11/29 Preview – Vilardi “should be good to go” + What’s Kraken, Lizotte’s Impact, Holiday Ice

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (12-9-3) vs. Seattle Kraken (13-5-3)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR SEASON GAME
WHEN: Tuesday, November 29 @ 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 continue on a four-game homestand here this evening as they host the Seattle Kraken at Crypto.com Arena.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Phillip Danault leads the Kings this season with two points (1-1-2) from two games played this season against Seattle. Danault also led the Kings in goals against the Kraken last season with three goals a season ago, while forwards Gabe Vilardi (2-2-4) and Adrian Kempe (1-3-4) led the way with four points from three games played.

KINGS VITALS: Following a short practice yesterday, with the full group on the ice, the Kings were back in action today for an optional morning skate in El Segundo.

Goaltender Jonathan Quick was not on the ice this morning, which indicates that he is tonight’s expected starter tonight versus the Kraken. Quick has faced the NHL’s newest team just twice throughout his career, entering tonight’s action with a 1-1-0 record, a .902 save percentage and a 3.06 goals-against average.

Below is a projection of tonight’s lineup, based off of yesterday’s practice and today’s morning skate –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Durzi– Roy
Edler – Walker
Clarke – Spence

Quick
Petersen

Gabe Vilardi "should be good to go" tonight, per Todd McLellan.

Clarke, Fagemo & Spence on late after morning skate, indicates that 13 is expected to play versus Seattle. https://t.co/RusVdiDScx

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 29, 2022

The only expected change from Sunday’s lineup appears to be forward Gabe Vilardi checking in for forward Lias Andersson, who was assigned to Ontario earlier in the day. Vilardi “should be good to go” per Todd McLellan and indicated himself that he’s feeling good this morning. Forward Samuel Fagemo, along with defensemen Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence, were on late after morning skate today, indicating that they aren’t as likely to play. Spence and Fagemo were recalled from AHL-Ontario earlier this morning to round out the NHL roster.

KRAKEN VITALS: Tonight is the final stop on a three-game road trip for the Kraken, following wins over Vegas and Anaheim. Overall, Seattle is 9-1-1 over its last 11 games, including a 3-2 overtime win over the Kings on November 19.

Per Piper Shaw of Seattle’s television broadcast, goaltender Martin Jones is the expected starter this evening for the Kraken. All-time versus the Kings, Jones is 21-7-3, with a .926 save percentage and a 2.28 goals-against average.

Per Emerald Hockey, here is how Seattle lined up last time out –

Here's our projected #SEAKraken lineup for tonight's game against #FlyTogether presented by @QueenAnneHall. pic.twitter.com/NYpjHPzZ9B

— Emerald City Hockey (@EmeraldCityHky) November 27, 2022

Seattle has had a balanced approach offensively, with 11 players in double-digit points, but just one higher than 20, including each of their Top-9 forwards. Forward Brandon Tanev is tied for fifth amongst NHL forwards with a +14 rating, while defenseman Morgan Geekie is tied for seventh amongst NHL defensemen at +13.

Notes –
What’s Kraken
A difficult test tonight for the Kings against a much improved and much deeper Seattle team than we saw a season ago. From the first six (plus) periods this season, we’ve seen those improvements firsthand. The Kings were disjointed when these teams met in Los Angeles back in October and though they fought back admirably in Seattle earlier this month, much of the opening 40 minutes saw Seattle make life difficult on the Kings and their style of play.

The question this morning was whether or not having success tonight is simply a matter of the Kings committing more to playing their game, and excelling at it, or if they make specific adjustments to counter what Seattle does. The answer lies somewhere in between.

“It’s a combination of both,” Todd McLellan said this morning. “You’ve got to look at what they do well and try and have a plan to counter it. It’s not always going to work, but you at least have to identify some areas and then we have to do what we do well. This is a team that’s +18 at 5-on-5, that’s almost a goal per game they start with on the right side of the ledger. It tells me that 5-on-5 will be a tough task, we have to end up on the front end of that, but also special teams. If you get them you better take advantage of them.”

Forward Anze Kopitar called it a “healthy mix” this morning when describing the balance between where the focus lies from the coaching staff when talking with the group about tonight’s game.

