Practice 1/6 – Offense From The Defense + Road Trip Start, Power-Play Work, Goaltending Update

Welcome to Washington, the territory not the state!

The LA Kings touched down yesterday evening in Washington, DC and returned to the ice this afternoon for a practice day at the Capitals’ practice facility, setting up the six-game trip to come here in Washington.

The Kings will play games hot, heavy, fast and often. A stretch of games every other day begins tomorrow, concluding with a back-to-back against Carolina and Dallas to cap things off a couple weeks from now. It’s the most grueling stretch of hockey the Kings have faced this season and arguably the most grueling stretch the rest of the way. Lots of travel, lots of challenging opponents and lots to learn about the club, as noted yesterday.

For today’s practice, the Kings looked largely the same as they did against Detroit on Thursday. That game presented a massive shift in alignment from what we had been seeing. Those lines are listed below –

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

The Kings traveled with seven defensemen here on this trip and they took rushes interchangeably, as an odd-number tends to do. All seven were on the ice today –

Anderson, Clarke, Doughty, Englund, Gavrikov, Roy, Spence

Rittich / Talbot

The Kings traveled with 22 individuals on their roster, with forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan and defenseman Brandt Clarke the extras versus the Red Wings. Anderson-Dolan’s role has been defined, right now, as a versatile player who is capable of pinch-hitting. He can play all three forward positions and doesn’t look out of place on most lines when he slots in.

For Clarke, Todd McLellan said that he will play on this upcoming trip, though it’s unclear if that will come tomorrow against the Capitals.

“Clarkie will play on this trip. We didn’t bring him up just to watch all the way through.”

Where Clarke’s gifts lie are at the offensive end of the ice. Naturally. He leads all AHL defensemen in scoring, with enough of a gap that he could come back from this trip still holding the top spot. He’s produced at each level he’s had an extended look in, including the AHL this season. As the AHL’s reigning rookie of the month, Clarke has gone down to the AHL and done everything that’s been asked of him.

“Brandt didn’t [make the team] in training camp and he could have pouted, he could have went the other way, but he’s done good with what he needed to do up until Christmas here,” McLellan said. “He deserves the opportunity to come up.”

He joins a Kings team in search of more production from their blueline than they’ve gotten as of late.

It hasn’t been due to a lack of effort or a lack of mentality, but the production hasn’t matched what the Kings had earlier in the season, when they were a Top-10 team in the NHL in goals from the backend.

In speaking with Matt Roy before he scored a goal against Detroit, he knows that he and the defensemen can contribute a bit more than they have in that area.

“We have score more and produce more, that’s for sure,” Roy said. “I think just getting our shots through will help create more rebounds, more tips and I think that loosens up the defense as a whole. I think we can get more pucks on net and get more o-zone time.”

The Kings have given up very little defensively. No team in the league has conceded fewer goals – total or per-game – than the Kings have. That is, at least in part, a testament to the group of six who are back there. The team’s puck possession statistics also reflect favorably on what the Kings have generated no matter which defensemen are on the ice.

Still though, when the Kings were that team leading the league in goals, they were getting goals from everywhere, including the backend.

“I think that when we were scoring more, and more frequently, we had them more involved,” Todd McLellan said. “We’ve played some teams that have blocked a lot of shots lately, so our backend has not been getting as much through. It’s hard now. Sometimes there’s four goaltenders playing, they’re just not all wearing those funny pads. So, our D have to find ways to get things through. I think sometimes, they defer to the pass or to their partner when something is there and they don’t take what’s available. We’ll continue to work with them and we need them to be involved offensively.”

Of late, Roy’s goal versus Detroit was the first by a defenseman since December 9, when Vladislav Gavrikov scored against the Islanders. It didn’t come on the types of plays that Roy and others have discussed, but rather good offensive instincts shown off the rush. Those will come too and they’re needed.

For what it’s worth, no King, regardless of position, has more shot attempts at 5-on-5 over the last four games than Roy’s 22. He’s also led the way with 15 unblocked attempts and 10 shots on goal. Roy scored nine goals last season and has a heck of a shot. Really good trends there for number 3.

