12/28 Preview – Three’s A Streak For Dubois’ Line + TM on Gavrikov’s Return, Lineup Vitals

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (20-7-4) @ Vegas Golden Knights (21-10-5)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Thursday, December 28 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports West – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings complete a back-to-back set this evening, as they visit the Vegas Golden Knights for the final matchup against the defending champions this regular season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Adrian Kempe leads the Kings this season with three points (1-2-3) from the first two games played against Vegas. Four other players – Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kevin Fiala, Anze Kopitar and Jordan Spence – each have two points. Kopitar’s goal last time in this building was his 400th career goal in the NHL and his 34th career point versus Vegas, more than any other player.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings did not hold a morning skate today, considering the back-to-back set of games.

Goaltender Cam Talbot is expected to get the start for the Kings this evening, after David Rittich got the nod between the pipes in yesterday’s win over San Jose. Talbot has started each of the two previous games against the Golden Knights this season, posting a record of 1-0-1. He has an all-time mark of 8-7-3, with a .903 save percentage and a 3.12 goals-against average.

No indication of any lineup changes coming for the Kings, so a look below at how the team aligned last night against the Sharks –

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence

Rittich
Talbot

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) December 28, 2023

Should the Kings make any lineup changes, defensemen Tobias Bjornfot and Jacob Moverare, as well as forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan, are options to check back in at their respective positions.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS VITALS: Similar to the Kings, the Golden Knights are on a California-To-Nevada back-to-back set coming out of the break, following a defeat last night in Anaheim.

Goaltender Logan Thompson got the nod last night in Anaheim, which would point to goaltender Jiri Patera getting the start against the Kings here tonight. Should Patera get the start, it would be his first time facing the Kings in his NHL career. Thus far in the 2023-24 season, Patera has a record of 1-2-0, with a .897 save percentage and a 3.98 goals-against average.

Per Jesse Granger of The Athletic, here’s how the hosts lined up last night at Honda Center –

Golden Knights lineup tonight in Anaheim:

Barbashev—Eichel—Stone
Dorofeyev—Stephenson—Marchessault
Cotter—Karlsson—Amadio
Howden—Roy—Kolesar

Martinez—Pietrangelo
McNabb—Hutton
Hague—Whitecloud

Thompson

— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) December 28, 2023

As usual, expect to see a collection of former Kings in the Vegas lineup, with forward Michael Amadio, as well as defensemen Ben Hutton, Alec Martinez and Brayden McNabb in action last night. Hutton inked a two-year contract extension with the Golden Knights yesterday. Vegas forward Jack Eichel is one of 13 players in the NHL with at least 15 goals and 20 assists on the season.

Notes –
Three’s A Streak
How’s that saying go? One’s a fluke, two’s a coincidence, three’s a streak?

Ignore those first two, cuz the this line’s got three.

After the win over Calgary heading into the holiday break, Todd McLellan spoke quite positively about the work of the Laferriere/Dubois/Kaliyev line over their last two games, calling Pierre-Luc Dubois “dangerous” offensively, while complementing the line as “effective”. So, coming out of that break, how did they follow up a couple of strong efforts? With perhaps the strongest one yet.

“Same thing we saw the last two, an intensity going North a real good intensity coming back South to recover Pucks and then re-attack,” McLellan said of their play last night. “They’re not one and done, they keep plays alive, they’re going to the net, PL scored another nice goal going to the net off a rebound. They look like they’re gaining a lot of confidence as a group of three.”

An impressive night from a chance-distribution standpoint was capped off with the exclamation point of Dubois’ goal in the second period. A play that involved all three pieces of the line, off a good shift from all involved. Known enforcer Alex Laferriere had the first shot, got it back and had some good work along the wall to find Arthur Kailyev in the slot. Kaliyev gathered quickly and wired the puck on net, forcing a juicy rebound. Dubois was in the right place to bury it, using his awareness to find himself in that space at the right time.

In total, it was a night when that line was on the ice 20 shot attempts for, compared to just eight against. 11-3 in shots on goal, 11-2 in scoring chances and 4-1 in high-danger chances, with one goal for and none against.

Perhaps it’s the production that’s drawing our attention to a line that has been working hard to find its identity together. If you ask McLellan, though, he’s been focused on the other parts of their game that are starting to click. He highlighted their forechecking ability, which was on display once again on Wednesday.

“I think their forecheck has been a little more effective, they’ve been able to not only create problems or issues for the opposition, but they’ve been able to keep it alive, it’s not one and done,” McLellan added. “They get some cycle time, some o-zone attack time, tips, deflections and when they do that, they can be dangerous.”

Look no further than the goal right? Shoot it, win it back, do it again. The Kings are looking for more of the same as they go forward, knowing that if they can get this line going as consistently as the Kopitar and Danault lines have been, they’ve got quite the machine to work with up front.

The Gift Of Gav
The Kings received a welcomed return from defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov last night.

Gavrikov had missed the entirety of the previous five games for the Kings due to a lower-body injury that originally occurred on December 9 against the New York Islanders. Gavrikov missed a bit of time in that game, and the final 40 minutes the next day against the Rangers, before sitting out each of the five games that followed.

Heading into the final game before the NHL’s Holiday Break on Saturday, Gavrikov looked to be quite close, with Todd McLellan indicating as much. The general sentiment, though, was that three additional days of rest wouldn’t hurt a player working his way back into action. With those days behind him, Gavrikov made his return last night against San Jose.

“I thought Gavy did a real good job [on Wednesday] having not played and not having practice time, we’re all lounging around for three days and he’s champing at the bit to to get back in,” McLellan said of Gavrikov’s performance. “He’s a very good player, he adjusted well and had a real good game.”

First things first, let’s throw some credit Jacob Moverare’s way, for not just an admirable job of filling in, but an excellent job. Moverare comfortably played his game, played within himself and gave a strong showing that should keep him top of mind if an opportunity presents itself later in the season, in one form or another.

“Jacob did an outstanding job, not just an average job,” McLellan said. “He came in and played very well. His analytic numbers were excellent and he can obviously get the job done.”

In Gavrikov, however, the Kings get back the second part of their usual second pairing.

Gavrikov has partnered with Matt Roy for pretty much the entire time he’s been an LA King, giving McLellan and the coaching staff another player who they can rely on against top competition, night in and night out. It’s been one of the strong pairings via puck possession metrics since Gavrikov was acquired. Having that familiarity together made the transition back into action that much easier for Gavrikov, providing that familiar presence on his right.

“He fits in on that side and he’s played a lot of games with Matt Roy,” McLellan added. “That pair has been able to compete against the other team’s top lines when required and they have a pretty good read or understanding of where each other is going to be and what their strengths and weaknesses are.”

Among defensive pairs with at least 500 minutes played together over the last two seasons, the Gavrikov/Roy duo has controlled shots on goal at the second-best rate, one of two pairings in the league to do so at over a 60-percent rate. The duo lead the league in terms of controlling high-danger chances and all of those metrics have added up to 33 goals for, compared to just 15 against, the league’s second-best mark.

Good to have you back, Gavy.

Second and third in the Pacific square off today, with similar travel circumstances, in Vegas. Level playing field on that front. If the season ended today, we’d see these teams square off in the postseason, though both teams have their sights set on a bit more than that. Always a good one when the Kings and Golden Knights meet, looking forward to another edition here tonight.