12/19 Preview – McLellan on Rittich + Lineup Adjustments & Necessary Adjustments Made

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (17-6-4) @ San Jose Sharks (9-19-3)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Tuesday, December 19 @ 7:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: SAP Center – San Jose, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: ESPN+ / Hulu – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings conclude a quick, two-game roadtrip here this evening as they visit the San Jose Sharks for the first time this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forwards Phillip Danault and Jaret Anderson-Dolan led the Kings last season with two goals and three points, from three games played against the Sharks. Defenseman Drew Doughty had a goal and two assists, as well as a +4 rating. In total, 10 Kings skaters had multiple points, while 16 had at least one point.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held an optional morning skate today in Northern California, in advance of tonight’s game versus the Sharks.

Goaltender David Rittich was off first here this morning, making him tonight’s projected starter against the Sharks. Rittich has faced San Jose nine times throughout his professional career, posting a record of 2-2-2, with a .889 save percentage and a 3.32 goals-against average.

Based on what we’ve seen here over the last couple of days, here’s what we could see in terms of tonight’s lineup –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Moverare – Roy
Englund – Spence
Bjornfot

Rittich
Talbot

The Kings made one lineup adjustment last game, swapping Arthur Kaliyev and Carl Grundstrom in the lineup. Additionally, goaltender David Rittich served as the backup goaltender with fellow netminder Pheonix Copley out due to injury. More on those moves below and more on the goaltending situation HERE.

SHARKS VITALS: San Jose has picked up at least a point in five consecutive home games, posting a record of 4-0-1 dating back into November.

San Jose is expected to turn to goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen for tonight’s matchup. Kahkonen brings an all-time record of 2-3-0 versus the Kings, with a .913 save percentage and a 2.62 goals-against average.

Per Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group, here’s how the Sharks aligned yesterday evening –

D-pairs

Ferraro-Burroughs
Okhotiuk-Thrun
Vlasic-MacDonald

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) December 19, 2023

No player in the NHL has more assists this month than San Jose forward Mikael Granlund, who has 12 helpers and 14 points so far in December. Only Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon has more points. Forward Tomas Hertl has seven goals from eight games played thus far in December, with only Toronto’s Auston Matthews burying more.

Notes –
Lineup Alterrations
The LA Kings made a pair of lineup changes from Wednesday’s loss against Winnipeg to Saturday’s victory over Seattle. Expect to see those changes continue into tonight.

Looking at the forwards, the Kings moved Arthur Kaliyev onto a line with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alex Laferriere, while forward Carl Grundstrom slotted back onto a familiar line with Blake Lizotte and Trevor Lewis.

When the Kings initially moved Grundstrom to where he was, Lizotte was injured, so there was an opportunity to try out a straight-line player in Grundstrom alongside Dubois, in hopes of establishing some consistency. There were signs of progress, but coming off a couple of consecutive losses with Lizotte back, the Kings opted to go back to a fourth line that Todd McLellan has called “money” in the past. McLellan discussed those changes, which should remain in place heading into tonight.

“I thought that Arty and Carl both had some impact on the game and that was positive,” McLellan said this morning. “Obviously Arthur getting back in and having his energy level back up was a good thing for us. Grunny playing on that line where he started the season and that line was really good, I think they’re finding their way with Lizzo coming back after injury, he’s still trying to get some traction going. Tonight, tomorrow and then the last game before Christmas, they’re going to be important pieces and we’ll need their A-games.”

The Kings, overall, held an extensive advantage in shots on goal, with those two lines combining for a 13-6 advantage in just over 20 minutes of combined time on ice at 5-on-5. From a production standpoint, there wasn’t a goal scored, but compared to Wednesday against Winnipeg, when those two lines were on the wrong side of 50 percent, it was a step forward and something the Kings felt was generally a successful endeavor.

