12/23 Preview – Gavrikov Out, Moverare Up + L(1)ZZ(00), Heading Into The Holidays, Broadcast Update

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (18-7-4) vs. Calgary Flames (14-14-5)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Saturday, December 23 @ 7:00 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 will play their final game before the NHL’s Holiday Break later on today, as they host the Calgary Flames for the first time this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Adrian Kempe led the Kings last season with four goals and five points versus Calgary, including three goals from the two games played here in Los Angeles. Defenseman Drew Doughty was also a point-per-game last season from the blueline, with four points (1-3-4) from the four games played. Doughty has 27 points (5-22-27) against the Flames in his NHL career, tied for third among active defensemen against Calgary.

KINGS VITALS: In their final skate before the holidays, the Kings had an optional group on the ice in advance of tonight’s game.

Goaltender Cam Talbot did not practice this morning, which points to him getting the start tonight versus his former club. Talbot has posted an all-time record of 9-5-0 against the Flames, with a .915 save percentage and a 2.54 goals-against average.

Today’s skate, and availability, gives the impression that the Kings will keep the same lineup as we saw on Wednesday against Seattle, embedded below for reference –

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Moverare – Roy
Englund – Spence

Talbot
Rittich

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) December 21, 2023

Per Todd McLellan this morning, Vladislav Gavrikov will not play tonight against Calgary, giving him an additional three days of rest as he recovers from a lower-body injury. While nothing is set in stone, the next game for the Kings on 12/27 versus San Jose feels like a real possibility.

“He’ll get a few more days and post-Christmas, we expect him to be in,” McLellan said this morning. “He’s pretty much right on schedule. He’s close. Had he been playing tonight, he’d probably be ahead of schedule. He’s doing his job.”

Gavrikov’s usual lineup spot should once again be filled by defenseman Jacob Moverare, who has played in that spot in the lineup over the last four games. Gavrikov was on the ice late today with defenseman Tobias Bjornfot and forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan, who are both available should the Kings need them.

FLAMES VITALS: Calgary enters tonight’s game with a five-game point streak, including wins in each of their last three games.

Coming off a shutout, it feels more likely than not that the Flames will turn back to goaltender Jacob Markstrom for tonight’s game against the Kings. Markstrom carries an all-time record of 10-4-4 against the Kings, with a .914 save percentage and a 2.85 goals-against average.

Per CalgaryFlames.com, here’s how the Flames lined up last time out in Anaheim –

Andrew Mangiapane – Elias Lindholm – Yegor Sharangovich
Connor Zary – Nazem Kadri – Martin Pospisil
Jonathan Huberdeau – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman
A.J. Greer – Adam Ruzicka – Dillon Dube

MacKenzie Weegar – Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin – Chris Tanev
Dennis Gilbert – Nick DeSimone

Calgary has been led this month in scoring by forward Yegor Sharangovich, who has ten points (6-4-10) over his team’s ten games played. Forward Elias Lindholm had five assists and six points from four games played versus the Kings.

Notes –
L(1)ZZ(00)
The LA Kings scored just one goal on Wednesday against Seattle, but it came as a milestone moment for a player who has earned everything he’s gotten in the NHL.

As forward Blake Lizotte scored while shorthanded, it was his 100th career NHL point, as he became the 32nd active, undrafted NHL player to reach the century mark. Lizotte also became the sixth undrafted American in Kings history to tally 100 points. Undrafted players turning into successful NHL’ers is becoming more and more common, as teams invest more deeply in scouting players that perhaps bloom a bit later than those who are drafted between ages 18 and 20. The Kings, specifically, have had a lot of success with undrafted players from the collegiate ranks, with Lizotte towards the top of that list.

“To get 100 points in this league is something that’s pretty special,” Lizotte said. “Growing up as a kid, it wasn’t in my wildest dreams to even be in the league and now, to be able to put up 100 points, it’s pretty special.”

The Kings have had a number of players in recent memory who have found success from an undrafted position. Look at the recently traded Alex Iafallo and Sean Walker as examples of players who the Kings signed as undrafted free agents, who have gone on to establish themselves as NHL players. On the current team, Trevor Moore is another great example. The Kings acquired Moore from Toronto, but he cracked through with the Maple Leafs as an undrafted player.

To see Lizotte having the success he’s having, from a similar position, has been great for Moore to take in.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said of Lizotte. “I don’t want to speak for Lizzo, but I don’t know if he thought that a lot of people thought that he was ever going to accomplish something like that, except for him. He has a lot of belief in himself, an undersized guy, undrafted, he went through college, all of that stuff. He’s a tremendous player and we’re lucky to have him.”

It doesn’t take a fellow undrafted player though to recognize a teammate who has fought for what he’s earned.

As Todd McLellan said after the game on Wednesday, Lizotte is a player who has been inspirational to others in the room and around the NHL. He’s the living proof of a guy who has gone from undervalued and under looked at to being an impactful NHL player. His teammates have a lot of respect for him, because of the path that he’s taken.

“It doesn’t matter how you get there, it just matters that you end up getting there and past that, if you can stick and stay, make a career for yourself,” forward Pierre-Luc Dubois said of Lizotte. “Lizzo, the path that he’s been on is an accomplishment, but for him to continue year-by-year to become the player that he is today, I think he can be an inspiration for a lot of [young players] out there.”

Good on ya, Lizzo.

Approaching The Holidays
You never know exactly what you’re going to get from the game right before a break.

The Kings are staring at a break of three off days, beginning tomorrow, but they’ve got business to attend to in the interim.

Todd McLellan has spoken in the past about feeling as if these games usually go one way or the other, with a group that’s quite focused or a group that perhaps is thinking about the impending break.

“It’s a tough time a year to predict where everybody is mentally and that’s not just the home team, that’s the visiting team and everybody else,” McLellan said this morning. “Life exists and there’s a lot of distractions. It’s very easy for coaches or whoever to say ‘hey, just put the distractions aside and be professionals.’ That’s what we all expect, but it doesn’t quite happen that way all the time.”

The Kings have put their preparation in, with thoughts of finishing strong, though you never fully know until you take the test.

Practice yesterday wasn’t particularly long, but it was pointed. The Kings had a couple of areas to focus on and they did their best as a group to focus on them. Information has been communicated as best as it can be. Still, there’s the human element. I’d be lying personally if I said I didn’t have an eye on a schedule that says “OFF” three days in a row. I think it’s only human nature, to an extent. Still though, these points are important. You never know which two points might make the difference down the road. If it’s these two, you want to have them in the bank to go into the break on a high note.

“We’ve tried over the last couple of days to clear out any of the clutter for the players and point some things out we think we’ll need to be successful tonight,” McLellan added. “At the end of the day, everybody’s got to be individually responsible for their level of prep and their performance.”

When the Kings take the ice tonight, we’ll get a sense of exactly where things are at heading into the break.

Lastly, Insiders, a note for tonight’s Bally Sports West broadcast.

Nick Nickson will be out tonight with an illness and Josh Schaefer of the Ontario Reign will step in behind the mic. Schaefer has filled in before as the Kings’ radio play-by-play voice, on the iHeart Radio Network, and tonight will be his first game for Bally Sports West.

A big congrats to Josh, an extremely talented young broadcaster, as he does his first TV call. The rest of the team will be status quo as per usual, heading into the holiday break. Wishing Nick all the best in his recovery and hoping we see him back soon!

Kings and Flames, tonight at 7 PM on Bally Sports West, heading into three off days on 12/24, 12/25 and 12/26!