10/15 Preview – Potential Lineup + Fiala’s Return, Minnesota Natives, Seeking Identity

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (0-2-0) @ Minnesota Wild (0-1-0)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR SEASON GAME
WHEN: Saturday, October 15 @ 5:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, Minnesota
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports West – (4:30 PM Pre-Game Coverage) – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings are on the road for the first time this season, as they begin a five-game trip this evening versus the Minnesota Wild.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings posted a 1-2-0 record against the Wild a season ago, with the Wild taking the only game of the season played here in Minnesota. Defenseman Drew Doughty led the Kings with three points (0-3-3) in the season series last year, while forward Kevin Fiala will play his first game against Minnesota since he was traded there back in the 2018-19 season.

KINGS VITALS: Coming off of last game against Seattle, the Kings could make at least a couple of personnel decisions for tonight’s contest.

Forward Viktor Arvidsson has returned to the group off of an illness, skating during yesterday’s practice after missing the prior two days. Arvidsson appears set to play tonight, with Todd McLellan saying he “should be good to go” against Minnesota. Additionally, morning skate gives the indication that we could see defenseman Sean Durzi check in on the backend in place of Sean Walker. Durzi played alongside Matt Roy on opening night, but was scratched on Thursday versus Seattle. Walker, along with forwards Arthur Kaliyev and Jaret Anderson-Dolan, were on late for the Kings. McLellan said there are a couple players being looked at and we’ll see how it shakes out.

“It’s interesting how quick bumps and bruises occur,” McLellan said “You don’t quite see them during exhibition season, you do a little bit, but when the real season starts, that’s another thing we’re starting to figure out, it’s hard and it’s good for us to have a few of those right now.”

Cal Petersen did not skate this morning, while Jonathan Quick did which indicates that Petersen will make his season debut, though it’s not a guarantee. Should Petersen get the nod, he carries a 2-2-1 record with a .893 save percentage and a 3.37 goals against average versus Minnesota. Quick brings with him an all-time record of 16-11-7 versus Minnesota, along with a .902 save percentage and a 2.63 goals-against average.

No guaranteess, but below is a projected lineup, based on yesterday’s practice and today’s morning skate –

Kevin Fiala – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore – Phillip Danault – Viktor Arvidsson
Alex Iafallo – Quinton Byfield – Gabe Vilardi
Brendan Lemieux – Blake Lizotte – Arthur Kaliyev
Edit – Warmups showed Kaliyev here, not Grundstrom

Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty
Sean Durzi – Matt Roy
Alex Edler – Brandt Clarke

Jonathan Quick
Cal Petersen

WILD VITALS: Like the Kings, Minnesota enters tonight’s game in search of its first victory of the season, coming off of a 7-3 defeat against the New York Rangers in their season opener.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was the first netminder off this morning for Minnesota, indicating that he will make the start for the hosts. All-time, Fleury is 12-8-4 versus the Kings, with a .917 save percentage and a 2.51 goals-against average. The 37-year-old netminder earned the victory when these teams met in Minnesota back in April.

Per Minnesota Wild PR, here’s how the team lined up last time out versus the Rangers –

Kaprizov – Hartman – Zuccarello
Gaudreau – Steel – Boldy
Jost – Eriksson Ek – Foligno
Dewar – Rossi – Duhaime

Goligoski – Spurgeon
Brodin – Dumba
Middleton – Addison

Fleury
Gustavsson

Fiala Returns To Minnesota
Today’s game marks a return for forward Kevin Fiala, a victim of a cap crunch in Minnesota over the summer, which resulted in his availability for the Kings via trade.

Fiala was a huge part of last season’s Wild squad, as he broke out with a better than point-per-game pace last season. You’d imagine tonight will be a spotlight night for Fiala, if this morning’s gaggle of local media attending his availability is any indication. It’s always special for a player to come back to a place he’s spent multiple seasons and Fiala is no exception tonight.

