October 21 morning skate notes: Rushes, Kempe audio, Clague hat trick

Good afternoon to you from Columbus, where it’s a spectacular day outside. Lines and pairings from this morning’s skate:

Iafallo-Kopitar-Brown
Pearson-Shore-Toffoli
Cammalleri-Kempe-Lewis
Andreoff-Laich-Auger

Forbort-Doughty
Muzzin-Fantenberg
Martinez-Folin
MacDermid-Dowd

-Jonathan Quick was the first goaltender to leave the ice, so he’s expected to get the nod against the Blue Jackets (4:00 p.m. / FOX Sports West / FOX Sports Go / KABC 790 / I Heart Radio). For the second consecutive skate, Nic Dowd took loops as a defenseman, an indication he’s not in tonight. He remained on the ice with Kurtis MacDermid for some additional work. Midway through the skate, Dowd, Brooks Laich, Andy Andreoff and Justin Auger switched into purple jerseys to serve as penalty killing stand-ins. Note that there has been some movement in the defensive alignment, with a pair of versatile players in Alec Martinez and Oscar Fantenberg flip-flopping.

-There was noticeable energy on the precipice of six straight away from Staples Center, with a good deal of hooting and hollering, and, of course, Drew Doughty practicing as he plays.

Doughty dives in an attempt to block a pass while defending a two-on-one rush at the morning skate. Didn't work out, but I still love that.

— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) October 21, 2017

-Adrian Kempe made an effort to get to the net against Montreal on Wednesday, and that success snowballed as part of a three-goal performance.

-Kale Clague recorded his second hat trick of the season for the Brandon Wheat Kings and after a four-point night is now tied for seventh in the WHL with 21 points (10-11=21) in 10 games. No other WHL defenseman has more than four goals.

Kale Clague recorded his second hat trick of the season tonight! 🚨🚨🚨 Now has 10 goals in 10 games! He's a D-man 😮 pic.twitter.com/rFpieWzscP

— Brandon Wheat Kings (@bdnwheatkings) October 21, 2017

His postgame presser is also available here. Stick tap, Wheat Kings, who have apparently gone to plaid. Clague was selected 51st overall in 2016, and if the 2016 NHL Draft was re-drafted, based on data now available, he’d probably be a mid-to-late first round pick.

-The Blue Jackets often scrap their morning skates, and Saturday was no different. Via Brian Hedger of BlueJackets.com, Columbus is expected to align Panarin-Wennberg-Atkinson, Jenner-Foligno-Bjorkstrand, Dubois-Dubisnky-Anderson and Milano-Sedlak-Calvert up front with a defensive group of Werenski-Jones, Johnson-Savard and Murray-Nutivaara. Reigning (and two-time) Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to start in net. There hasn’t been a confirmation that 2015-16 30-goal scorer Boone Jenner (middle-body) will play, but expect him to make his debut after being activated yesterday after having recovered from an off-season workout injury. Several interesting notes, from Hedger:

222: Amount of shots Columbus has put on net during 5on5 this season, which ranks first in the NHL. That’s 30 more than second-place Rangers (192). The Jackets have allowed 153 shots during 5-on-5, and rank second with a 59.2% shots-for percentage.
43.3: Percentage of face-offs Columbus has won thus far, which ranks last (31st) in the league.
22: Number of shots the Jackets have put on goal during a power play scoring outage, which is now at 0-for-18 over six-plus games.

-Referees are Frederick L’Ecuyer and Kendrick Nicholson, and linesmen are Devin Berg and Andrew Smith. The national anthem, as always, will be performed by Leo Welsh. (LEO!)

-John Stevens quotes are up next, followed by a story on some interesting numbers in shot attempts and how they’re tied to the way the team is looking to both attack and defend. Let’s talk soon, Insiders.

Good morning, @helenenothelen pic.twitter.com/xFqRO6OIDw

— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) October 21, 2017