10/24 Practice – Kings address areas of focus + McLellan on Lines, Lizotte on Identity, Robitaille Joins ATKM

Back on the ice, Insiders!

The Kings hit the ice this morning for their first on-ice practice as a group since Friday, October 14. The team had two main focal points, per Todd McLellan, as they hit the ice today on the heels of a five-game road trip.

“We needed it, we need more of it and being at home will help,” McLellan said today. “We picked two areas of the game that we have to clean up and tried to just concentrate on that. There are other areas, but we picked those two areas and I thought we had their attention, the guys gave each other a good effort in practice today. We paid attention to the details of certain situations and practiced well in those situations, so hopefully we improve.”

McLellan touched on the trip itself from an overarching perspective after the game in Washington, but that was with a fresh perspective after the 4-3 loss. The trip as a whole was fine from a record standpoint – the Kings went 3-2-0 and picked up six of a possible 10 points – but that’s just the record side, though.

How would McLellan have viewed the if the record 4-1-0, or 1-4-0, but with the exact same level of performance? Not all that differently, as he detailed this morning.

“What I’ve heard, just from the coaches room, is ‘it’s not a bad trip’ and I don’t think we ever want to hear that, it’s not a bad trip, we should be in a position right now where it should be a good trip,” McLellan said. “[Then you hear], not from the coaches room, ‘well, if you could have held on to that last game, it would have been 4-1 and an outstanding trip.’ Statistically speaking for points, that would be great, but you can look at it the other way. We gave up six and won a game, we missed an empty net and had to go to overtime and win in the shootout, we came back from 3-1. For me, that trip was a wide-open slate and it could have went either way. If we would have come back 1-4 instead of 3-2, I don’t think there’s a big swing in that, it could have been 4-1 as well. What I’m trying to say is it was an inconsistent trip from period to period, shot to shot, goal to goal and that’s something we have to clean up.”

With that in mind, here’s how the Kings aligned today in El Segundo –

Kempe – Kopitar – Fiala
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Kaliyev – Byfield – Vilardi – Anderson-Dolan
Lemieux – Lizotte – Grundstrom

Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Clarke – Walker

Quick
Petersen

The defensemen certainly rotated around, having an odd number, but we did see Durzi on the left side, as we’ve now seen over the last few games. Until tomorrow we wait to see if there are any changes in terms of the lineup are to be expected, but no signs from today that would suggest anything, at least nothing drastic.

That’s also not to say that the Kings are happy with how all four lines are going at the moment. Production levels, offensively, have been pretty solid across the board, with offensive point totals from the first three units where you’d like to see them, and the play of the fourth line has spoken for itself in terms of style of play. There’s the age-old question of breaking up a successful line to try and spark a different line, which can work in some instances, but it can fix one problem and create another.

McLellan believes there’s more there when it comes to the top line, and that the third line without Alex Iafallo is still in search of its groove. We saw the best of the first line in Minnesota and all three members of that line are capable of a high level of production. All three players have five or more points from seven games played, so production has been there, which tells you the level of expectation everyone has and what the ceiling can potentially be. McLellan noted that he’s comfortable with the other two lines right now, with a breakdown below.

“I’m comfortable with two right now, I was comfortable with three,” McLellan said. “I thought that Quinton Byfield’s line at the beginning of the year was one of our better lines, there was no concern. They could still be that, Al’s a different player, right now we’ve got Arthur there, it’s a little bit different. I think Lizzo’s line has an identity, they know who they are and they play that way. Phil’s line, in my opinion, is starting to click a little bit more, finally getting Arvy back. The other two lines are in flux, trying to figure things out, but they have the capability of being really effective.”

With regards to the top unit, they’re still getting adjusted with Kevin Fiala joining the organization as the third running mate alongside Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. Kempe has four goals from seven games played, while Kopitar has five assists, and Fiala has four helpers. McLellan is understanding that it takes some time to fully come together, and that’s where things stand at this stage. The potential is there, and the Kings remain hopeful of that potential being realized.

Quick Hitters –

McLellan On Iafallo
Over the weekend, the Kings a few different roster moves, with the largest-scale transaction being that forward Alex Iafalo was placed on LTIR, meaning that he will be out of action at least for the forseeable future. That’s not necessarily a surprise, as Todd McLellan confirmed an more extended absence a few days prior, but the LTIR designation means either 10 games or 24 days out of action, so it’s certainly not a day-to-day situation with Iafallo.

McLellan commented on his versatile player after today’s practice, noting the importance that his absense brings –

“He’s the Swiss-Army knife, he understands how the game is going to be played on any given night,” McLellan said of Iafallo. “What I mean by that is he can play a fast game, a physical game, a thinking game and he plays on both sides of the puck quite well. Often with those guys, you’ll hear that you’ve got to really watch them close to appreciate them, but we’ve talked ad nauseam about this. You often don’t miss them until you miss and we miss him.”

Lizotte On Line Identity
We heard from Brendan Lemieux and Carl Grundstrom about the identity of the fourth line before the game in Washington. Today, Blake Lizotte chimed in with his perspective on the unit. The game in Pittsburgh was a huge step forward for that line, despite the end result, with another strong effort coming in Washington on Saturday. We saw the energy and identity of that line shine through last season and they are bringing that back here this season.

“Yeah, I think it’s kind of been building for us over the last four games, I think we’ve found our our energy and found our role,” Lizotte said of his line. “I think our chances for versus chances against is at a great spot right now and unfortunately for us, it’s not bouncing in our favor at the moment. I think we’re finding ways to contribute to the team, whether it’s bringing energy or an o-zone shift or positivity on the bench, I think we’re finding a way to impact the team positively even when we don’t necessarily get on the scoresheet.”

Robitaille Joins All The Kings Men

Lastly, hear from Kings President Luc Robitaille as he joins the All The Kings Men Podcast. Robitaille speaks on a variety of topics, including the Reverse Retro jerseys and several other areas from his day-to-day overseeing both the business and hockey operations branches of the Kings organization. A great interview, worth a listen!

Coming up later on today, Insiders, we’ll take a look at the balance between getting increased offensive contributions from the team’s defensemen – as the Kings have this season – and the need to sure things up on the defensive side. Several of the team’s blueliners, as well as Head Coach Todd McLellan, have commented on that aspect of the game and we’ll share some of those note here on LAKI.

As always, thanks for reading!