1/3 Preview – Optional Morning Skate + Copley’s Preparation, Third Line Takeaways, Edler Ceremony

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (21-13-6) vs. Dallas Stars (23-9-6)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR SEASON GAME
WHEN: Tuesday, January 3 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: ESPN – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings return to the ice this evening to begin a stretch with six of seven games at home, as they host the Dallas Stars tonight at Crypto.com Arena.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Kevin Fiala scored when these teams met in Dallas back in November, while four other Kings players expected to dress tonight also collected a point in that game. Forward Arthur Kailiyev, who will not play tonight due to injury, has five points (4-1-5) from his last five games against the Stars. Tonight is the first of two games between the teams in LA, with a rematch set for January 19.

KINGS VITALS: Following a high-intensity practice day yesterday, the Kings held an optional morning skate earlier today at Toyota Sports Performance Center, one that was lightly attended.

Goaltender Pheonix Copley was the first off this morning, making him tonight’s projected starter versus Dallas. Copley has faced the Stars once in his NHL career, as he made 27 saves on 29 shots in a 2-1 overtime defeat back in January 2019. More on Copley below.

Based on yesterday’s practice alignment and what we saw this morning, here’s how the Kings could align this evening against the Stars –

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Iafallo – Danault – Arvidsson
Fiala – Lizotte – Vilardi
Grundstrom – Kupari – Anderson-Dolan
Lemieux

Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Walker

Copley
Quick

The Kings have just one healthy extra at the moment and with forward Brendan Lemieux on late after practice, we’ll expect him to be tonight’s extra, which indicates no changes from Saturday’s lineup. Forwards Trevor Moore and Arthur Kaliyev remain out of the lineup due to injury and have already been ruled out for tonight against Dallas.

STARS VITALS: Dallas is rolling entering tonight’s action, with points from eight of their last nine games coming in.

Goaltender Jake Oettinger was the first netminder off this morning for Dallas, making him tonight’s projected starter in what would be his seventh consecutive start. Oettinger has faced the Kings twice in his NHL career, posting a 1-1-0 record, with a .929 save percentage and a 2.56 goals-against average.

Per Mike Heika of DallasStars.com, here’s how the visitors aligned last time out, with the expectation of the ame alignment here tonight –

Robertson – Hintz – Pavelski
Kiviranta – Seguin – Dellandrea
Benn – Johnston – Marchment
Olofsson – Faksa – Glendening

Heiskanen – Lundkvist
Lindell – Hakanpää
Suter – Miller

Oettinger
Wedgewood

Dallas inked forward Joe Pavelski to a one-year contract extension on January 1, at a team-friendly cap hit, that ties him to the organization through the 2023-24 season. Stars forward and California native Jason Robertson ranks inside the NHL’s Top 5 in both goals and points. Defensemen Colin Miller and goaltender Scott Wedgewood have played for LA’s American Hockey League affiliate, but not with the Kings.

The Stars also bring with them a Top 5 unit on both special teams, power play and penalty kill. No team in the league has a better PP+PK percentage (112.5) than Dallas does. The Stars won that battle when the teams met in November, with three power-play goals, and the Kings are well aware of the team they’re facing tonight.

“We’ve got to be prepared for a very dangerous power play, they got three on us last time we played, and a penalty kill that is very effective,” Todd McLellan said this morning. “They have a lot of confidence right now, they’re getting it done. Special teams often dictate the outcome of the game, so we better be sharp on both of ours.”

Notes –
Cop That Workload
For the first time in his NHL career, goaltender Pheonix Copley is shouldering the bulk of the workload between the pipes.

Copley entered the season with 31 career NHL games between Washington and St. Louis, so he had been in the league before. He had also played in more than 200 career games in the AHL, frequently carrying the load as the starter at times with the Hershey Bears. To do so for this consistent of a stretch in the NHL, however, is a new thing for him. So far, the results have been tremendous with an 8-1-0 record from nine starts. Copley has started seven of the last nine games, with the expectation of making that eight from 10 tonight.

