WHO: Los Angeles Kings (1-1-1) vs. Anaheim Ducks (3-1-0)
WHAT: NHL PRESEASON GAME
WHEN: Sunday, October 2 @ 6:00 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 at it for their fourth game of the 2022 preseason, as they host the Anaheim Ducks tonight at Crypto.com Arena.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings and Ducks faced off in a home-and-home set during the 2021 preseason, with each team winning on away ice. Arthur Kaliyev had four points (3-1-4) from those two games last season, while Gabe Vilardi scored two goals and Sean Walker had two assists, with all three players expected to play this evening.
KINGS VITALS: Below are this morning’s line rushes –
Kevin Fiala – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Alex Iafallo – T.J. Tynan – Arthur Kaliyev
Gabe Vilardi – Rasmus Kupari – Samuel Fagemo
Brendan Lemieux – Blake Lizotte – Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty
Sean Walker – Jordan Spence
Alex Edler – Brandt Clarke
Jonathan Quick
Matt Villalta
The expectation for tonight’s game is that the Kings will roll with closer to a regular group of skaters, though not quite the full group at this time. Being on home ice, it’s the first opportunity to play without travel and historically, veterans play in home games during the preseason. We have yet to see the Kopitar and Danault lines play on the same night but we should expect that later on this week.
Goaltender Matthew Villalta went the distance in the 3-1 defeat against San Jose on Wednesday, the first time this preseason we’ve seen a goalie go for the full 60 minutes. The expectation tonight is that we’ll see Jonathan Quick in net for the Kings, with the aim of playing the full 60 minutes. Quick has appeared in one preseason game to date, as he looked sharp in playing just over half of the game in San Jose last Sunday.
“The plan is to play Quickie, he’ll start today and to play him a full game,” Todd McLellan said this morning. “If he doesn’t finish the night, something went wrong somewhere, but the plan is that.”
Others on the roster for today include Brandt Clarke, who will play in his fourth preseason game out of a possible four, as well as Sean Walker, who is set to make his preseason debut. More on the latter below.
Full Group To Come
While we won’t get a look at EVERYONE tonight, we’ll see something that resembles more of a projected opening-night lineup this evening at Crypto.com Arena.
The Kings appear set to dress their top line of Anze Kopitar, Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe, along with the defensive duo of Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson, marking the first time Kopitar and Doughty have played together in the preseason. The bulk of the projected bottom six, along with a group of roster hopefuls, are also expected to dress up front, along with at least four of the projected defensemen for Game 1. While some veterans – most notably Phil Danault and his line – won’t play tonight, there is an older group and a more experienced group set to take the ice this evening in Los Angeles.
“A common theme around the league is you dress a few more veterans at home, you don’t have to travel them to wherever you’re going,” McLellan said. “They play big, big minutes during the year, so alleviating travel, I think you’re seeing that. The tendency is that the home team at points has a stronger lineup, or a more veteran-type lineup, because that’s where you want to play those individuals, while the road team tends to be a little younger, or guys that won’t play as much during the year. I think that’s a tendency around the league and that’s what we’re seeing again this year.”
The Kings have four preseason contests left including tonight. This will mark the second game of the preseason for those first-line players, with the expectation that they will skate in 3-4 games in total during the exhibition season. Speaking with guys like Danault and Doughty, both saw themselves in that range. McLellan agreed with that number for the bulk of his veterans as well.
That makes tonight an interesting game, because in McLellan’s words, it’s an opportunity to evaluate some of the unknowns this team still has. The Kings have a lot of known quantities, and those players will get what they need and get ready for the regular season. They’re also not a completed picture just yet, with roster spots to be won, and battles to be played out. This game might focus more on the latter, the incomplete picture, but make no mistake that in the coming game, we’ll likely see a full group together, in their projected roles.
“We’ve got four left and we play every second night, we’re still trying to evaluate some of the question marks and they need to continue to play, but we have to make sure now that the team is up and running,” McLellan said. “By the end of the training camp, the veterans should all have three or four games for sure. Maybe not quite today, but moving forward, you’d like to see all your units together at one point, pairs playing with each other on the penalty kill, I think that’s important. We still have a day or two here to evaluate and try to give opportunity to someone. Every player has a lifeline and some players have extended there’s, others, it’s shrunk on them. This is the week.”
For the line of Rasmus Kupari, Gabe Vilardi and Samuel Fagemo, it’s an opportuntiy. Same goes for Jaret Anderson-Dolan and T.J. Tynan, who are filling in for others, and still see themselves as being in the roster bubble discussion. Also in that boat on the backend are Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke, who will both dress alongside a veteran tonight. Lots to look out for this evening at Crypto.com Arena.
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 9: Sean Walker #26 of the Los Angeles Kings skates on the ice during the third period against the Anaheim Ducks at STAPLES Center on October 9, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NHLI via Getty Images)
Walk It Back
It’s a big day for Sean Walker.
For most, it’s just another preseason game, but for Walker, tonight will hit just a little bit differently. Walker is expected to play in his first game of any kind since he suffered a series of knee injuries in October of 2021. His ACL and MCL injuries cost him the entirety of the 2021-22 season beyond the first six games and he did not appear in the first three games of the exhibition season.
That exclusion ends tonight, as Walker is set to check back into the lineup for the first time. He admitted he woke up just a bit early today, but that’s to be expected for a player making his return. His energy and excitement this morning was noticeable, as he prepares to enter the fight once again.
“Very excited, it’ll probably be a lot of nerves for the first game back, even though it’s exhibition, but it’ll be exciting and nervewracking,” he said this morning. “I’m just trying to go out and play my game.”
A few of the highlights from Walker’s interview this morning below, as he gets prepared to make his return to action.
Walker on what in-game event will truly let him know he’s back in a game
I think it’ll just be kind of the first of everything, the first three on two, the first battle along the boards, the first o-zone shift, the first shot on net. I think it’ll be a lot of things, just checking all the boxes and making sure that everything feels good. So I’m definitely excited, just want to go out there, not think about it too much and just play.
On the things you can only get from a game setting, as opposed to a practice or scrimmage
Yeah, we have a great group of guys and I think everybody kind of knew where I was coming from. There were definitely some plays that were hard and guys gave me some good bumps, but you know nothing ever really recreates when you’re playing against another team. It’ll be a good test and I’m excited for it.
On if he almost welcomed some contact as he gets back
Yeah, get that contact, I think that’s been a big thing. You know, I’ve done all the checklists and the skating, the positioning, whatever that is, but the body contact was probably the main thing. It’ll be a good test and like I said, I’m excited for it.
On the biggest challenges during his 12 months away from game action
The biggest challenge was just not playing. A lot of people talk about the mental side of it, the physical side of it and luckily, I didn’t have too much of a struggle with it. I was able to come here and do my rehab every day, be with the guys every day and the team was great helping me out with anything I needed, getting me tickets to concerts, anything that could keep me busy. So, as much as it was trying year and it was awful because I wanted to be a part of it, I was able to do some things that you’re not able to do when you are playing a season. It was it was really difficult and everything but I made the most of it and I’m ready to be back.
Todd McLellan’s full availability is shown below, including thoughts on what he’s looking for from younger players such as Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke throuhgout the remainder of camp to earn themselves either alarger role, or a more permenant role, on the roster.
Kings and Ducks, tonight at 6 PM…….and it’s televised! See you soon!
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