3/15 Preview – Injury Updates, including Edler (!!) + Lineup Notes, Kid Line, Vilardi on the Wing

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (33-20-8) vs. Colorado Avalanche (42-13-5)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Tuesday, March 15 @ 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 continue here with their fourth of five straight games in the state of California, hosting Colorado tonight at 7:30 PM.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings dropped a hard-fought decision against Colorado earlier this season, a 4-1 Avalanche victory here in Los Angeles back in January. Anze Kopitar scored the only goal in the first meeting and led the Kings with five points (0-5-5) in the head-to-head series last season. Entering tonight, the Avalanche have won eight of the last nine meetings between the two teams.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings were back on the ice this morning for a (mostly) full-team skate at Toyota Sports Performance Center, following yesterday’s team off day.

Coming off of a solid performance on Sunday against the Panthers, Jonathan Quick was the first goaltender off, making him tonight’s expected starter against the Avalanche. All-time, Quick is 20-7-1 against the Avalanche, with a .917 save percentage and a 2.19 goals-against average.

The Kings remain in an injury crisis, with several regulars remaining out of the lineup. Add defenseman Tobias Bjornfot to that list, who was labeled as day-to-day this morning by Head Coach Todd McLellan, after he was injured during overtime in Sunday’s win over Florida.

Now out of the lineup are all six of the team’s defensemen from the Opening Night lineup versus Vegas, an absolutely incredible sentence to be writing. Bjornfot joins Drew Doughty in the day-to-day category. Matt Roy is slightly longer than day-to-day, Mikey Anderson is week-to-week, and the duo of Alex Edler (!!) and Sean Walker who are on long-term injured reserve.

With that in mind, here’s how the Kings lined up this morning –

Iafallo – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Andersson – Kaliyev
Vilardi – Byfield – Kupari
Grundstrom – Lizotte – Frk

Maatta – Spence
Wolanin – Durzi
Moverare – Strand
Edler – Doughty

Quick / Petersen

Phillip Danault was the only forward not on the ice this morning, but per McLellan, he is expected to play tonight. Lias Andersson took his spot during rushes this morning.

AVALANCHE VITALS: The Avalanche enter tonight’s game with a league-leading 89 points. They lead the league this season in power-play goals. They rank second in the league in both total goals scored and goal differential. When looking at the Kings’ last opponent, Florida, both teams are 1-2 in most categories.

Former Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper had a shutout victory last time out against Calgary, though with no morning skate today for the visitors, we won’t know the goaltender until closer to game time. Should Kuemper get the nod tonight in Los Angeles, he brings with him a 6-6-3 record, a .927 save percentage and a 2.19 goals-against average in the head-to-head matchup. Should Pavel Francouz return to the net, he is 1-2-0 all-time, with a .921 save percentage and a 2.14 goals-against average versus the Kings.

Over the last 24 hours, the Avalanche have acquired defenseman Josh Manson from Anaheim and forward Nico Sturm from Minnesota. With that in mind, combined with the lack of a morning skate today, predicting tonight’s lineup could be difficult.

Per the Colorado team account, knowing that these lines will not be correct, here’s how they lined up last time out against Calgary –

Game #️⃣6️⃣0️⃣#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/OqEhpL5aJw

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 13, 2022

Manson is expected to make his team debut this evening, per Peter Baugh of The Athletic. Forward Gabriel Landeskog and defenseman Samuel Girard are out tonight, both with injuries.

Notes –

In Or Out
Okay, so it’s mostly just out, but how about some great news today?

Among the first players to take the ice for morning skate today……..Alex Edler!

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 15, 2022

Alex Edler!! And some dumb reporter on LAKingsInsider.com reported the other day he’d be out for the season……idiot!

All jokes – and typos – aside, incredible news for the Kings. Edler has not skated with the team since his injury in late-November and has been slowly progressing behind the scenes, skating on his own, and now re-joining the group officially for the first time today. He won’t play tonight, it’s far too soon to put a return date on paper, but it was a very welcomed bit of good news this morning, for a team that has had nothing but bad news on the injury front.

“He’s out there, skating now with the group, which is a big advancement for him,” Todd McLellan said this morning. “We won’t get a lot of grind practice time, so we’ll have to work him after, before, but that’s a little bit of a bright spot right now when it comes to injuries, he’s at least getting closer.”

