11/11 Preview – Fiala, Danault, McLellan Weigh In On Lineup Swap + Kings Re-Claim Fagemo

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (8-2-3) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (6-7-1)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Saturday, November 11 @ 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 LA Kings return to action tonight for a rematch against the state of Pennsylvania, with the Flyers in town for a Saturday-evening showdown.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Quinton Byfield led the Kings with three assists when these teams met in Philadelphia last weekend. Five different players scored for LA in that game, including forwards Arthur Kaliyev and Trevor Moore, who each tallied a goal and an assist in the 5-0 victory at Wells Fargo Arena.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings were on the ice today for one of their first mandatory morning skates of the season, following yesterday’s full off day.

Goaltender Cam Talbot was off first this morning, making him tonight’s projected starter against the Flyers. Talbot posted his first shutout with the organization seven days ago in Philadelphia, as he stopped all 24 shots thrown his way in a 5-0 victory. A former Flyer, Talbot has posted an all-time record of 8-4-1 against Philadelphia, with a .932 save percentage and a 2.00 goals-against average.

Line Rushes from this morning’s skate are posted below for reference –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence
Bjornfot

Talbot
Copley

No changes to the personnel in terms of anyone coming in or out, but do expect to see some changes within the lineup, as shown above. Beyond that, defenseman Tobias Bjornfot is currently the team’s only option beyond the 18 skaters expected to dress tonight. Forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan is presently with the Ontario Reign, though with both teams at home, he is available should he be needed.

FLYERS VITALS: The Kings will catch the Flyers on the second half of a back-to-back once again, with Philadelphia skating to a 6-3 victory yesterday evening in Anaheim.

Although usual starting goaltender Carter Hart missed yesterday’s game due to food poisoning, expect to see him in net tonight against the Kings. Hart has faced the Kings three times throughout his NHL career and brings with him a record of 1-0-1, with a .913 save percentage and a 2.98 goals-against average.

Per Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports, here’s how the Flyers lined up yesterday in Anaheim –

Flyers lines and pairings in warmups:

Foerster – Couturier – Atkinson
Tippett – Frost – Konecny
Farabee – Cates – Brink
Deslauriers – Laughton – Hathaway

York – Sanheim
Seeler – Walker
Zamula – Belpedio

Ersson

— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) November 11, 2023

As noted above, goaltender Carter Hart missed yesterday’s game due to illness, while goaltender Felix Sandstrom remains out of action on injured reserve. Philadelphia was without forward Sean Couturier when these teams last met, but he is now back playing once agin and scored in last night’s win over Anaheim. Forward Cam Atkinson has eight points (2-6-8) over his last six games against the Kings.

Notes –
Talking Lineups
A couple of changes to alignment during morning skate for the Kings.

Forward Kevin Fiala took rushes this morning on the left of Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore. Concurrently, forward Arthur Kaliyev skated on the right with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alex Laferriere.

It’s just one player moving around on two lines, for a team that has been generally happy with its overall depth so far this season up front. That doesn’t mean that you can’t look for or expect more, though, and the Kings are looking at exploring the above changes to try and get the best out of everyone.

“A small swap,” Todd McLellan said earlier today. “I think during the year, we’ve played 15 percent of our schedule already and we haven’t had any changes or anything and you don’t just change for the sake of changing, but sometimes there’s malaise that can set in and we haven’t had an opportunity to really look at other combinations. It’s just a small flip of wingers. I also think that there’s a chance that we can get more out of some players by doing it and we’re looking at trying to accomplish that tonight. It’s not only offensively, that’s what everybody thinks, it’s just on the offensive side, but defensively as well.”

While moves like this are always made with the collective team as a whole in mind, there’s naturally a focus on Fiala, because, well, he brought it up himself this morning.

Fiala’s overall production has been there this season from a points perspective. He scored on Thursday and he’s consistently collected assists, owning the team lead so far this season, at over a point-per-game in total. Fiala knows it’s about more than points though. He feels that he has more to give and is hopeful this move can help him deliver.

