It’s a new day, with a new opponent — and that’s how the LA Kings need to be sizing up their Wednesday night affair at Crypto.com Arena.
Superman has his kryptonite, and the Kings apparently have the Sharks. Twice this season LA has been less than impressive against not only their division rival, but one of the NHL’s worst teams. Coach Jim Hiller saw his team give up five third-period goals on Monday, as San Jose skated off with a 7-2 victory. Now, Hiller’s squad will try to right the ship against a Winnipeg club that leads in a plethora of key areas.
The Jets have the most points (36), an .818 points percentage, have the most regulation wins (18), are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, are having no problems on the road (holding a 9-3-0 record), and hold the best goal differential (plus-37). We could keep going, but that should be enough to paint the picture for now.
There’s also no shortage of pre puck drop storylines, including — of course — the return of Kings former first round pick Gabe Vilardi. He’s out up 16 points (8G, 8A) in 22 games this season. However, it’s Connor Hellebuyck’s league leading .929 save percentage and 2.05 goals against average who steal most of the Jets top billing.
Shifting gears back to LA’s side of things. Tonight will likely be a statement game, one way or another. Either the Kings will show that their last game was more of a fluke, or they will show that they really are more a middle-of-the-pack team currently. In many ways, this will be another quasi ‘most important game of the season’ for the Kings, not only because of what they need to prove to themselves, but also to management and their fans.
As has been the case several times this season, Hiller shuffled the lines in P3 on Monday. That typically is followed by him starting the next game with that lineup. Thus, we’ll assume Warren Foegele will be up top tonight with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. He’ll serve in what’s nearing a list of 10 different forwards who Hiller has tried at LW1. What this means for the rest of the lineup remains a bit of a question mark. Alex Turcotte spent much of the San Jose game on the fourth line with Trevor Lewis moved over to center.
Assuming all of that stays in place, this could put Tanner Jeannot back up with Phil Danault and Trevor Moore. Oddly enough, that’s where he started training camp — even though that feels like a million years ago at this point. Using that alignment would also slide Kevin Fiala back alongside Quinton Byfield — again, another training camp combo.
Statistically Speaking
— Kevin Fiala enters Wednesday’s matchup carrying a five-game point streak (1G, 4A) against the Winnipeg Jets, dating back to Nov. 27, 2022.
— Since their first season in Winnipeg in 2011-12, the Kings’ 2.74 GA/GP against the Jets is the second-lowest among Western Conference opponents, trailing only Nashville (2.72 GA/GP).
— With a goal on Saturday in his 200th NHL game, Byfield became just the third player in Kings history to score in both his 100th (Oct. 11, 2023 vs. COL) and 200th (Nov. 23, 2024 vs. SEA) career games, joining Luc Robitaille and Sean Avery.
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Jets
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Foegele – Kopitar – Kempe
Jeannot – Danault – Moore
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Turcotte – 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 7:00 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.
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.
Across the Ice
Winnipeg is coming off a 4-1 victory against the Wild on Monday. Here is how they lined up for that contest:
Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi
Perfetti – Namestnikov – Ehlers
Niederreiter – Lowry – Appleton
Barron – Kupari – Iafallo
Morrissey – DeMelo
Fleury – Pionk
Heinous – Miller
Hellebuyck
On This Day in Kings History
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