Where Kopitar was more concerned was with where a team like Seattle sits in the standings compared to the Kings. Viktor Arvidsson spoke after the San Jose game about the importance of getting a divisional win, an area the Kings have struggled in so far this season. With one point and two defeats against the Kraken so far this season, and a 2-4-1 record in the division, the Kings know they need to rack up some points from games like this in order to progress.

“I think at this point we should know what they’re all about and plan accordingly,” Kopitar said this morning. “The matter of the fact is that they’re in front of us in the standings and we’ve got to try to catchup. In order to do that, you have to beat them.”

To find success tonight, the Kings will have to find an approach that counteracts a deep roster and a team that can make life difficult on their opposition through their size and physicality, as well as a hard, heavy style of play. The Kings struggled early against Ottawa to establish themselves in the game. Something they’ll be focused on right off the opening puck drop tonight.

“We haven’t had a lot of those games this year, I want us to play the way we can and I believe the players want to be like that too,” McLellan added. “It was flat that we talked about yesterday, we don’t want to be flat and the connectivity of our game from one play to the next has to be clean and that’s where our speed and offense comes from.”

Easy Blake Oven
It’s no secret that the Kings are a bit decimated when it comes to their bottom six.

All three members of the third line from opening night were not in action on Sunday, as Iafallo and Vilardi missed out due to injury and center Quinton Byfield is currently still in the AHL with the Ontario Reign, netting two goals and three points in a Sunday afternoon win over Tucson. Brendan Lemieux, a member of the fourth line from that game, is also out, leaving just Blake Lizotte and Arthur Kaliyev as players who played in those roles against Vegas now six weeks prior.

Looking specifically at Lizotte, Todd McLellan believes that there’s a player who can potentially help to carry a line in the interim, with the personnel the Kings currently have at their disposal.

“We hope that he can, yeah, he’s done a good job,” McLellan said of Lizotte. “There’s a combination of players that Lizzo makes better and they make him better and when some of that is missing it’s hard for him but it’s also hard for others. That’s hockey, that’s the way it goes, but he is a reliable guy. I have no problem putting him on the ice again and again because the one thing you can count on with him is everything he has. He’s not going to be perfect, there will be mistakes, but it will be by commission not omission.”

Lizotte is currently skating on a line with Gabe Vilardi and Carl Grundstrom on the wings, forming what is currently the team’s third line with others out of the lineup. All three players have been regular third liners, or higher, throughout their career, but it’s just as of late that they’ve all been there together.

Speaking with Vilardi – who is expected to check back in this evening – he complemented Lizotte’s work along the boards and down low, despite his size, as being something that stands out to him.

“Yeah, him and Grunny hunt very hard on the forecheck,” Vilardi said. “With [Lizotte] especially, he’s very, very good with his stick down low, he can create separation. Obviously he’s a smaller guy but he can escape in the corner very well. With him, I just try and get open if he has it in the corner because he’s going to escape his guy and he’s gonna draw double coverage, which means that somebody is open.”

Vilardi added that Grundstrom brings similar traits, which puts the onus on Vilardi to find the open space that is created as a result to try and capitalize off of it. As the team’s leading goalscorer, it’s potentially a way to get him into additional offensive opportunities.

“Somebody’s going to be open and if that’s me, I’ve got to find that either that soft spot in the slot or if it’s just changing sides and changing point of attack. He’s very good in the corners.”

The hope is that Vilardi’s addition alongside those two players can potentially jumpstart a bottom six that didn’t create much at 5-on-5 against Ottawa. Against a team like Seattle, that is spread out more throughout the lineup than a typical top/bottom six deployment, it’ll be important to see an uptick from that part of the Kings lineup to match.

Holiday Ice
Lastly, Insiders, LA Kings Holiday Ice at L.A. Live will hold its seasonal grand opening prior to tonight’s game against Seattle.

There will be a ceremonial ribbon cutting prior to tonight’s game between the Kings and Kraken and the outdoor skating runs through January 8. Insider Night on the Ice? Wouldn’t hate it………..

Back at it tonight at C Dot Arena. See you there!