“It’s a little weird, but in a good way,” he said. “I’m happy to be back and excited for the game tonight, to play against my old teammates, see them again and to be back in the old arena, with the fans. I really enjoyed my time here, it’s exciting to be back.”

His focus, however, is on helping his new team turn a zero into a one in the win column, noting that the team is focused on this game and getting their first time of the season.

With big expectations comes big responsibility, and Fiala is focused on his share of those responsibilities. On a forward line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, one that has glimmered but not shone through two games, he knows he and his line have more to give offensively. He’s hopeful that tonight could offer a breakout opportunity.

“I don’t think we’ve played great in these two games, we played better in the preseason, I think, but that’s how it goes, it’s up and down,” he said. “The chemistry will come, we’re three good players and I can see our line being very effective. I think tonight will be a good night.”

It’s just another game at the end of the day, even if tonight figures to have something special for Fiala personally. It’s an opportunity for him to open his Kings account and for the team to get themselves on the board.

His Head Coach, Todd McLellan, had similar takeaways, noting that while there are ways to honor Fiala, and recognize him in a return, it’s also about the team coming in and getting the win.

“For Kevin coming back, this is the first time and it happens real early in the season,” McLellan said. “For as much as we’d like to make it about Kevin and play really well, we’re not in that luxurious position right now of everything going the way we want it to, so we’ll focus on the team. There are different ways you can acknowledge his return in the locker room, whether it’s the starting lineup or something like that, but it is more about the Kings than it is Kevin tonight. I wish it was the other way, but it just isn’t.

Minnesota Mikey
While Fiala played here in Minnesota professionally, he’s not the only one with ties to the area.

Defenseman Mikey Anderson and forward Blake Lizotte are both Minnesota natives and both players played collegiate hockey here in Minnesota, with Anderson at Minnesota Duluth and Lizotte at St. Cloud State. Both players are anticipating a nice turnout from friends and family this evening, bringing some Kings support into away territory.

For Lizotte, he mentioned his group won’t be quite as large as past homecomings, as he’s played here now twice with full crowds, and he didn’t seem to mind that.

For Anderson, however, tonight is a little bit more special. While he’s played four times in Minnesota with the Kings, all four came during the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season, which was played in front of minimal fans. When the Kings came here last season in April, their only trip to Minnesota, Anderson was injured and missed out.

While his parents were able to see one of the games in front of a small group of fans, tonight’s contest should be a special homecoming for him, with a large contingent behind him.

“In the first COVID year, like 40 people were able to come to the game and someone on the Minnesota side got my mom and dad tickets, but other than that, this will be the first one,” he said. “It’s fun to be back, everything I do is around this part of town, so it’s fun to be back and see everything, see mom, dad and everyone.”

Similar to Fiala, however, Anderson understands the task at hand tonight, which surrounds the need for the Kings to get their first victory of the season.

The first two performances of the season weren’t up to the standard that the Kings expect of themselves, and Anderson was quick to point out the importance of tonight’s game from a team standpoint, not just an individual standpoint.

“It’ll be fun, I’ve been to enough games growing up here where it’ finally fun to have family, friends and everyone in the crowd but at the same time, it’s a big, important game for us, especially with how we’ve started, so we’re trying to get back on track.”

Lastly, McLellan offered another look at team identity here entering Game 3,

“We’ve got to decide who we want to be and how we want to play. When you have some success, or a margin of success the year prior, coming back is a hard thing. You tend to wander away from what your identity is, especially when you’ve added talent, and you forget how hard it was. Right now we’re in that funk, where we’ve got to figure out who we want to be and how we’re going to do it. Tonight’s opponent will be a real good challenge for us, because if we keep choosing the route we’re choosing, I don’t think we’re going to have success for a little while, but eventually we’ll get there.”

It’s been a steady stream of quetions around this topic since the loss on Night 1 against Vegas, and it’s a work in progress, as discussed in a bit more detail last night. Important for the team to move closer to finding that identity, and perhaps the road is the place to do it.

Kings and Wild, tonight at 5 PM Pacific from Minnesota!