11/28 Practice – Vilardi & Iafallo Skate + Today’s Alignment, Second Thoughts, Pinch Hitting

Good Afternoon, Insiders!

The Kings hit the ice for a quick team practice today in El Segundo, on the day in between last night’s overtime defeat against Ottawa and tomorrow’s rematch versus Seattle. A busy slate as of late, with much to improve upon, but balanced against the need to maintain energy levels throughout the course of the week.

Forwards Gabe Vilardi and Alex Iafallo were both on the ice with the team, which is certainly a welcomed sign.

Vilardi skated yesterday morning before the game against Ottawa but missed the game with an upper-body injury. He’s currently designated as day-to-day. Vilardi took rushes today on his line from San Jose, alongside Blake Lizotte and Carl Grundstrom, which is a good sign for him, but as McLellan noted, Vilardi skated yesterday as well and it’s not a sign necessarily that he will play tomorrow.

“He was on the ice yesterday too, yesterday in the morning state he was there, so just because he’s out there skating, don’t assume anything,” McLellan said of Vilardi’s status for tomorrow. “I haven’t talked to the trainers, but he looked better.”

Regarding Iafallo, today was his first practice back with the full group, a great sign as he works his way back towards an eventual return to game action. Iafallo has been skating on his own for around a week now, getting to a place where he could join the group today in a non-contact jersey. He first took the ice in a more individually driven setting with different coaches and he was on late after practice today along with defenseman Brandt Clarke for extra, individually driven work. He was certainly a welcomed addition and a player the Kings are eager to eventually work back into the lineup.

“Very good [to see him on the ice], he’s a player we’ve missed,” McLellan said. “We miss him in a lot of different situations, with and without the puck. He’s a trusting player, an identity player who plays towards the identity most nights, so we miss him, but we’ll get him back eventually.”

Vilardi and Iafallo were a part of the rest of the group that took the ice today. Full alignment available below –

Fiala – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Vilardi – Lizotte – Grundstrom – Andersson
Anderson-Dolan – Kupari – Kaliyev
Iafallo (RED)

Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Walker
Clarke

Quick / Petersen

A Second Look
Sometimes, when Todd McLellan and the coaching staff go back and review a game, they come away with a different takeaway than when they watched the game live. Sometimes, the takeaway is exactly the same the second time around. When it comes to last night’s game versus Ottawa, McLellan’s post-game remarks rang true on the second go-around.

“No – Sometimes you go back and watch the game again and you see something different, but no. We were on our heels for the first half of the game, outworked and I thought we were really stubborn, didn’t execute really well and when we changed our approach halfway through the night, it got a little bit better. Power play did a good job of bailing us out and giving us at least a point, Quickie as well.”

McLellan was also asked about the players using the word “flat” when describing last night’s game, at least at the start. The first period certainly had that feeling for sure, with things improving as the night went on. The Kings looked their best in the third period last night, as they gained some energy and built off of the power-play goals in the second period, especially Arthur Kaliyev’s second goal, which tied the game for a second time and came just a couple minutes before the second intermission.

He gave his best assessment of how the team took that phrase as it pertains to last night’s game.

“They’re talking about being second, being late, being sloppy when they use those terms and that’s not what we want to be, but we were that for a significant part of the game,” he added. “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, Ottawa is a really good team and they took advantage of it.”

It’s easy to see when watching the Senators a team that has more talent than its record indicates. Last night was the first one-goal win of the season for Ottawa, compared to five consecutive defeats entering the game. The Kings earned a point for the tenth time from 13 one-goal games played this season, tied for the most one-goal games played in the NHL. More to follow on that in the coming days.

Batter Up
With early-season injuries has come the need for players to step into the lineup when called upon.

First, it was Jaret Anderson-Dolan, who checked in originally for two games in late October before joining the lineup on a more permanent basis on November 14. Anderson-Dolan has retained his place in the lineup in the seven games since, producing impactful performances through his propensity and willingness to block shots, with his two-point outing against San Jose on Friday a nice reward for that type of player.

Defenseman Jacob Moverare had a similar task, checking in against Seattle and New York after he served as a healthy scratch for six days preceding. Last night against Ottawa, it was forward Lias Andersson who was tasked with coming in cold. Andersson had not played a game at any level since November 12, with AHL-Ontario. In the span of 48 hours, he played on Saturday with the Reign and yesterday with the Kings. A difficult assignment.

“I would say the same thing for Lias as I said about JAD, it’s a tough job to do, but as you grow older in your career and you settle in, that could be your role and you have to be ready to go. Lias did a good job [on Sunday].”

Pinch hitting, if you will, is a skillset you don’t really think much of when it comes to hockey. But it pertains in certain situations when looking at players moving in and out of the lineup and in a situation like yesterday, when Andersson did not have any opportunities to practice with his linemates, it was almost a true pinch-hitting opportunity. McLellan detailed some of the things he looks for in a successful player who can succeed in that role.

“Mentally, you have to be strong, because it can wear on you when you’re told on a consistent basis that you’re not playing tonight,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, but sometimes it feels like somebody’s telling you you’re not good enough to play. You are, we just have others that are doing things that we’re keeping in the lineup, so you have to be mentally strong and then you have to work at your craft because if you let it slip at all and you do get your chance and you don’t make good on it, then it’s harder for us to justify a return to the lineup. It could also indicate that maybe you went too long without playing and you need to play some games to get back up to speed. It’s a really tough task for certain players.”

The mental side in particular is challenging and typically, players who reach the NHL have never not played for an extended stretch when they were healthy enough to do so. As NHL draft picks, when able to play, these are players who were always playing. When you reach the NHL and all players are in that boat, it takes that mental strength to contribute in spot-start situations.

With injuries now mounting a bit, and players set to eventually return, there will likely be additional opportunities for players to carve out a role as someone who can step into the lineup and contribute, even if they’re not playing every day. A good trait to have for those towards the bottom of the roster sheet to have in their toolbox.

Sorry for the delay on today’s article, Insiders, one of those afternoons when meetings stacked up and zapped most of my energy and my day. A regular game day to follow tomorrow, with a look at what’s clicking right now for whatever you want to label the power-play unit that is currently scoring a lot of goals to follow later in the week. We’ll see how these next couple of games shake out, but as inconcistency continues, it’s a focal point for later on this week as well.

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