12/1 Practice Notes – Deflections, Fan Support, Brown’s Goal, Shootout Strategy, Cleanout Day

With a shootout loss now behind us, the Kings were back on the ice this morning in El Segundo.

Lots of storylines to evaluate from last night’s game, with Alex Iafallo and Todd McLellan touching on them today –

Here’s A Tip
Offensively, the Kings were powered by point shots getting through, creating opportunities for redirections and rebounds. Other than their first goal of the evening, which came off of a small-area play down low, the final three goals, and the disallowed goal, came off of either deflections or rebounds. The common theme was shots getting through from the point, helping to generate offense.

It’s certainly been discussed, and practiced, at length by the Kings this season.

“We’ve been banging that drum and banging that drum about [defensemen] creating with the shot,” McLellan said. “You can go back and look at the shots, they’re not one-time slappers that go bar-down, they’re really shooting for their teammates. Whether it’s Kempe’s goal, where he goes to reach for it, or Iafallo’s goal, where he’s climbing in the slot and gets on the right side of the net front D, the only reward for doing that is being able to get to the puck. The D created using their shots and we’ve talked a lot about it.”

Last night specifically, Iafallo shared with us that the emphasis on those types of plays was something discussed internally, even during the game. The focus on creating offense in that way was extremely evident during the third-period comeback, with the Minnesota Duluth product crediting his defensemen for their work in the process.

“It was discussed,” he confirmed. “The D did a great job of getting shots through. We need to keep doing that, that’s why we scored the goals. A little shimmy-shake up top and shoot through gives us a chance to tip and get the rebounds. We’ve got to keep doing that and driving the net harder.”

Feeling The Fans
Last night’s game had a different feel to it, especially in the third period.

“Definitely, McLellan responded, when asked if the crowd played a role in yesterday’s comeback. “We haven’t been in that situation in two years, where you can really feel the momentum building in a comeback at home. I think it definitely played a role in it.”

The Kings and Ducks always deliver a bit of a different atmosphere, and last night’s thrilling third period brought it to another level. As the Kings sagged a bit in the third period, things got a bit quiet, until Adrian Kempe’s goal brought the crowd back into the game. From that point on, even after Carl Grundstrom’s disallowed goal, the energy was felt on the ice.

“You could feel it building on the bench,” McLellan added. “Even after the disallowed goal, I thought it still allowed us to have a little momentum. They kept us on top of it, they didn’t allow us to slip, they being the fans.”

For the players on the ice, even in defeat, the energy was felt.

“Oh yeah, it was awesome,” Iafallo said. “It’s a good rivalry, the Freeway Faceoff, it was a good atmosphere out there. Those games, in that rivalry, with the feistiness is awesomeness for us, we love it.”

Big Goal, Brownie
It had been 15 games since Dustin Brown found the back of the net, and what a time for him to get back on the scoresheet.

Brown scored the game-tying goal last night for the Kings, late in the third period, securing his team a point in a game where they were once three goals down. The importance of that goal, for both player and team, was certainly felt during the celebration. Certain moments in a game, you can tell that it means a bit more to those involved. Last night, Brown’s goal felt like that moment.

“Everybody was pretty pumped and I’m sure he was too,” Iafallo said today. “It was a huge goal for us as well. For Brownie to get that goal, and get back in stride, it was awesome.”

Brown is back on the top unit with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, a line on which he’s shown chemistry and productivity in the past. The hope internally is that the floodgates will open a bit, and that Brown will play a bit more freely, now that he got one, as McLellan shared last night.

Shootout
The shootout is an area of the game that you might see three games in a row, or you might not see it for 20 games at a time. That’s one aspect of what makes it so challenging.

How much of your resources do you dedicate to something that only surfaces every so often, versus the other, important areas of your game? The answer is a bit, but McLellan gave us some insight on the challenges of replicating that situation in a practice, while also acknowledging the importance of something that can swing a key point in the standings.

“Yeah, we do [work on it],” McLellan said. “Quite often, we’ll incorporate it into practice. It’s a very difficult moment to replicate, without the fans, without the points on the line, without anything really on the line in practice. That’s a time for players to get creative and try things. I think it’s harder on the goalies in practice as well, there’s a number of shooters coming at them and the fatigue factor as well. It’s one area of the game that gets you a point that it’s hard to replicate the pressure.”

Mr. Clean(out Day)
For some players, today’s practice was very quick. Anze Kopitar was off the ice right around 11:15, with other, more veteran players not far behind him. That was by design, with today’s skate labeled as a “cleanout day” by McLellan.

“We call it a cleanout day, really,” he explained. “Pace, puck movement, some shooting, not a lot of grinding. Overtime games can take their toll on some guys. Drew first came back, he played 28 minutes, Kopi had 24, a lot of guys were up there. They got what they needed and they got out, and then some others stayed on longer. A lot of work also done video-wise today.”

That, naturally, spurred a follow-up question, which is the benefits and downsides to a day like today, where guys get a quick skate in, versus a full off day to recharge the batteries. McLellan noted that oftentimes, veteran players get more out of keeping the engine running, to use his words.

With an important game in front of them tomorrow against Calgary, the choice to hold a practice today makes a lot of sense.

“I think there’s a lot of players, especially the older ones, that want to keep the engine running,” he said. “They get in a routine, they get in a rhythm, and players can, either mental or physical, sometimes both, they tend to feel better the next day after skating. The day after an off day is often a bit of a grind to get the engine going again. What we did today was to set us up to be fresh, physically and mentally, tomorrow and we’re going to need it because they’re a good hockey club.”

For Doughty though, that recovery might not have even been needed.

Me: is Drew Doughty human?

Alex Iafallo: No. He’s an animal. #GoKingsGo

— ALL THE KINGS MEN (@KingsMenPodcast) December 1, 2021

Oh……..you want a lineup, don’t you?

Kempe – Kopitar – Brown
Iafallo – Danault – Arvidsson
Andersson – Kupari – Moore
Grundstrom – Lizotte – Kaliyev
Lemieux, Byfield

Anderson – Doughty
Edler – Roy
Bjornfot – Durzi
Maatta – Clague

Quick / Petersen

No changes from yesterday. Brendan Lemieux is able to practice with the team each day during his suspension, which was officially announced yesterday as being five games. Lemieux missed yesterday’s game against Anaheim, will miss the upcoming games against Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Dallas, and is eligible to return on December 11 versus Minnesota.

The Kings are scheduled to be back on the ice tomorrow morning in advance of Thursday evening’s game against Calgary. Morning skate is scheduled for 10:30 AM from Toyota Sports Performance Center.