10/21 Preview – All About Anze! Captain Talks Franchise Record + Lineups & Vitals vs. Boston

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (2-1-1) vs. Boston Bruins (3-0-0)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Saturday, October 21 @ 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 are back at home, in search of their first victory of the season at Crypto.com Arena, as they take on the Boston Bruins in a Saturday-night showdown.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings and Bruins split the 2022-23 season series, with each team winning on the road. Forward Adrian Kempe led the team with two goals against Boston, while forwards Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar each collected two assists.

KINGS VITALS: Coming out of yesterday’s off day, we got a look at full line rushes from the Kings this morning, listed below –

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Kaliyev
Fiala – Dubois – Laferriere
Grundstrom – Lizotte – Lewis
Anderson-Dolan

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence
Bjornfot

Talbot
Copley

Goaltender Cam Talbot was off first this morning at Toyota Sports Performance Center, making him tonight’s projected starter against the Bruins. Talbot has a lifetime mark of 8-4-0 versus Boston, with a .921 save percentage and a 2.66 goals-against average.

Today’s skate showed that Kings could run a status quo lineup this evening from the way they lined up in Winnipeg and Minnesota earlier this week. Should they opt for a change, forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan and defenseman Tobias Bjornfot would both be options to check in. Anderson-Dolan and forward Alex Laferriere were assigned to AHL-Ontario yesterday, in a cap-saving situation, but both players were recalled this morning.

BRUINS VITALS: Boston carries an unbeaten record of 3-0-0 into tonight’s contest, extended with a 3-1 victory over San Jose on Thursday evening.

Goaltenders Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark have swapped starts to begin this season, with the rotation expected to turn back to Swayman tonight in Los Angeles. Swayman has a lifetime record of 2-0-0 against the Kings, with a .968 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average.

Per Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic, here’s how Boston lined up during this morning’s skate –

AM lines:

Luic-Zacha-Pastrnak
Marchand-Poitras-Geekie
Van Riemsdyk-Coyle-Frederic
Lauko-Beecher-Brown
Heinen-DeBrusk

Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Lindholm-Carlo
Forbort-Mitchell
Shattenkirk

Swayman
Ullmark

— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) October 21, 2023

Former Kings forward Milan Lucic and former Kings defenseman Derek Forbort are both expected to play tonight for the visitors. Forward Brad Marchand has 14 goals and 22 points from 20 career games against the Kings. Since Marchand entered the league, only Vancouver’s Brock Boeser has a higher goals-per-game mark against the Kings than Marchand’s 0.70.

Notes –
All About Anze

Pretty simple story for tonight, as we celebrate the face of the franchise, a future Hall of Fame player, with yet another milestone reached.

Tonight, Anze Kopitar is set to surpass Dustin Brown for the most games played in Kings franchise history. For the last 48 hours, it’s felt almost fitting that Kopitar and Brown – lifetime friends and longtime linemates – sat atop the charts tied with the same number. With Kopitar still active, and showing no signs of slowing down, that deadlock will be broken tonight, as Kopitar prepares to suit up for his 1,297th career NHL game.

Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown have played the same number of regular-season games as @LAKings. Just kinda feels right.

Congrats to the captain on number 1,296! https://t.co/xh60wqU9wD

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) October 20, 2023

Kopitar mentioned that he and Brown talked a couple days ago, as Kopitar tied his friend’s record, though he’s let him be so far this morning. Kopitar and Brown enter tonight tied for 15th in NHL history in terms of games played with a single franchise. What’s amazing about the longevity of Kopitar is perhaps best exemplified by a stat he shares with Drew Doughty.

Doughty is set to play in his 1100th career regular-season game tonight, which Kopitar joked might be overshadowed a bit, despite being a stout accomplishment of his own. Of the first 1,099, the Slovenian has missed just 19. The pair rank fifth all time in regular-season games together, the most among active teammates. Kopitar and Brown rank third at 1,158.

Some big numbers, all centered around a player who has meant so much to the Kings franchise.