“I need to do better, I feel like,” Fiala said this morning. “It’s good to change and get some new energy into the mix, so I’ll be excited for that.”

An honest self evaluation for Fiala, who knows what he is capable of as a player.

He elaborated a bit more on the areas he’s looking to be better in, honing in specifically on making “smarter decisions” in the offensive zone, as well as overall consistency. He’s felt he’s had good shifts, but not good shifts stacked on top of each other, which is ultimately the goal. He elaborated below with a hopefulness of seeing that change for the better tonight.

“Just spending time in the o-zone, making smarter decisions on when to do what, to keep the puck in the o-zone more, to kind of dominate the other line,” Fiala said. “It was more up and down all the time, all season long and I feel like we’re more the type of players that spend more time down low, grind them down and we have skill as well. I feel like every time, when we had a good shift, we couldn’t really follow up. We’ve had really good shifts, and then worse shifts, so I feel like it’s time to be more consistent.”

Fiala does have some history playing alongside Danault. The two skated together for a stretch of games last season, with Viktor Arvidsson as the third member of a line that was productive when skating together until Fiala’s injury in early-March.

While Fiala and Moore have not really played together much, there’s mutual respect between two good players. Fiala is excited to be the third member of that line and is hoping to find instant success in that role.

“I feel very comfortable with [Phil], last year I had a chance to play with him, he’s a very good player, hard to play against, both sides of the ice, he’s a smart player,” Fiala added. “Mooresy, he’s been a great player this season, even last season, but especially this season, he’s been taking some steps forward, I feel offensively, so I feel very excited.”

For Danault and Moore, they remain together while changing their third running mate.

Arthur Kaliyev did a really nice job in that spot over the last few weeks, playing arguably the most consistent stretch of games he has as a professional, especially when playing higher in the lineup. He’s a different player than Fiala, certainly. Kaliyev does his damage with his shot and along the boards, using his size, while Fiala likes the puck on his stick more, with an ability to make things happen out of nothing throughout the course of a game.

Danault appreciated the consistency of changing just one player on his line, as opposed to a larger-scale overhaul.

“Yeah, I think so, we have the base of the line, which is playing good defensively and that leads to offense,” Danault said this morning. “I think Kevin will be a great addition. It doesn’t change much. Kevin can be more dynamic, create more surprising plays, that’s the difference I would say.”

As for tonight, the Kings will have to see how things go, although, as McLellan said, you don’t simply make changes just to make them.

It’s not just Fiala that the Kings want more from, though it’s a good sign to see a player admit without being prompted that he believes he can deliver more for the team. At the end of the day, it’s about improving the collective and that’s what the Kings hope they’ll get tonight.

“If you’re going to look at it, you have to look at it from the whole,” McLellan added. “Not just offense, the power play or anything like that, it’s the whole impact, night after night after night for every player, for the coaching staff, trainers, whoever else is part of the organization. That’s the way it goes and we do think [Fiala] can be better. If he thinks that and he’s going to respond to that then that’s what we’re looking for.”

Some changes this morning for LAK up front.

Fiala – Danault – Moore
Laferriere – Dubois – Kaliyev

Good comments from Kevin & Phil this morning to come in today’s preview on @lakingsinsider.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 11, 2023

Lastly, Insiders, sharing an additional piece of roster-related information.

The Kings have re-claimed forward Samuel Fagemo off of waivers and have assigned him to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. Fagemo was originally claimed off waivers by the Nashville Predators back in October, in what looked on paper to be a decent opportunity for him. Fagemo did make the opening-night roster and played four NHL games with Nashville, scoring one goal. Now, he’ll re-join the Reign, which is where he was originally targeted before he was claimed by the Predators.

No word yet on whether it’ll be in time for tomorrow’s afternoon matinee, but at the least, he’ll have the opportunity to re-integrate into the group this week.

For the NHL group, though, we’re back at it here tonight at Crypto.com Arena for a Saturday-night showdown! See you down there!