Beyond the forwards swaps, the Kings were also forced to make a change to the goaltending tandem due to injury. As noted yesterday, goaltender Pheonix Copley was placed on long-term injured reserve and will be out of action for the foreseeable future, beginning with Saturday’s win over Seattle. Copley was replaced by goaltender David Rittich against the Kraken, with the experienced Rittich serving as the backup on Saturday evening.

While the Kings are concerned with Copley’s status, and naturally everyone is disappointed to not have him available, there’s at least a level of confidence in Rittich, who has been here before and won’t be phased by the NHL promotion.

“He has experience and there are, in my opinion, two really good things about that,” McLellan added. “One, he has been in the league and he understands what happens and how it happens, but two, his teammates also know that. He had a very good training camp with us, we were deeply concerned about losing him on waivers, and fortunately, he didn’t arrive on another team’s roster and now he’s here with us. Circumstances aren’t the best, on his arrival, but he’ll make good on it and we’re excited about having him.”

You can’t ask for much better than Rittich in a player who was signed as the third goaltender in the organization. Rittich brings 172 NHL games to the Kings and he’s been around the block a number of times. He’s faced every team in the league and he knows the schedule and grind that the NHL brings. He’s faced most of the NHL’s elite offensive players and he’s had success. At the level the Kings signed Rittich for, you really can’t ask for a ton more in a player than what his body of work has to offer.

Tonight, we’ll expect to see Rittich for the first time wearing a Kings jersey during a regular-season game. The Kings feel confident in his ability to deliver and away we go.

Making the Right Adjustments
Between Wednesday’s loss against Winnipeg and Saturday’s win over Seattle, the Kings made a few key adjustments on their level of play.

The biggest came with regards to the number of odd-man opportunities the Kings allowed against the Jets, an area the Kings clamped down on against Seattle on Saturday. It’s an area of the game that’s been a strength for the majority of the season. On Thursday, McLellan admitted when watching the game back, it was even more than he had first gathered. Today, he spoke about how the players also didn’t quite realize how many it was either, until reviewing the game with video. After re-assessing, it was clear that everyone was on the same page and adjustments were made.

“In that case, I don’t think our players realized the number of opportunities that were given up to the Jets in that game,” McLellan said. “Unless you see it and admit that it’s actually going on, it’s hard to correct, so I think the correction part came in us just showing them, getting them to understand that this happened over and over again and this isn’t the way we play.”

Once the understanding was there, the players made the necessary adjustments.

Speaking with forward Adrian Kempe this morning, he said similar things to McLellan in identifying the areas of improvement that were needed. It’s something that several others touched on over the past few days as well. Kempe felt that the necessary adjustments were made for Saturday’s game and the Kings got the two points that they deserved as a result.

“We talked about that after the game, talked about the things we had to do better and that was giving up too many odd-man rushes,” forward Adrian Kempe said this morning. “I think we did a good job of that against Seattle, we cleaned up the turnovers and stuff like that. We played pretty direct, a simple way, just like we want to and we ended up getting two points, which is important.”

The concept of odd-man rushes is not an area that the Kings have really struggled with this season. In fact, they’ve been amongst the league leaders for fewest opportunities against in that area for much of the season.

In this specific instance, McLellan felt it was more a matter of recognition than anything else. Still though, being something that’s been a strength of this team for so long, the players felt that did help in making the necessary adjustments.

“All year we’ve been really good with that, not giving up too many chances or odd-man rushes like that,” forward Quinton Byfield added. “So, we kind of just have to go back to the basics, go back to our style defensively, just be a little bit better. I don’t want to say it was easy to go back to it, but it was something that we needed to get back in our head and get right back to doing what we do.”

As the Kings approach tonight’s game in San Jose, the first of three games this week before the holiday break, that’s where the focus lies. Keeping it rolling by playing the right way.

Kings and Sharks tonight at 7:30 PM, with an ESPN+ / Hulu exclusive game on tap. The radio feed with Nick Nickson and Daryl Evans will run as usual on iHeart Radio and the Kings app.