’s time for venganza against the Ducks.
Home ice has been quite an advantage for Hiller and his team since the All-Star break. They hold the best record on home ice since and seem to feed off the passion and support from the local faithful.
Although LA’s bench boss has yet to definitively declare Cam Talbot his starting goalie for Game 83, all signs point in that direction. From our last pregame article, it appears the final week of games are setting up as:
vs. Anaheim – Rittich
vs. Minnesota – Talbot
vs. Chicago – Rittich
If this holds, Talbot should be well rested come playoff time.
We also noted yesterday that forward Carl Grundstrom was being assigned to AHL Ontario. He’ll play for the Reign tonight in Henderson to work on his timing. How long he’ll be there is yet to be determined. One interesting note is that if he stays there though at least Thursday, rookie Akil Thomas would be able to stay up with the Kings for a few more games (he’s at least playing vs. the Ducks tonight). Once the postseason arrives, with Grundstrom expected back, it was believed Hiller’s only real decision at forward was going to be centered around Alex Turcotte. Meaning, would he want the Kings to carry 13 or 14 forwards for their first round series? However, with the way Thomas has been playing, he may possibly force his way into the conversation. More on that in a few days.
Statistically Speaking
— When the Kings take the ice tonight, they’ll be wearing their popular chrome helmets and ’90s throwback jerseys for the final time this season. This year, they’re 8-4-2 when donning their alternate uniform kit (per LA Kings Uniform History). Since the look was first introduced in 2021, the Kings hold a 20-12-5 record when going with the chrome domes.
What happens next season? That’s the big question that is yet to be answered, as the ’90s era jerseys will be retired after this game. Then, over the summer, the team will roll out a new look for their 2024-25 campaign. More information on those plans can be found here:
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Ducks
Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Fiala – Dubois – Lewis
Thomas – Lizotte – Laferriere
Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence
Rittich (starter)
Talbot
Possible scratches: Kaliyev, Moverare
LTIR: Copley (out for the year), Grundstrom (assigned to AHL for conditioning), Turcotte (min. April 12, assigned to AHL for conditioning)
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 7:30 pm Pacific Time and will be televised by Bally Sports.
For those live in attendance, the LA Kings Booster Club will offer their popular ‘Puck for a Buck’ contest — featuring Phil Danault 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.
LA Royal Army, another fan support group, has a booth outside section 303. They do watch parties and other fun activities. Stop by and check them out.
Across the Ice
Anaheim is coming off a 6-3 loss to Calgary on Friday.
Here’s how they lined up for that one:
Killorn – Carlsson – Terry
Vatrano – Zegras – Strome
Colangelo – Lundestrom – Silfverberg
Johnston – Groulx – Leason
Fowler – Zellweger
Lacombe – Gudas
Vaakanainen – Lindstrom
Gibson
In their last 10 games, the Ducks are 2-6-2. As the away team, they’re 14-23-2 this season.
On This Day in Kings History
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