12/9 Preview – Today’s Line Rushes + Talbot’s Fit & Start, Lizotte’s Return, TM on Line Choices

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (16-4-3) @ New York Islanders (11-7-7)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Saturday, December 9 @ 4:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: UBS Arena – Elmont, NY
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports West – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The roadtrip continues here for the Kings, as they visit the New York Islanders for the first of two games this weekend in the Empire State.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forwards Phillip Danault and Arthur Kaliyev each had a goal and an assist from the two games played a season ago against the Islanders. In total, nine different Kings scored during a pair of victories last season, including seven who are expected to play tonight. Defenseman Matt Roy has four points (2-2-4) and a +8 rating from six career games played against the Islanders.

KINGS VITALS: Following yesterday’s team off day in New York, the Kings returned to the ice this morning for a full-team morning skate at UBS Arena on Long Island.

Goaltender Cam Talbot left today’s morning skate first, making him tonight’s projected starting goaltender against the Islanders. Talbot has posted a lifetime record of 8-3-0 against New York, bringing with him a .923 save percentage and a 2.48 goals-against average.

The Kings aligned with the following rushes here this morning –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence

Talbot
Copley

This morning’s rushes show no changes from how the Kings lined up on Thursday against the Canadiens. Should they opt for a change, forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan and defenseman Jacob Moverare are options to check in on the backend, with both skaters on late after today’s morning skate.

ISLANDERS VITALS: New York is on game three of a five-game homestand and enters tonight’s action with points in eight of their last nine games played, carrying a record of 6-1-2 overall in that stretch of games.

Expecting to see New York’s regular starting netminder, Ilya Sorokin, between the pipes this evening on home ice. Sorokin has posted an all-time record of 0-2-0 against the Kings throughout his NHL career, with a .891 save percentage and a 3.51 goals-against average.

Per Newsday’s Andrew Gross, here’s how the Islanders aligned during today’s morning skate –

#Isles morning skate

Lee-Horvat-Barzal
Engvall-Nelson-Palmieri
Holmstrom-Pageau-Gauthier
Fasching-Cizikas-Clutterbuck
(extras: Martin, Wahlstrom)
Romanov-Dobson
Bolduc-Bortuzzo
Reilly-Mayfield
(extra: Hutton)
Sorokin
Varlamov

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) December 9, 2023

New York acquired defenseman Robert Bortuzzo from St. Louis yesterday, in exchange for a draft pick. Islanders forward Hudson Fasching never played for the Kings but was drafted by the organization back in 2013. New York forward Simon Holmstrom leads the NHL with three shorthanded goals and four shorthanded points.

Notes –
Talbot’s Time
It’s been a terrific start to an LA Kings career for Cam Talbot, both on and off the ice.

As he approaches what appears to be his 18th start of the season, Talbot brings with him a record of 12-4-1, with a pair of shutouts, including Thursday’s win over Montreal.

The Kings are extremely comfortable right now playing in front of Talbot and they’ll look for more of the same from him here tonight.

Anze Kopitar – Extremely [comfortable]. I mean, with him in net, or Copper for that matter, we’re trying to play our game and obviously try to score some goals for them, but they’ve been they’ve been huge back there for us.

Matt Roy – We’re really comfortable. We know that every time he’s in the net, we know what we’re going to get, so he’s a good guy to play in front of. We want to do the best we can for him.

Comfort comes with success and both Talbot and the Kings have found a lot of it. While he deflected much of the credit after Thursday’s victory, Talbot’s statistics have been among the best in the NHL here in the first quarter of the season. His 1.84 goals-against average leads all qualifying goaltenders, while he ranks second with a .933 save percentage. His two shutouts are one shy of Tristan Jarry’s NHL-leading three. From that side of things, the excellent numbers are the excellent numbers.

Then there’s the other side of the coin for Talbot, who is one of a few players who joined a new team here this season.

It’s not the first time he’s done so, but this experience has certainly gone much smoother out of the gates than it did a season ago in Ottawa. Talbot got injured during training camp upon joining the Senators and has said that it became challenging to find his footing with a new group, when you’re spending time rehabbing an injury as opposed to traveling with the team, working with the team.

