4/4 Preview – Projected Lineup + Kempe/Iafallo as veterans, punching out penalties, Frozen Fury

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (38-23-10) vs. Calgary Flames (40-19-9)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Monday, April 4 @ 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 are back home for a pair of games this week, beginning tonight against Calgary.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Tonight’s game concludes the season series between the Kings and Flames, the second game of the season in Los Angeles. Forward Viktor Arvidsson and defenseman Alex Edler lead the team with three points apiece (1-2-3) from the prior two games, while forward Alex Iafallo leads the team with two goals. Edler’s 41 career points (5-36-41) versus Calgary are his most against any NHL opponent.

KINGS VITALS: Following a day off yesterday, after the travel day, the Kings were back on the ice this morning for a full-team morning skate.

Goaltender Cal Petersen was the first goaltender off the ice this morning, with Todd McLellan confirming that he will be in net for his third consecutive start this evening. Petersen brings with him a 2-2-0 record all-time versus the Flames, with a .925 save percentage and a 2.48 goals-against average. Petersen earned the win on Thursday against Calgary, with 26 saves in the win.

The Kings held a full morning skate today, with a few new faces joining the group that lined up on Saturday in Winnipeg. The expectation for tonight appears to be the same lineup as played against the Jets, from how the team took rushes this morning. That lineup is listed below –

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

Maatta – Spence
Bjornfot – Durzi
Edler – Stecher
Moverare – Strand
Roy

Petersen
Quick

Forwards Dustin Brown and Brendan Lemieux joined the full group today, in addition to defenseman Matt Roy, though none of those three players took line rushes. Absent from today’s skate were forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Blake Lizotte, along with defensemen Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty. As McLellan shared today, all of the injured players are progressing on their own timelines, with a couple of those timelines being evaluated later in the week.

Will take a deeper look at that situation after practice tomorrow, as none of the aforementioned players are expected to return tonight.

FLAMES VITALS: Calgary enters tonight’s action off of three consecutive losses, including Thursday’s shootout defeat against the Kings at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Calgary goaltender Jacob Markstrom was in the “starters net” this morning, signaling that he will play again this evening against the Kings, as he did in Thursday’s game. Markstrom brings with him a 7-3-4 record all-time versus the Kings, along with a .923 save percentage and a 2.60 goals-against average.

For the first time basically all season, Calgary has a few players banged up. Forwards Sean Monahan, Calle Jarnkrok and Brett Ritchie, along with defenseman Oliver Kylington have all been listed as ill or injured over the last few days. Per Eric Francis of Sportsnet, Jarnkrok practiced today, while Kylington is day-to-day. Monahan is out for the season with hip surgery.

Per Calgary’s official team website, here is tonight’s projected lineup for the Flames –

Stretch Run Swell
This is not the first stretch run for forwards Alex Iafallo or Adrian Kempe. It is, however, the first stretch run for those players as 2021-22 Alex Iafallo and Adrian Kempe.

As awkward as that probably read, Iafallo and Kempe are in that interesting position that they did experience a push for the postseason back in the 2017-18 season, factoring in on the most recent Kings team to qualify, but they did not play the type of roles that they’re playing now. Both players were rookies that season, with Iafallo making the team out of camp and spending the season in the NHL, while Kempe did the same, filling in admirably with Jeff Carter injured for much of the season.

Now, both players are two of the veterans driving the bus for the Kings. In 2017-18, both players were important, but they were the young guys looking up to the older players for guidance. Now, they are those older players themselves, carrying the team with first-line minutes and setting the stage for younger players coming up behind them.

“Yeah it’s different, I have to be one of the leaders out there and in the locker room every day,” Kempe said. “My first year, I was just trying to learn from the older guys, didn’t really know what to expect heading in later in the season, in the playoffs. Now, you kind of have a feel.”

Kempe and Iafallo have logged first-line minutes for the majority of the season, and have fit into what Todd McLellan said after the win in Winnipeg. Those players have bought into playing “winning hockey” as opposed to statistical hockey and are now individuals who are counted on to do that.

Before, back in the stretch run in 2018, Iafallo and Kempe were counted on, but they could look to the older guys to help show them the way. Now, the responsibilities are greater and they’re the older guys being looked at.

“There’s more that falls on their shoulders, they feel the weight of it a little bit more,” McLellan said earlier today. “Expectations go up for experienced players at this time of the year. You’ll hear, I hear it in the room, they’re just young, and that’s the youth group, but we expect the older players to understand where we’re at and to deal with it properly. That’s what [they] are dealing with now, that they weren’t dealing with five years ago.”

Kempe now knows what it takes to get there and that starts with bringing that “A” game each and every night. As schedules shrink, each game swings more and more when it comes to the standings, so he knows what’s at stake.

“I’ve only made the playoffs once in my career, but you kind of know what it takes and we have to bring it every night,” he added. “Especially in these late games, we have to be on our game every night. It’s a good feeling and I’m happy that I can show the younger guys and be a leader.”

Punching Out The Penalties
There are two sides to special teams as of late. There’s the positive side from Winnipeg –

PPG, SHG, 6/6 on the PK tonight. @LAKings Special Teams 📈

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) April 3, 2022

Two goals on special teams against the Jets and that’s been a positive trend over the last seven games. The Kings have power-play goals in five of those seven games and are 18-of-19 on the penalty kill in that span. Very good.

Then, there’s the other end of it. Sure, the Kings were 6-of-6 on the kill against Winnipeg, but that six number is certainly troubling. And they know it. Kempe and McLellan both touched on that aspect as an area to clean up tonight.

Kempe – Obviously way too many penalties, including myself…[Winnipeg was] a hot power play coming into the game, buzzing at home especially their power play in that rink, and we killed every penalty, the only goal they scored was right when we came off. Especially late in the period, you’re kind of asking for it if you keep taking that many penalties. Something we’ve got to clean up, the games before that we didn’t take that many penalties, so keep that consistency going.

McLellan – I thought we paraded to the penalty box in the last four periods of that road trip far too many times. I don’t know if it’s the call, the situation, or whatever it may be, but it started in Calgary, right off the bat, in the third period and carried through that game a little bit and certainly in Winnipeg, so we have to clean that up. If we’re going to have any chance at success moving forward, we can’t kill six a night it just doesn’t matter.

Certainly an area of focus tonight, with everyone on board.

Frozen Fury
Lastly, Insiders, the team announced earlier today the official date for this fall’s Frozen Fury, set to take place in Salt Lake City between the Kings and Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, October 6. The game will begin at 7 PM local time, 6 PM Pacific.

Tickets for Frozen Fury presented by the Utah Sports Commission will go on sale Thursday, April 7, online at vivintarena.com, with presales to Kings, Golden Knights, and Jazz fans starting tomorrow, April 5. Ticketmaster is the only authorized ticketing outlet for events at Vivint Arena.

That brings next season’s preseason schedule to two games, including the game in Ontario, CA against San Jose on Wednesday, September 28. The remainder of the schedule will be announced at a later date.

The only schedule we’re focused on here though continues tonight, with the first of two home games on the week against divisional opposition. Kings and Flames, tonight at 7:30 PT! If you’re attending our LAKI Suite Night, I am looking forward to meeting you in person this evening!