2/26 Preview – No Changes Expected + Fourth Line First Back, Ranger Danger, Drawing Penalties

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (33-19-8) @ New York Rangers (33-17-9)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Sunday, February 26 @ 2:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports West – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings conclude the New York set of games this evening as they take on the Rangers for the final time this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Kevin Fiala led the way with three points when these teams met in Los Angeles back in November, while forward Anze Kopitar added two assists. Kopitar has four points (0-4-4) over his last three games played against New York, while forward Adrian Kempe has eight points (4-4-8) over his last seven games played versus the Rangers.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings opted not to hold a morning skate today, considering the earlier than usual puck drop.

Per Todd McLellan this morning, Jonathan Quick will get the nod for the second straight game for the Kings, coming off a strong performance in a victory over the Islanders on Friday evening. Quick has posted a 7-4-2 all-time record versus New York, with a .914 save percentage and a 2.37 goals-against average.

No line rushes today, without the morning skate, but last game’s alignment is listed below, with no changes expected –

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Walker

Quick
Copley

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) February 25, 2023

The Kings currently have Brendan Lemieux and Tobias Bjornfot as healthy options, though no lineup changes are expected from the group above. Forward Trevor Moore is still day-to-day with an upper-body injury and will not play today, though he is still with the team and is not yet ruled out for the Winnipeg game on Tuesday. Forward Carl Grundstrom is close to returning, but remains on injured reserve.

RANGERS VITALS: New York has dropped four straight games entering tonight’s action, which followed a seven-game winning streak.

Per Vince Mercogliano of USA Today, Rangers Head Coach Gerard Gallant hinted at goaltender Igor Shesterkin getting the nod today, after he was pulled yesterday afternoon following the second period. Shesterkin is 3-0-0 all-time versus the Kings, with a .949 save percentage and a 1.96 goals-against average.

Via Mercogliano, here’s how the Rangers lined up yesterday afternoon in Washington –

#NYR warmup rushes from Washington DC:

Kreider – Zib – Vesey
Panarin – Trocheck – Tarasenko
Laf – Chytil – Kakko
Goodrow – Motte

Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Trouba
Mikkola – Schneider
Harpur

Igor

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) February 25, 2023

New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren left yesterday’s game injured and has a day-to-day designation. Currently, the only available extra available is forward Jake Leschyshyn, who was placed on waivers yesterday afternoon, and has missed the last two games due to “roster management reasons”.

Notes –
Fourth Line Fires Back
Todd McLellan said after the game in New Jersey that he didn’t get enough from his fourth line.

They were on the ice for both 5-on-5 goals against on the evening and after the second one, which came early in the third period, they didn’t take another shift as a line. McLellan wants to be able to roll four lines, especially on the road, and with the Kings playing back-to-back going into the game on Long Island, it’s important to get regular shifts from all four lines.

While not diving into specifics, it was clear that the message was received by that line in between games, regardless of how it was broached.

“There are different approaches,” McLellan said. “Individuals, collectively, different factors that go into the game and different presentations to those players, whether it’s myself or Jim [Hiller], sometimes it could be a skill coach talking about a certain moment. I think they were well aware that they needed to be more of a factor in the game and give us better minutes than they did the night before and they did that.

Speaking after the game with Rasmus Kupari, he said that there wasn’t exactly anything that needed to be said by the coaches. They all knew their game versus the Devils wasn’t at the level it needed to be and they were determined as a group to improve. After generating zero shot attempts on Thursday, compared to 10 against, the group responded with nine shot attempts for versus just two against in Friday’s victory. With five of those attempts coming on goal and three deemed to be scoring chances, it was a strong showing indeed.

Now, with two games remaining on the trip and 22 left this season, it’s about continuing that progression moving forward.

“It’s a great sign for our team that group is maturing and they can respond after a night that maybe wasn’t their best and give us a night that maybe was their best,” McLellan added. “Now, can they do it consistently, we’ve got six more periods on this road trip and we’re going to need every minute of their strong play.”

Looking specifically at Arthur Kaliyev, who scored the line’s goal, McLellan felt it was his best game since returning from injury earlier this month.

Kaliyev himself felt the same way. Independent of the goal he scored, his legs were noticeably going and he impacted the game beyond just the offensive production. When you’re coming back from a lower-body injury, the conditioning is harder to maintain, because you can’t skate. He cited legs and conditioning as the most challenging things to get back together and now it’s finally starting to feel a bit better for him.

“It’s getting a little bit better,” he said. “I wasn’t too happy with the ones I played before, but I think my legs and the rest of my game are slowly getting better. It’s still not quite there yet, but hopefully the [Islanders] game brings my confidence up a little bit more.”

Ranger Danger
Two defined opponents in the Devils and Islanders over the last two games.

When Todd McLellan has spoken about New Jersey, it was an emphasis on team speed. We saw that firsthand in the game. With the Islanders, it was about structure and commitment and we saw that as well. While every team is different, the Rangers likely air more on the side of the Devils in terms of their speed and offensive skill, even if it’s not quite the same type of team and identity

“Each has their own identity, but this is a fast, puck-moving, creative, offensive team,” McLellan said this morning. “The Islanders were lots of those things as well, but they’re built a little more about defending and taking care of things. That doesn’t mean the Rangers or Jersey don’t take that seriously, they do and they wouldn’t be in the positions they’re in, but certainly a little bit different.”

The tale of the tape shows one of the league’s best teams, with 30 ROW’s and a +30 goal differential. They’re one of six teams around the NHL with a positive goal differential in all three periods and have the second-best third-period margin (+21) in the league.

As noted in the above section on the Rangers, they’re a team of streaks as of late. Four consecutive defeats coming in, including a lopsided one yesterday afternoon in Washington, but prior to that it was a seven-game winning streak, tied for their longest run of the 2022-23 season. The Rangers have yet to lose five straight this season and will likely be motivated not to do so here today.

“I think their mindset is going to be one of directness and repair, so they’re going to be a big challenge that way,” McLellan said. “Secondly, they’re a dynamic team, they play a fast, strong, offensive game. They can make you pay for mistakes, certainly in the offensive zone and their goaltending can outright steal them games. There’s some tough tasks for us that we have to deal with, but we’re going to do this 21 more times after tonight, I’ll probably be telling you the same thing over and over because it’s that time of year.”

Drawing More Penalties
Lastly, Insiders, a quick look at penalties.

The Kings have had just four power plays so far on this trip – one in Minnesota, one in New Jersey and two against the Islanders. Two of the four have been cut short due to a penalty taken while on the power play.

As a whole this season, the Kings are tied for the sixth most power-play opportunities around the NHL. Their next man advantage will be their 200th of the season. That’s an average of 3.4 per game. Todd McLellan indicated he isn’t seeing anything his team is necessarily lacking or not doing to draw those calls, but did point to the fact that sometimes just being on the PP and creating chances can build momentum that leads to another call. Having your time cut short doesn’t allow for that.

“I think that the officiating is probably going to be more like we’re seeing it now, it just naturally happens that way. Sometimes, if you stay on the power play, rather than taking two penalties on it, you can gain some momentum and maybe draw another and we haven’t been able to do that. So, we have two games left on this trip, we’d like to at least end up or tied with the minutes of the opposing team when it comes to infractions.”

With the NHL’s second-best power-play unit, clicking at more than 25 percent, getting more looks certainly would not be a bad thing.

Kings and Rangers, coming up a couple of hours earlier than usual at 2 PM Pacific!