November 22 practice notes

Good afternoon from Gundo, Insiders. Apologies for a long delay between posts, but sometimes Insiders need some extra time to recover from a (particularly nasty) cold. Notes!

-The Kings practiced for nearly a full hour after a Monday off, and the forwards were aligned via color coding:

Blue: Pearson-Carter-Toffoli
Yellow: Brown-Dowd-Setoguchi
Green: Clifford-Shore-Nolan
Purple: King-Lewis-Purcell
White: Gaborik-Kopitar-Andreoff

-It’s still too early to get a firm sense of who will be in and who will be out for tomorrow’s pre-Thanksgiving game. Anze Kopitar was asked whether he might play against the Islanders. “We’ll see. Nothing’s for certain yet, but I wouldn’t exclude it, either,” he answered. “We’ll see, obviously, how it feels. Like I said, I’m progressing in the right direction, and the main goal is to do that, feel better every day, and then when it’s time, it’ll be time, and obviously I’ll play again.” Said Darryl Sutter: “He’s skating really good. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. He’s day-to-day.” Kopitar showed improvement in the amount of zip he put on his shots as compared to recent practices. As for the other injured forwards, Andy Andreoff said last week that he was targeting tomorrow’s game for a return; Gaborik, who showed an ability to drive to the net as an attacker in practice, may need another game or two. More clarity may come at tomorrow’s morning skate.

-Drew Doughty broke up another odd-man rush with a diving stick check against Anaheim on Sunday, and I spoke with the world-class defenseman about defending such rushes. Doughty admitted that the play was necessitated by an offensive zone turnover of his, but that didn’t stop Alec Martinez from chiming in – from the peanut gallery, as he called it – with the opinion that such a play was “a Norris Trophy-type play.” (I asked Martinez for permission to share the off-the-cuff remarks.) “I say it time and time again he’s the best defenseman in the world, and part of that is coming up with those big defensive stops when you need it, “Martinez added. “That play kind of comes to mind of what I’ve seen him do countless times.” Expect an interesting story on how Doughty defends against the rush later this afternoon.

-Is it too early to start the #NYIslandersGoalieTweetOff? New York carries three goalies – Jaroslav Halak, Thomas Greiss and former King JF Berube – and according to Arthur Staple, Greiss will start tonight in Anaheim, with Berube backing him up. Just something to put on your radar in advance of tomorrow. (Also, is it fair to call Berube a “former King?” Is “former King farmhand” more accurate? He never got into any games, but did back Jonathan Quick up. OK, question and answer session over.)

-Darryl Sutter quotes will follow. Enjoy your holiday week, Insiders.

Photos, courtesy of Jon Bradley: