Practice 3/8 – Off To Colorado + KEMP3(0), Spence Recalled from Ontario, Connors Honored

Good Afternoon, Insiders!

A practice day here today before the Kings departed for Colorado. The team is currently in a stretch that consists of just one away game from a span of 11 games. That one game comes tomorrow, as the Kings visit the Avalanche in a battle of two teams that have played some of the best hockey in the NHL in the new year. Since January 1, the Kings have a .680 winning percentage, the fourth-best mark in the league, while Colorado ranks eighth at .648. Both teams are picking up points down the stretch and if the last matchup between these teams serves as any indication, expect an exciting one tomorrow evening at Ball Arena.

As for today’s practice, the Kings took the ice for a full-team practice, including recently recalled defenseman Jordan Spence. The team hit the ice for around 45 minutes this morning before heading to the airport, in advance of their travel.

Here’s how the Kings lined up today –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Edler – Walker
Spence

Copley / Korpisalo

Defenseman Sean Durzi did not practice with the team today. Durzi took a hit up high during the win over Washington and did not return to the game. With the travel day, no opportunity to follow-up on Durzi’s status, so we’ll wait until tomorrow to get a better picture. Defenseman Jordan Spence was recalled from the AHL earlier this morning to give the Kings seven blueliners on the ice. More on Spence below.

As far as the fourth line goes, today’s practice looked like a similar look to Monday’s game, with Zack MacEwen alongside Rasmus Kupari and Carl Grundstrom, while Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Arthur Kaliyev were joined by Trevor Moore. Todd McLellan has said that there will be rotation amongst the forwards and defensemen over the coming weeks, especially when Moore returns from injury. Will see how, or if, those rotations impact the alignment tomorrow.

Notes –
KEMP3(0)
On a night filled with storylines, one that perhaps flew under the radar a bit was that of Adrian Kempe’s 30th goal of the season.

Hard to see a goal number 30 fall through the cracks, but Kempe’s 30th of the season came as the empty-net goal with just 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation. On a night when we saw accounts opened with the organization, unlikely goalscorers, franchise records set, streaks extended and milestones reached, Kempe’s empty netter flew a bit under the radar, though it really shouldn’t have. Kempe became the first Kings player since Ziggy Palffy in the early 2000’s to score 30 goals in back-to-back seasons, proving once and for all that his explosion last season is the norm, not the anomaly.

“Going into the year, I tried pretty hard to keep up with what I did last year, but I knew that the expectations were going to be up on myself, not just from the team, but from the outside as well, you have to perform,” he said. “Happy that I could hit 30, obviously it’s nothing that I try to think about too much, but the expectations on me this year were to score again and I think I’ve shown that I can do that. It’s a good thing, I guess.”

When Kempe broke out last season with 35 goals, there was a lot of external wondering on how he would replicate his success. Off of the huge 2021-22 season, Kempe signed a four-year, $22 million extension, cementing his status as a core piece for the Kings going forward. One highly focused upon part of Kempe’s season were his six empty-net goals, which were tied for the fourth most in the NHL. Granted, he was amongst elite-scoring company with names like McDavid, Ovechkin and Svechnikov also among the top ten in the league. With ENG’s a more volatile stat, would his production translate?

Looking at this season, not only has Kempe replicated his success, but he’s actually improved upon it. His goals/60 are up at 5-on-5, as are his assists/60, and he’s generating right around the same amount of attempts and scoring chances. On the power play, Kempe has seen a massive jump in production, going from 1.56 goals per/60 to 2.71. After he scored six power-play goals a season ago, Kempe has been a part of a resurgent PP group here in 2022-23, with a team-best nine PPG’s to his name so far this season. The last Kings player to score 10 power-play goals in a season was Jeff Carter in 2016-17. Kempe is one shy of joining the club.

“It’s been good and you create a lot of momentum just being on the power play, especially when you play well and when you can score, you can change the momentum of the game,” Kempe said of the power play. “We’re shooting a lot of pucks, the power play has been good all year, even if last game was a step down from where we have been. Overall, we’re pretty confident being out there.”

30 goals from 65 games translates to a pace of just under 38 goals over the course of 82. Kempe has shown the ability to score in bunches, meaning his total could rise quickly. He’s had his colder spells as well, but his consistency is coming through more and more this season especially. While the Kings count on more than just a goal total from Kempe, it’s good to see those totals in line with last season’s production. As the Kings chase a playoff berth, they’ll be counting on that production and level of play continuing from an important player.

Air Jordan
A roster move this morning, Insiders, as Jordan Spence was recalled from AHL-Ontario.

Spence has appeared in three NHL games with the Kings this season, all of which came in a one-week span back in late-December before the holiday break. Spence is no stranger to the NHL, however, with 24 games down the stretch last season, in addition to three during the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Kings dealt with a rash of injuries on the backend, especially on the right side.

Spending the bulk of this season at the AHL level, Spence has picked up where he left off a season ago, when he was named an AHL First-Team All-Star, as well as a nod to the league’s All-Rookie Team. Spence’s points-per-game pace has dipped slightly, from .91 to .82, but his defensive responsibilities have also increased, frequently facing the team’s most difficult matchups on a pairing with Tobias Bjornfot. Spence’s 41 points are the third most in the AHL this season among defensemen, also ranking third in assists (37) and second in power-play assists (21). Despite the strong power-play performance, a higher percentage of his points are coming at even strength this season, going along with more even-strength minutes.

As noted above, Spence’s recall comes on a day when defenseman Sean Durzi did not practice. Spence gave the Kings seven defensemen during today’s skate. It would stand to reason that defenseman Sean Walker would be the first to check back into the lineup, should Durzi not be able to play tomorrow, but we’ll get a better sense of that come the morning. Worst case, another opportunity for Spence with the NHL group and we’ll see how it goes from there.

King Kenny
Lastly, Insiders, a tap of the stick for prospect Kenny Connors, who was honored earlier today as a member of Hockey East’s All-Rookie Team.

Connors was one of five forwards and seven skaters selected to the All-Rookie team, coming off of a very strong season as a freshman at the University of Massachusetts. The All-Rookie team was voted upon by the head coaches from the conference, a nice honor to see Connors recognized by those he plays against.

A fourth-round selection in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, on his second time through the draft, Connors ranked second on the Minutemen with 26 points (9-17-26) this season from 31 games played. Connors tallied 17 of those points in conference play, also the second-highest total on the team. Per UMass Athletics, Connors ranks sixth in among Hockey East rookies in points, tied for seventh in goals. In conference games, he was sixth among first-year players in points (17) and eighth in goals (6).

Connors was recognized previously by Hockey East as the conference’s Rookie Of The Month in October, in addition to being a two-time Rookie of the Week. Connors joins Jack Hughes (2022), Tyler Madden (2019) and Cal Petersen (2015) as current members of the Kings organization who have been named to the Hockey East All-Rookie team.

Congrats, Kenny!

We have representation on the @hockey_east
All-Rookie Team for a sixth straight season ⤵️

Congratulations @kennyconnors25!

🔗: https://t.co/q1hvjrsL8u#NewMass X #Flagship 🚩 pic.twitter.com/mtIfNmNiZw

— UMass Hockey (@UMassHockey) March 8, 2023

Kings are currently in the air, on the way to Denver. Full coverage to follow in the AHL as we get a better sense of how the team will align tomorrow evening.

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