Practice Report, 10/10 – Kings Talk Power-Play Progress + Arvidsson/Rittich Updates, Tu Liga Schedule

One more skate, Insiders.

The Kings hit the ice earlier today at Toyota Sports Performance Center in what will be their final practice before the first game of the regular season against the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow evening.

Today’s practice featured the group that was announced in yesterday’s season-opening roster. That consists of 11 forwards, six defensemen and three goaltenders, aligned below as they skated today.

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Lewis
Fiala – Dubois – Laferriere
Grundstrom – Lizotte

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Bjornfot

Copley / Talbot

11 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders hit the ice today for the LA Kings. If you’re thinking that’s two fewer individuals than yesterday’s submitted roster, you’d be correct.

Forward Viktor Arvidsson did not practice today. He is day-to-day with a lower-body injury and is “questionable” to play tomorrow evening against Colorado. Goaltender David Rittich, who was also on the opening-night roster, was placed on waivers today and did not practice. We’ll learn about his status tomorrow morning.

Viktor Arvidsson is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, per Rob Blake.

“Questionable” for opening night tomorrow.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) October 10, 2023

In terms of today’s skate, it was final preparations before Game 1. The Kings feel prepared to take on Colorado tomorrow morning, the first game of the regular season. Whose Line Is It Anyways time is over – the points do matter come tomorrow evening.

Power-Play Progress
“We expect to be a top-five team in the league on the power play.”

Drew Doughty knows that last season is the bar to meet.

The power play was a massive bright spot last season, as the Kings rose from the NHL’s 27th ranked power play to the fourth-best mark in the league last season. The Kings nearly matched Edmonton on special teams in the playoffs, with the power play being a driving force behind that.

The bulk of the conversation surrounding special teams over the last few weeks has been about the penalty kill. And rightfully so, considering the spotlight placed on the penalty kill last season, specifically during that six-game series against Edmonton last April. Keeping the power play where it needs to be, though, is also important.

So far in the preseason, we’ve seen some really promising things on the man advantage and some moments that haven’t quite come together. The game in Utah, for example, most everyone involved agreed it wasn’t quite up to snuff. Against the Golden Knights on Saturday, the first unit scored a nice goal, stemming from a willingness to hit the open man and shoot the puck.

There’s a process to get back the things from last year, but also a desire to grow upon it. It’s been a balance of both, but although the PK is the area in need of the most fixing, the Kings have been putting a lot of work in on the PP as well.

“I think you have to re-establish a base point and do what you did in the past, over and over again, and then you can grow it,” McLellan said. “Sometimes. when you go from where we were to where we went in a single season, you can lose things over the summer and forget how hard it was to get there.”

McLellan felt that the power-play unit passed the puck too much in Utah, calling it “looking good doing nothing”. A lot of puck movement, but without the end product. The goal against Vegas was a good example of finding the open player to create a shot from Adrian Kempe, with Viktor Arvidsson slotting home the rebound.

From the point of view of the players, they feel like the concepts are coming back. They know it’s not perfect, but the group is working to re-establish what went well the year before.

“It’s a new year, a new beginning so we have to do it again,” Kevin Fiala said. “I think it’s important to stay on it and every practice just work on it a little bit, just to keep it going.”

For Fiala’s unit, personnel is similar, with Arvidsson taking the place of now Winnipeg Jet Gabe Vilardi. He noted that the familiarity has been helpful for he and his teammates in trying to pick up where they left off.

“We weren’t the greatest [in Utah], but against Anaheim I thought we were really, really good, we created some good chances,” Doughty added. “It’s just repetition. We didn’t work together all summer, so we’re working on it in practice, getting into exhibition games which is important.”

As the Kings progress towards opening night, they’re focused on continuing to refine the power play, which they know is an important piece of their success. It’s close, in Adrian Kempe’s mind, with a lot of confidence for the group heading into tomorrow.

“We’re starting to figure it out ourselves, I think we’re all on the same page,” Kempe said. “We’re on the same page that we ended on last year, that’s when we’re playing our best on the power play. It’s feeling pretty good and we’re all pretty confident when we’re out there.”

Roster Updates
Additionally, Insiders, a bit more regarding goaltender David Rittich being placed on waivers.

The Kings submitted a season-opening roster that included Rittich as one of three goaltenders. With the Kings not playing until tomorrow, they needed to submit a roster that was compliant with the salary cap yesterday evening, but that did not necessarily need to be the roster for opening night. With today’s move, the Kings will be down to two goaltenders by tomorrow’s game, regardless of the outcome of Rittich’s situation.

We’ll learn Rittich’s fate tomorrow morning, likely just after the Kings conclude their morning skate at TSPC.

The expectation is that we should expect to see forward Arthur Kaliyev recalled to fill Rittich’s spot when his fate is finally known, with Kaliyev likely to begin serving his suspension tomorrow evening. Regarding defenseman Jordan Spence, he would have remained on the roster under normal circumstances, sans injury and suspension, but should be back in short order once Kaliyev is cleared to play.

Regarding Viktor Arvidsson, his injury occurred during yesterday’s practice. Does not sound like anything particularly serious, considering the day-to-day designation, but regardless it’s one to monitor over the last 24 hours as we approach opening night.

Tu Liga Radio Schedule
Lastly, a look at the freshly announced, Spanish-language radio schedule.

Beginning on November 9 against Pittsburgh, the Kings will broadcast 12 games over the air on radio in Spanish, broadcast on KWKW 1330 AM.

The full schedule is as follows –

November 9 vs. Pittsburgh
November 16 vs. Florida
November 18 vs. St. Louis
December 27 vs. San Jose
January 2 vs. Toronto
January 4 vs. Detroit
January 20 vs. New York Rangers
January 22 vs. San Jose
January 24 vs. Buffalo
February 10 vs. Edmonton
February 20 vs. Columbus
February 24 vs. Anaheim

All of the above games are scheduled to start at 7:30, with the exception of the game against Edmonton, which kicks off at 7 PM.

From the team’s official release –

The LA Kings today announced the club’s schedule for games to be broadcast on KWKW 1330 AM Tu Liga Radio in Spanish.

The 2023-24 season schedule on the popular all-Spanish station currently consists of 12 regular season games beginning next month when the Pittsburgh Penguins visit Crypto.com Arena.

Francisco X. Rivera serves as the radio Play-by-Play Announcer for Kings games in Spanish, a role he has held since 2018. This season the broadcast will feature a vast array of celebrity commentators on each game including Latino hockey players, athletes, actors, and musicians. The Kings Spanish broadcast booth has welcomed top celebrities such as Hall of Fame broadcaster Jaime Jarrin, Chargers cornerback Michael Davis and MMA legend Cris Cyborg.

For the third consecutive year games will also be available via the Tu Liga Live Stream (tuligaradio.com) simultaneously to the regular radio broadcast.

Will have a second article coming up later on today sharing thoughts from Rob Blake, who addressed the media on several topics in advance of the 2023-24 season. Some good updates to include!