2/26 Preview – No Morning Skate + Coaching Situation, Yawney on Unsung D-Men, Luc Video

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (28-17-7) vs. New York Islanders (19-20-8)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Saturday, February 26 @ 7:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports West – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings complete a back-to-back set on home ice later today, as they host the New York Islanders for the lone meeting between the teams in Los Angeles.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings were victorious by a 3-2 margin when the teams met on Long Island back in late-January. That night was Drew Doughty’s 1000th career NHL game played. Dustin Brown had two assists in that game, while forwards Quinton Byfield and Adrian Kempe scored, Byfield’s first career NHL goal.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings finally return home for consecutive games for the first time since mid-January, beginning this evening versus New York, ending on Monday versus Boston.

Considering the back-to-back, the Kings did not hold a morning skate earlier today in El Segundo. Therefore, we won’t know exactly how the team will line up this evening on home ice. Coming off of the win last night, however, and the successful lineup change made yesterday with the insertion of Carl Grundstrom in on the third line, don’t be surprised to see the same configuration this evening.

Goaltender Jonathan Quick was in net last night, as he recorded his milestone 350th career victory, which points to Cal Petersen getting the start tonight. Petersen made 23 saves on 25 shots to earn the victory on Long Island last month, his first and only career start against the Islanders to date.

For reference, here’s how the Kings lined up yesterday in Anaheim –

Iafallo – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danaut – Arvidsson
Grundstrom – Byfield – Brown
Lemieux – Lizotte – Kaliyev

Anderson – Doughty
Maatta – Roy
Bjornfot – Durzi

Petersen / Quick

Should the Kings opt to make a change, or should one be necessitated due to external circumstances, forward Andreas Athanasiou and defenseman Jacob Moverare are options to check in.

ISLANDERS VITALS: The Islanders have been the definition of a low-event team this season, entering tonight’s action tied for last in the NHL in goals scored, but ranking fourth-best in terms of fewest goals allowed. New York has played the fewest games in the league but is still in the bottom five at 2.51 goals-per-game, and in the top five at 2.70 goals-against-per-game.

Goaltender Ilya Sorokin has started each of the team’s last eight games, but Newsday’s Andrew Gross reported that Semyon Varlamov is tonight’s expected starter for the Islanders. Varlamov was between the pipes in the first meeting this season at UBS Arena, as he made 27 saves on 29 shots in a losing effort. All-time, Varlamov is 9-7-3 against the Kings, with a.923 save percentage and a 2.25 goals-against average.

Here’s how the Islanders lined up last time out, on Thursday in San Jose –

Parise – Barzal – Palmieri
Bellows – Nelson – Beauvillier
Lee – Pageau – Wahlstrom
Martin – Cizikas – Clutterbuck

Chara – Dobson
Pelech – Mayfield
Aho – Pulock

Sorokin
Varlamov

The Islanders chose to healthy scratch forward Josh Bailey and defenseman Andy Greene against the Sharks. Bailey has been among the Islanders top-three leading scorers in four of the past five seasons, and could check back in this evening in Los Angeles.

Notes –

Coaching Update
Here’s what we know regarding Head Coach Todd McLellan.

Yesterday morning, McLellan spoke with local media here in Los Angeles, in advance of the bus ride to Anaheim. Nothing out of the ordinary. Between then and yesterday’s game versus the Ducks, McLellan began to feel unwell and, out of caution, took a COVID test which came up positive and forced a change for the Kings on game day.

In stepped Trent Yawney as the acting head coach, who has 103 games of NHL experience as a head coach with Chicago, as well as seven and a half seasons as an AHL head coach and 12 seasons as an NHL assistant coach. Certainly well-versed in the moment, when he found out during his own pre-game preparation at the rink.

Yawney talked about McLellan’s collaborative style as a head coach that allowed the transition to feel seamless. He spoke about how, behind closed doors, it’s an open discussion between McLellan, Yawney and Marco Sturm, which made things easier in stepping into the lead role last night.

“For three years, it’s been a collective effort,” Yawney said. “If you were ever behind the scenes with our staff – [Todd] is the head guy and when we leave the room it’s his voice – but he gives us a lot of leeway. He wants our opinions and it was no different even tonight, as we were preparing. What you saw on the ice was pretty much what we’ve been doing for three years.”

The other element to the positive test was McLellan’s willingness to take it, to protect the rest of the individuals in the room who haven’t yet tested positive.

NHL players and coaches currently do not take daily COVID tests, a protocol that ended following the All-Star break. Tests are only mandated for symptomatic individuals, which is vague, but McLellan showed leadership in taking one when something felt off. Yawney noted that eight players have not tested positive this season, with McLellan putting their health above potentially toughing it out through mild symptoms.

“He’s battled through a lot of different things in his coaching career, and with [COVID], we have eight players who still haven’t got it and he could have easily just sluffed it off, said I’m not going to go test, but that’s a testament to who he is. He said, when he and I were talking, ‘I’m not going to put the rest of the group at risk.’”

Assuming the situation remains the same, the plan for tonight is the same. Yawney will once again be the acting head coach, with Sturm and Assistant Video Coach Derik Johnson joining him on the bench.

D-Men Doing It
We talk a lot about certain members of the LA Kings blueline. Drew Doughty’s season has been incredible, at both ends of the ice. Firmly in the Norris picture had he not missed 20 games due to injury and COVID. His partner, Mikey Anderson, has tremendous puck possession metrics and has been solid as he’s grown in his second NHL season.

Matt Roy has been as steady as ever, a consistent member of the penalty kill, while Sean Durzi has brought a new element on the backend, with his vision and passing abilities lauded, taking over the second power-play unit in the process.

What about the other contributors, though, in Tobias Bjornfot and Olli Maatta? The two have combined for just one goal this season, but are not relied upon for offense. Bjornfot was on the ice last night for all three even-strength goals for and none against. Since January 1, Maatta leads all Kings defensemen at a +9 rating. Both have played their own games, unnoticed on most nights, in the best way possible.

Yawney on Bjornfot – Toby has silently ate up some minutes. He doesn’t always get a big minute load, but he’s learning from some of the veteran players and he’s learning in his development.

Yawney on Maatta – Olli Maatta, in the last 15, 20 games, has been really, really solid for us. He’s really anchored that second pair with Roy, that’s allowed us, when we lost [Edler], to continue to forge forward.

When Dougthy was out, before Durzi was recalled, it was a defense-first, collaborative effort on the backend. Players like Bjornfot and Maatta have continued to lead with that mindset and have been successful in doing so. With point producers Doughty and Durzi in the lineup now, it’s provided more depth and layers to the Kings as a whole on the backend. Good, good signs for the Kings.

Luuuuuuuuc
Lastly, hear from Kings President Luc Robitaille on the latest edition of the Tradin’ Jabs program. Luc touches on a variety of topics throughout the interview!

Kings and Islanders, tonight at 7:30 PM on home ice! The Kings are holding their annual “State of the Franchise” event prior to the game. I’ll be in attendance and will follow up with an event recap tomorrow afternoon here on LAKI, with any timely updates to come via Twitter. Talk soon, Insiders!