Edler partnered with Drew Doughty during drills today, a step forward for the latter as well, as he continues working towards his own return to the lineup. Doughty remains on injured reserve, with a day-to-day designation and his own return date is pending health.

Beyond that, no further updates regarding the remainder of the injured players. None have joined the team for practice at this time and Bjornfot, the latest added to the injury report, has the shortest timeline at day-to-day as indicated above.

For tonight, that brings in defenseman Christian Wolanin from the press box, with the Kings having six healthy defensemen on the NHL roster. The only other contracted defensemen in the system being Helge Grans and Markus Phillips in Ontario, along with Brandt Clarke in the OHL.

Game 1 -> Game 2
Game 1 for the trio of Gabe Vilardi, Quinton Byfield and Rasmus Kupari was very good.

Now, it’s time to do it again in Game 2.

Todd McLellan has talked before about how the first game up, or as a line, can actually be easier than the coming games. There’s adrenaline, there’s something new and sometimes that can really play out positively. Regardless of reasoning, it was certainly positive for the Kings to have that trio playing at that level.

“They all played with pace, they were responsible on both sides of the puck,” McLellan said today. “If they continue to do that, they can become a really good line. Faceoff-wise, I saw Gabe taking them on the right and Q taking them on the left, which is a great thing and then you’ve got Ras, the three of them should be able to have the puck off the draw if it’s not going well. The pace that they played, with and without the puck, was impressive and against a team that can really skate well. We’re going to need that again tonight.”

Speaking with two-thirds of that line, Vilardi and Kupari both agreed that chemistry felt pretty good, especially in the offensive zone. That’s where those three want to play, but having them be solid defensively is what will allow them to play offensively. Through 60 minutes, so far so good.

Vilardi – Yeah, we were alright. We played together in Ontario, we’re good friends and I think it’s really just the d-zone, making sure we’re talking. In the o-zone, we all kind of think the game well, so we can just move around and try to create.

Kupari – It was good, I think we kind of just found chemistry right away. We got together, we made some plays, had some chances and scored that goal. I thought, all game long, we played a pretty solid game.

For a Kings team in need of some depth, here’s to hoping that line keeps it rolling!

Winger Winger, Chicken Dinner
When forward Gabe Vilardi was assigned to the AHL earlier this season, there was a plan in place.

That plan was to adjust Vilardi, a natural centerman, to playing on the wing. To do so, the organization felt that repetitions at the AHL level were the best option, so that was what was executed. Vilardi was nearly a point-per-game player at the AHL level, playing almost exclusively on the wing, to help with his transition back to the Kings. Vilardi was always in the plans here in Los Angeles, and on Sunday, he showed exactly why.

Vilardi looked great on the wing. He was good along the boards, good in the defensive zone and made plays in tight spaces in the offensive end. He did it all playing his off-wing too, lining up on the left with fellow right-shot Rasmus Kupari playing on the right. McLellan was highly complimentary of Vilardi’s board-work, something the player talked about working on during his time in the AHL.

“I’ve worked on it and I think I need to keep working on it, especially playing on the left side,” Vilardi said this morning. “I think every team pinches their defensemen now, so if I’m not facing the puck, and I want to catch it on my forehand, I’m not going to be facing the D. I’ve got to do a lot of pre-checks and reads before I get the puck.”

Vilardi noted that the majority of the adjustments moving from center to wing come in the defensive zone. “One-hundred percent” he said when asked if that was the area that required more changes, as opposed to playing offensively, because in that end of the ice, it’s the same game, within players interchanging positions and roles when possessing the puck.

There’s also the fact that, with two right-handed wingers on that line, Vilardi played on the left wing, his offhand. As noted above, that puts his back to the defensemen when receiving passes on his forehand, but also it opens up different looks when playing with the puck offensively. There, it becomes about reading and reacting to make the right plays.

“It’s different but it’s just hockey, you read it,” he said. “If you’re on the left side, you’re on the backhand, there are certain plays you can make that you couldn’t if you were on your strong side. It’s just about reading the play and doing what you see.”

With the Kings’ top six currently set with long-term contracts at the center position, in Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault, there is a terrific opportunity for Vilardi to push for a more permanent in the longer term on the wing. He’ll get another chance here tonight to make an impact as he did on Sunday.

Kings and Avalanche, tonight at 7:30 PM from Crypto.com Arena. The California stretch continues for a few more days with the Kings hopeful to keep their confidence rolling against one of the league’s elite teams.