Game Day Thread
Game #39/82 - 1/1/26
>>4:00pm<<
on FanDuel
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Los Angeles Kings
Crypto.com Arena | Los Angeles, CA
HOLIDAY GAME
**Game Time 4:00pm**
TV: FanDuel
Radio: ESPN LA app, Kings app, & Sirius
ESPNLA 710 AM
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Adrian Kempe & Jim Hiller 12/29 Post-Game Quotes
Adrian Kempe
On his takeaways from tonight’s game
System wise, forechecking, effort, I think everything was there. I thought we played well. I thought we kept their top guys to minimal chances, I thought we played them really strong. Only scored two, obviously it’s tough to win games, we’re struggling scoring, so it’s obviously frustrating. Everything else, I thought was clicking pretty well tonight.
On if the difference tonight was simply down to Colorado being more opportunistic than the Kings
Yeah, I think so. I think me, I had a breakaway there, Kopi had a couple chances, Perrs had an open net, they blocked, and then they come down the other way and scored on a not as good of a chance. It stings when you miss those opportunities. We’ve got to be better, personally, I’ve got to be better, bear down on our chances. Just in general, I think scoring is the main issue right now.
On the penalty-killing effort tonight being more aggressive
I thought the aggressiveness was there. I thought everybody was back on the same page. We did all that kind of stuff that we’ve been doing in the past and just kind of went back to being a little bit more aggressive than we have been last couple of games. I think that worked out well for us and created momentum for us for sure.
On if he believes the Kings can take positive momentum, despite the loss
If we weren’t playing well, obviously that would have been a bigger issue. Defensively, we’re still doing the right things, checking wise, effort wise, I think we’re still doing the right things. I think that’s the most important thing, that we’re still relying on our identity, all that kind of stuff. Hopefully the goals will start coming. That’s all I can say, but I think everything else was there.
Jim Hiller
On his overall takeaways from tonight’s game
You’re always going to make some mistakes. We made our mistakes, not that many, but they’ve got a team that can finish, they showed us that. Overall, I mean, we’ll take that hockey game in this building night after night and I would expect that we win more than than we’d lose if we did.
On the differences in the game being teams finishing offensive chances
I think the big point was Kempe’s shorthanded breakaway, I think that would have made it 2-2 at that point. That was a big save by their goaltender there. We had a bunch of other looks. Right out of the gate, Kevin hits him in the head. I mean, you come into this building, you don’t want their goalie to be a star, you want your goalie to be a star and you want to be able to find the back of the net. We were +2 on special teams, the effort was excellent. All those types of things, we just don’t like the result.
On if the goals the Kings gave up stung more, being preventable in multiple ways
Yeah, and we didn’t make a lot of mistakes. Against a team like that, you’re going to make mistakes, as I said. Against a team like this, if you make too many, they’re going to score. They don’t need you to make mistakes over and over again, you just can’t do it. It’s just the bottom line, you can’t crawl your way back.
On the performance of the penalty kill tonight
Penalty kill was excellent. They had a couple of good chances, I think, but for the most part, against some really talented players, we did exactly as Smitty and DJ had them in practice, buzzing. Hopefully that can start to build just a little bit of momentum and confidence back in the penalty kill.
On if he believes a game like this can carryover momentum, despite the loss
Well, I think so. Here’s the positive for me. Over the last few games, we look a little bit more like [ourselves], we’re playing a little freer, a little looser, we look more dangerous, we’ve got more speed coming through the neutral zone. There’s lots of things to like from a big picture. In the end, we’ve got to win games. If we can play like this, we’ll win games.
Lineups Courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com
==========================
LIGHTNING PROBABLE LINEUP
Former Kings Draft Picks
Erik Cernak
Scott Sabourin (IR)
==========================
GOALTENDING COMPARISON
PACIFIC DIVISION STANDINGS
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**POLL QUESTION GAME**
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PREVIOUS GAME'S WINNERS
Congratulations to the following posters who correctly guessed within+/-1 of 25 SOG for the Kings, and/or 26 SOG for the Avalanche
Kings 25 (2 points):
DRice
randdog
Birdman
SirJW (3 total points!)
Kings 24,26 (1 point):
HiFi
beady eye
Forum Gold
Drum4Pigs
sonnyboy11
KernCoKingFan
empire
Clif
FortyFour (*First time winner!)
VCRW
motalare
symbology
dannybuoy1
notbob
Avs 25,27 (1 point):
SirJW
Rogie-Vachon
RoS
Nyssa42
POLL GAME WIN TOTALS
King of the Mountain - 42 points
KernCoKingFan
39 points
DRice
38 points
Nyssa42
36 points
VegasHockey
35 points
Chateau Bow Wow
Clif
VCRW
34 points
Drum4Pigs
mugs
33 points
Birdman
32 points
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Guinevere
31 points
notbob
30 points
HiFi
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Rusty
29 points
Angel Eyes
empire
RoS
28 points
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27 points
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McSorleyFan
randdog
Rogie-Vachon
SirJW
26 points
dannybuoy1
Forum Gold
25 points
Hockey53
24 points
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23 points
sonnyboy11
symbology
22 points
21 points
Dr. Tran
20 pts
CIrvine
Rog or Reg?
TooCool
14 points
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12 points
Ecktore
9 points
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8 points
ICE24
6 points
kingsmen93
5 points
Rinkrat
3 points
JETS GARAGE
2 points
Sevenhole
GO KINGS GO!!!
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