12/13 Preview – Moverare Talks Season Debut + Gavrikov “week-to-week”, Leadership keeps ship sailing

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (16-5-4) vs. Winnipeg Jets (16-9-2)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Wednesday, December 13 @ 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, coming off a four-game roadtrip on the East Coast, with the Winnipeg Jets in town for the first time this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forwards Trevor Moore (2-1-3) and Phillip Danault (1-2-3) led the Kings with three points when these teams met back in Winnipeg in October. Forward Pierre-Luc Dubois scored against his former team in that game, his first game played against the Jets since he was traded to Los Angeles this summer.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held an optional morning skate today, in advance of this evening’s game versus the Jets.

Goaltender Cam Talbot did not skate this morning, making him tonight’s projected starter against Winnipeg. Talbot has posted a lifetime record of 9-6-1 versus the Jets, with a .905 save percentage and a 3.20 goals-against average.

Based on morning skate today and yesterday’s practice, here’s how the Kings could align this evening –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Moverare – Roy
Englund – Spence

Talbot
Copley

Per Todd McLellan, defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov will not play today with a lower-body injury and has been updated today to being out “week-to-week” as of today. Forward Arthur Kaliyev did skate this morning, but based on yesterday’s comments, he appears questionable tonight with flu-like symptoms, after not practicing yesterday. Defenseman Jacob Moverare will make his season debut tonight, with more on the Swedish blueliner below.

Regarding Gavrikov, his status moved from day-to-day to week-to-week, following further evaluation, as was said yesterday. Naturally, a tough blow for player and team, with Gavrikov weaving himself into. this group both on and off the ice. Look towards Moverare tonight, and then the Kings will evaluate players like Moverare, Tobias Bjornfot or Brandt Clarke for Saturday in Seattle, with likely two of that group remaining with the NHL club.

Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov will not play tonight and is sidelined week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

— LA Kings PR (@LAKingsPR) December 13, 2023

JETS VITALS: Winnipeg saw a four-game winning streak snapped last night in San Jose and the Jets will conclude a four-game roadtrip here this evening in Los Angeles.

After Laurent Brossoit started yesterday in San Jose, expect to see goaltender Connor Hellebuyck between the pipes this evening against the Kings. Hellebuyck has faced the Kings 13 times throughout his NHL career, posting a record of 5-7-1, with a .899 save percentage and a 3.31 goals-against average.

Per Curtis Pashelka, here’s how the Jets aligned yesterday evening in San Jose –

What the Jets have tonight pic.twitter.com/fv4dbbpcs8

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) December 13, 2023

Forwards Alex Iafallo and Gave Vilardi will face their former team at Crypto.com Arena for the first time, though forward Rasmus Kupari will miss out with an injury. Forward Kyle Connor will miss tonight’s game with a lower-body injury, which landed him on injured reserve yesterday. Forward Mark Scheifele scored his team’s lone goal when these teams met in October. Scheifele has six points (3-3-6) from six games against the Kings over the last three years.

Notes –
Moving On (Kings Song)
Touched on this after the Rangers game, but expanding on a post-game quote from defenseman Mikey Anderson that I thought stood out.

“The guys that have been here for a long, long time, they right the ship. I don’t think there’s going to be any sense of panic or anything in the group. We trust what we have here and we trust what we’re doing.”

Anderson pointed to the leaders who have been here for a long time as being good at navigating the group through moments of adversity and, I mean, this isn’t even all that much adversity in the grand scheme of things. The Kings, last season, were very good at not letting two become three after dropping a couple of games in a row.

It’s important and something that others in the room have commented on as well.

“I think there’s a good job of forcing the issue of we need to win, but also staying calm and not panicking, throwing all of our systems out,” forward Blake Lizotte added. “They do a good job of finding that balance.”

In speaking with Todd McLellan yesterday, he added a couple of details to a team that has generally done a nice job of bouncing back in the right way from situations like this.

First things first, he pointed to individuals like Anderson as being a part of that group. It certainly starts with Kopitar, Doughty, Danault and Lewis, the guys who wear letters and the guys who won here, but McLellan pointed to that up-and-coming group of players like Anderson who have stepped into larger leadership roles here over the last couple of years.

With regards to those three individuals who have won Stanley Cups here, McLellan pointed to the calming nature of those players, the long-term lens and their resilience as being reasons why the Kings have been good in those situations. A season ago, the Kings only lost three straight games on three occasions, never losing four. They didn’t drop three in a row in regulation until January. A lot of that comes from the ever-growing leadership team in place.

“In our leadership group, it’s hard to define exactly who that is, because there’s a lot of guys, Mikey being one of them, that are growing into and accepting that role, so that’s a real good thing for us,” McLellan added. “The three individuals that have won cups here before have done it because they are resilient and they understand the big picture, they understand the emotional ups and downs of the season. They are a calming influence, they stay steady on the rudder from them, but that doesn’t diminish their expectations of themselves and the group.”

Heading into tonight, that’s where the focus lies. Don’t let two become three, and on we go.

Mo-Town
As Todd McLellan said yesterday, the Kings will not have defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov available to them tonight, with his status moving from day-to-day to week-to-week as of today.

Without Gavrikov available tonight, defenseman Jacob Moverare will make his season debut, playing with the NHL club for the first time in nearly 13 months – he last played with the Kings on November 22, 2022. Moverare has been around the group though, traveling regularly as the team’s seventh defenseman at times over that span, including the past couple of weeks. That makes things easier for him when he does check back in, with how comfortable he is with this team.

“I feel like it’s a very well-oiled team, it’s very tight,” Moverare said this morning. “I think that’s a little different, from the last three years when I’ve been up a little bit, it’s gotten tighter and tighter every year. All the guys are great, they’ve played together for a long time, some guys longer than others, but it’s just a great group to come into.”

That comfort level off the ice has helped his comfort level on the ice as well.

Moverare is a player who, generally speaking, you know what you’re going to get when he plays.

He’s a reliable, stay-at-home defenseman who takes care of his own end first, with solid defensive play and a willingness to defend. He’s not the fastest skater on the ice, or the most likely to contribute offensively, but he’s trusted by the coaching staff to play the right way and to play his game directly.

“I think I’m just more comfortable with myself,” Moverare said. “I always get a little nervous, I’ll probably be a little nervous today, but I feel more comfortable around the guys. At every practice, the more you take with the NHL team, the more you feel comfortable. You just get more comfortable with your game up here too, that it works.”

Todd McLellan said that he has seen those similar things with Moverare’s comfort level, but what is really important is that the player himself feels it. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.

Moverare is a guy who plays a game that can translate well to spot starts, sure, but it’s more about the mentality of an individual stepping into those moments. Moverare has that mentality and everyone involves is confident he’ll be a good fit again tonight.

“If he’s telling you that, he feels that and that’s all that really matters,” McLellan said. “I do see that as well, he fits in very well when he walks in the door, he knows the systems and structures, the verbiage that we use, he knows his teammates, he’s a very likable teammate. It’s easy for him to acclimatize when he walks across the hallway from the Reign side to ours. His games that he’s played for us have been very effective games. He knows who he is and how he has to play.”

We could see Moverare factor in tonight alongside Matt Roy, who he has played with before, but the Kings have also shown a willingness to move guys around as needed during the game. With two days off on either side of this on, assume there won’t be an issue mixing and matching, so regardless of when and where, Moverare is ready to roll in whatever situation he’s asked to.

Kings and Jets, one quick one here at home before a string of seven straight divisional games kick off to conclude 2023!