“I’ve played big stretches in the American League, so I’ve fine-tuned it a bit, but it’s not something I’m used to [in the NHL],” Copley said. “Sometimes it’s a little different [in the AHL], it’s more of a weekend schedule, but there are times when it’s more similar to this schedule, so having that experience definitely helps.”

The biggest differences for Copley perhaps come more from practice days in between starts with handling the workload. Kings goaltending coach Bill Ranford takes a prominent role when it comes to managing the goaltenders and he’s adjusted Copley’s workload a bit accordingly.

Copley referred to it as a bit of “practice management” and has leaning on the veteran goaltending coach to help him along the way.

“Billy is working with us, so it’s more of him being on top of that and he’s been great with it,” Copley said. “Get what you need and get off, there’s no need to overwork and dig a hole with fatigue. He’s been great in that regard.”

Speaking with Head Coach Todd McLellan, first and foremost, he trusts Ranford in those situations to know what is best for the goaltenders. He also trusts Copley, who has naturally not been with the Kings for overly long, but he’s also far from a rookie at the same time.

“Phoenix isn’t a young guy, he’s been through a lot, he’s spent significant time in the NHL already in a different role,” McLellan said. “He seems to be very self aware, manages himself well, and Billy does a good job with them, so I don’t worry a lot about that.”

Copley should get the nod again between the pipes tonight, another step forward for the Alaskan.

Line 3
“I thought they were our most effective line against Philadelphia. They keep plays alive in the ozone, it wasn’t one and done, loosened some pucks up on the forecheck. At the end of that night, that line was in the o-zone more than than the other three lines. If they can keep that up, it favors us but sometimes the other team gets in the way too and affects the outcome of the game.”

If you had Kevin Fiala, Blake Lizotte and Gabe Vilardi on your preseason bingo card you’re likely quite happy right now. Though, I’m not sure that anyone could confidently say that they did with any sort of truth.

Fact of the matter is, coming into this season, no one would have pegged the three of these guys as playing together. It was an unlikely combination then, but makes a lot of sense now. In theory, this line presents matchup problems for the opposition. By having Fiala and Vilardi separated from the top six, you can’t play your top defensemen against three separate lines. The hardworking Lizotte is the perfect complement and presents a skillset that can move up and down the lineup, meshing well with most players.

Though the line did not score against the Flyers, the numbers support McLellan’s quote above, with a 13-5 advantage in shot attempts and controlling margins in scoring chances and high-danger chances.

Fiala is naturally the interesting element, as he’s moved around quite a bit this season. As detailed yesterday, it hasn’t impacted his production in the slightest, with 37 points from 40 games played to lead all skaters. With much of that production coming at 5-on-5, he’s been productive with different players at different times. He was highly complementary of his current linemates and how they’ve meshed together.

Fiala on Lizotte – He’s been very good. He’s just playing a solid game and offensively, he taken a step forward, he’s not scared to do his job and it’s very good to see him getting rewarded. I feel like he’s been playing well the whole season but right now he’s getting rewarded offensively.

Fiala on Vilardi – He’s obviously a good player, he’s very skilled. He can score goals, he’s very good in puck battles, he’s strong and skilled, he’s very creative. You name it, he’s got it.

McLellan has frequently discussed the importance of that line and right now, that line is new, but exciting. Against a Dallas team that has veterans Jamie Benn and Mason Marchment playing on its third line, depth will be tested and depth will be important. Another strong output from that trio can only help.

Edler Ceremony
Lastly, Insiders, a pre-game ceremony to honor defenseman Alex Edler will occur before tonight’s game against Dallas. The game is already a bit earlier, with a 7:00 PM start due to the national broadcast, though it will likely actually begin a bit closer to regular game time with the pre-game ceremony set to begin promptly at 7.

Edler has several family members in town for the ceremony, as they were for the game against the Flyers on Saturday, which was his 1,000th career regular-season game. Tonight he’ll be honored prior to the game against the Stars, in a ceremony hosted by Kings radio play-by-play broadcaster Nick Nickson. A special moment, certainly, for a player not quite used to having so much of the spotlight placed upon himself.

More on Edler’s milestone HERE and HERE from over the last few days.

Kings and Stars, tonight at 7 PM on the Worldwide Leader. See you there!