“One thing comes to mind is loyalty,” Kopitar said, of being able to be with one franchise for so long. “I’ve stressed it a ton of times and I guess it’s a lot easier to stay in one place when you’ve won already, versus maybe going and exploring other teams to try and win and everything, but I’ve felt great here, right from the start. All the GM’s, all the coaches I’ve had a good relationships and it’s definitely been a ride, but I guess the exciting part is it’s not quite finished. I still have a few more years and I feel good. Obviously tonight’s going to be special, but I’m sure everything’s gonna hit a lot more once it’s all said and done and I can relax a little bit, look back on to all the numbers, all the seasons, all the teammates I’ve played with and just kind of reminisce.”

As far as tonight goes, the Kings will certainly recognize Kopitar for his milestone, but there are also plans for a larger, overall celebration later in the season. As it forecasts out, it’ll be a year of milestones, records and accomplishments for #11. Kopitar also passed Brown for the most away games played in franchise history on Thursday in Minnesota. He collected his 750th career assist on Tuesday in Winnipeg, becoming just the second player in franchise history to reach that mark with the Kings, joining Marcel Dionne.

Kopitar is also primed to hit two other offensive milestones, hopefully in the coming games. Kopitar can pass Luc Robitaille for second all-time in scoring, as the centerman enters tonight’s action eight points shy of Robitaille’s numbers. The Slovenian is also five goals shy of becoming the fourth player in franchise history – along with Dionne, Robitaille and Dave Taylor – to score 400 goals as a King. A nine-point night incoming (5-4-9)? Perhaps that’s a bit to much to ask for.

Regardless, though, it’ll be a special night, with a special milestone, which ranks alongside the best of his career from an individual standpoint.

“This is up there with all of them, really,” he added. “To be fairly durable over the course of my career and obviously to do it just here, it’s something that I always took pride in. Obviously it’s a big honor to be with the one franchise, to be successful and to do it alongside Brownie, Drew and Quickie for quite a few year, it’s a product that was created and I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s very humbling feeling and I guess tonight, I am passing my very good buddy. If there was a script where I’m sure we could have all finished on the same number, we’d all sign it gladly, but it’s not the case. It’s going to be a special night.”

Kopitar’s father, Matjaz Kopitar, will be in attendance tonight, along with tons of other friends and family. His dad surprised him this weekend, as Kopitar said his wife Ines planned out all the details without him knowing. Not a bad way to kick things off.

I’m sure there will be a few more things coming his way tonight, before what will be larger celebration, overall, to come. In general, there’s much more to come for Kopitar, in a season that will be filled with special moments.

To follow tomorrow will be reactions from Kopitar’s teammates and coaches, which we’ve gathered here over the last few days. More to come on that front tomorrow, as several players within the room shared what Kopitar has meant to their careers during their time together.

Oh, And There’s A Game…
Oh yeah. The game.

Certainly not an easy one to come, against the reigning Presidents Trophy winners, which Todd McLellan was quick to enforce following today’s morning skate.

“There’s nothing for free against Boston, they don’t give up much and that’s what we’re going to face tonight,” he said. “It’s not an overly complicated game plan or pre-scout, but the work that goes into trying to beat it is complicated and it’s hard work. We think we know what we’re going to see from them, or at least what we expect, and we better be ready.”

Boston led the NHL last season with 135 points. I should amend that to say that Boston’s 135 points last season led the NHL, all-time, the highest single-season point total in league history, three clear of the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. Unlike that Montreal team, however, Boston did not win a championship, as they were upset in the first round by the eventual Eastern Conference Champions, the Florida Panthers. A disappointing end, but this is still a team that lost a total of 17 games last season, including just 12 in regulation.

The Bruins have certainly lost some players from this time last year, most notably being center Patrice Bergeron, who announced his retirement this summer. Joining him was David Krejci, his longtime batterymate down the middle. Deadline acquisitions Dmitry Orlov and Tyler Bertuzzi left in free agency, while Taylor Hall was traded to Chicago. It’s a different group, personnel wise, but in McLellan’s eyes it really doesn’t matter.

“Boston doesn’t give me anything for free, it doesn’t matter who’s in their lineup,” McLellan said this morning. “I talk about our DNA sometimes here in LA, they have that in their DNA, their game has rubbed off on on all the young players, so they play that way.”

The Bruins are presently unbeaten, bringing an early 3-0-0 record into Los Angeles. The Kings are aiming to change that here today.

The Kings are in search of their first home win of the season, and they’ll look to claim it against that Bruins team. 7:30 PM puck drop from Crypto.com Arena!