No such issue here this year. It’s clear from talking with Talbot, and talking to his teammates about him, that there’s been a mutual admiration for a player who has fit the group quite well.

In speaking with Todd McLellan, who had Talbot in Edmonton as a new player, he knows the person as much as he knows the player. With clean health here in the early goings, and strong play on the ice, it’s been a really good start on both fronts of #39.

“There’s a lot of important steps to come into a new team,” McLellan said. “You’ve got to fit the team well and you’ve got to socially be able to integrate with the group and Talbs is good at that. He’s a very open guy, he’s a good teammate he takes care of his teammates, they appreciate having him around, so that part’s been very easy. Remember, he’s had a lot of experience with this, he’s been on a number of different teams, so it hasn’t been tough for him and it hasn’t been tough for our guys. His play backs it up, which certainly helps as well.”

However you want to shake it, the union between player and team has proven to be the correct one in the early part of the season. Here’s to hoping it continues.

Lizotte’s Return & Line Possibilities
The Kings welcomed back forward Blake Lizotte into action on Thursday evening in Montreal, after he missed six games due to injury.

Lizotte is an important player for this team, for all of what he brings to the group. Having him back in the lineup is a huge boost for the team’s depth, tenacity and energy levels on a night-to-night basis.

“I’ve described him as our engine and when we turn him on, everybody else seems to get dragged into the game,” McLellan said of Lizotte. “His intensity, tenacity and commitment to his game and the team game, it rubs off on everybody. He was a big part of the penalty kill early in the season before he got hurt, pretty good in the faceoff circle, so there’s a lot of benefits to having him in the lineup regularly in the group really respects him as well. So, if he starts barking and demands more from himself and from his teammates, they’re listening.”

When Lizotte returned to action, he did so with a little bit of a different look than he left with.

Todd McLellan has referred to the line of Lizotte between Trevor Lewis and Carl Grundstrom as “money” throughout much of their time together. When Lizotte returned, however, Grundstrom had been moved to a line with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alex Laferreire, with Arthur Kaliyev taking his spot opposite Lewis on the wings.

The chemistry of that 91/46/61 group was undeniable, but circumstances have also changed a bit during the time Lizotte missed.

The Kings have liked what Grundstrom has brought alongside Dubois, with McLellan liking how both have played since they were put together a few games back. It was that line which led the Kings in shots on goal and scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick, in the win over Motnreal on Thursday. McLellan spoke about where he sees those two lines right now and the decision to keep Grundstrom where he is, at least for now, in favor of reuniting him with Lizotte and Lewis.

“Yeah, we talked about it, we discussed it, we were pleased with the play of the four lines when JAD was in,” McLellan said this morning. “Obviously Lizzo means a lot to our team, so we didn’t want to just disrupt everything. We know what we have in that line, we can always go back to it, but I think that Grunny and Laf have done a pretty good job with PL and we’ll continue to go that way until we need to change it.”

Morning skate earlier today showed that the Kings look like they’ll keep things the way they were in Montreal, with Grundstrom on Dubois’ line and Lizotte’s line remaining as it was in that game.

For Lizotte, though, it really doesn’t matter all that much.

He’s focused on his own game and he’s played with Kaliyev even more than he has with Grundstrom throughout his career. Remember that 2021-22 unit? Pretty effective.

Right off the bat in Montreal, he said his goal was to get into a game physically, focusing on a faceoff win, a corner battle or just something to get himself into the game. It took the Kings some time to get going in Quebec, but Lizotte was a big part of a unit that controlled more than 60 percent of shot attempts when on the ice.

On night two, he’s looking for more of the same.

“I think it’s just getting into the game with a play, a hit, a corner battle,” Lizotte said of his focus early in games. “For me, being a centerman, you get into a battle right off the start, usually with a faceoff, and that usually gets you into a game. I think just making a play, even if it’s simple, just getting your mind thinking quickly, it gets your body into the game.”

Whatever makes him go, and whoever he’s going alongside, the Kings are happy to have Lizotte back at it once again.

Kings and Islanders tonight, before the setting shifts to Madison Square Garden tomorrow evening. Exciting back-to-back ahead to conclude the trip!