“He’s had a lot of real good looks this year, probably the most out of anybody on our backend that hasn’t produced a lot of goals,” McLellan added of Roy. “To see him score, you could see a relief in his body language and an overall individual relief for him. He does get a shot through, obviously last year it was a big part of his his game, joining the rush and finding the net. This year, he’s joining the rush and maybe found a post or a crossbar instead of the interior. Maybe a little bit of bad puck luck, but it’s going to come.”

Roy’s goal came via his initiative in activating to join the rush and it’s good to see defensemen feeling confident enough to do that.

There’s also a mentality the group aspires towards, centered around in-zone production and execution. That’s one of the messages being delivered right now from the coaches to the defensemen.

“Our main approach, and what Todd has said to us, is we have our job, which is to find lanes and find anything that can get to the goalie,” defenseman Jordan Spence added. “For the forwards, their job is to try and get in front of the net and try and create anything that could happen front. So I think for us, and for me personally, I just have to try and find lanes, try to find an angle that can maybe help produce, that’s my main objective when I’m in the offensive zone. Try and find opportunities, try and find chances for us to score and that’s our that’s our main focus really.”

You could see, as McLellan mentioned, the relief in Roy in getting that first goal of the season. Perhaps that could be a sign of things to come, both individually and for a group of defensemen looking to re-discover that production alongside the stout defensive play they’ve delivered.

Quick Hitters
– The Kings were able to get their usual trip schedule here after not having that luxury last time around.

Typically, at least with Todd McLellan as Head Coach here, the Kings prefer to travel East a day early, get a practice day in and acclimate. Last trip East, the Kings didn’t have that, traveling between games, and perhaps the start in Game 1 against Columbus reflected that. We’ll see how that translates into tomorrow, but the Kings have the setup the’d prefer.

“It’s nice [to get out a day early] and also to re-group as a team,” forward Phillip Danault said. “The road has been good to us and I think it’s good get in with the time change and get ready to go for tomorrow.”

– The Kings put in another session of work on the power play today. It’s a unit that was so impactful last season but hasn’t quite hit those heights here in 2023-24.

Todd McLellan, bluntly, said today that he hasn’t seen a ton of signs from that unit as of late that suggest a breakthrough. It’s a work in progress, and the Kings won’t stop putting in the work on it, but they know it has to get better.

“I think that there’s some things that that still have to happen and improve in those areas,” McLellan said today. “I think we did create more chances and we didn’t give up momentum, but the polish and the execution has to improve. We practiced it today and I hope it’s going to be better tomorrow than it was today.”

– A goaltending update – The Kings announced earlier today that goaltender Pheonix Copley had successful reconstruction surgery this week on his ACL and will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season. In a corresponding move, at the minor-league level, goaltender Aaron Dell was signed today to an AHL contract with the Ontario Reign.

Dell recently played for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in Davos Switzerland, as he posted a 2.59 goals-against average in four games played during the tournament. Dell played last season in the San Jose organization, appearing in four games with the Sharks and 38 with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. He’s played in a total of 130 NHL games with San Jose, New Jersey and Buffalo, in addition to 133 more in the AHL with the Barracuda, the Binghamton Devils and the Rochester Americans.

In finding a goaltender in January without a contract, you can’t find much more experience than the Reign did in Dell. An experienced play at both the NHL and AHL levels, Dell can slot right in with Ontario and should the Kings need an option down the road, they could sign Dell to an NHL contract at that point. With Copley on LTIR and David Rittich in the NHL, this move makes sense.

Erik Portillo has done really fine job this season for the Reign, including his second shutout of the season last night. Portillo has an AHL record of 9-4-1 in his first professional season, with a .917 save percentage and a 2.53 goals-against average, along with the pair of shutouts. It’s also his first, full professional season and in an ideal world, he’d be paired with a veteran, with both getting starts. The organization now has that option again, to complement the strong play of Portillo.

Early one tomorrow, Insiders.

Kings will take on Washington at 3 PM local time, noon in Los Angeles, with hopes of starting the trip on a the right foot. Preview to follow in the AM!