What a difference a single game can make.
Heading into Wednesday’s tilt with Vegas things were looking bleak for LA’s hockey team. They were ten games into the season, and while the record was not of concern, a lack of consistency was starting to become troubling. In putting forth their best effort of the season, against one of the league’s top teams, has brought all the talk back to a mild simmer.
Long story short, the Kings offense exploded for six goals while holding down the star-studded Golden Knights lineup at bay for most of the contest. Perhaps that win will become the starting point of a strong stretch — but only if they don’t slide backward today vs. the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
This afternoon, Connor Bedard and friends are in town for a matinee showdown at Crypto.com Arena. Much like the storyline from the Sharks game earlier this week, it’s a game LA needs to win. Standings-wise, Chicago is at the bottom of the Central Division, despite adding several key veteran players being added to the group led by their young phenom.
It would be a bit shocking to see Hiller change his lineup coming off undoubtedly the Kings best game of the season. He could rotate Andre Lee back in on the fourth line, but it’s not really necessary at this point. We specifically asked Hiller about the process of putting his third defensive pairing together — as he’s been largely rotating Andreas Englund, Caleb Jones, and Kyle Burroughs in and out of the lineup to keep them fresh — and his answer wasn’t exactly clear on which attribute or reason pushes him in one direction or another. That being said, if there is a lineup change today, we’d speculate it would come on defense.
While a little early to be watching the standings, a win today would propel the Kings into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division. Analytics would suggest that teams in a playoff position on Thanksgiving are likely to find themselves in Game 83. If that’s the case, LA needs to make a strong push over the next four weeks, as that’s a crucial benchmark of the regular season’ every point matters.
Statistically Speaking
— On this day 57 years ago, the LA Kings played host to the Chicago Blackhawks for the first time in team history, losing 3-1 at the LA Sports Arena (Nov. 2, 1967).
— The last time that the Kings played the Blackhawks, forward Adrian Kempe scored 0:06 into overtime, erasing the previous franchise mark for fastest goal to start an overtime (Aaron Miller, 00:14 on Dec. 16, 2001, at Anaheim) and tying an NHL record that has been matched five times prior, per NHL PR.
— In winning their first three home games of 2024-25, the Kings have pushed Jim Hiller’s coaching record at Crypto.com Arena to 17-3-1; that’s a league-best .833 points percentage over that span.
— Phil Danault has found recent success against Chicago, with five points in his last three games dating back to March 15, 2024.
— Finally, we have a fun stat to track this season. Our MM graphics team had an almost uncanny ability to randomly select a player for our daily lineup article last year, and then said player would seem to score a goal. Thus far in 2024-25, the Kings have played 11 games, and the player featured has scored five times, for a 45% conversion rate. A goal from Danault today would push it up to 50%.
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Golden Knights
If there are any key changes during morning skate or pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Turcotte – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Danault – Moore
Foegele – Byfield – Laferriere
Jeannot – Lewis – Thomas
Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmundson – Clarke
Englund – Spence
Kuemper (starter)
Rittich
Likely scratches: (F) Lee (D) Burroughs, Jones
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 1:00 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 Warren Foegele 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
Chicago is coming off a 3-2 loss to San Jose on Thursday. Here’s how they lined up for that contest:
Kurashev – Bedard – Teräväinen
Hall – Foligno – Bertuzzi
Mikheyev – Dickinson – Donato
Maroon – Reichel – Smith
Kaiser – Jones
Vlasic – Murphy
Allan – Brodie
Mrazek
On This Day in Kings History
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