1/20 Preview – Diving into the Dubois/Byfield swap + Quick’s Return, McLellan on Fagemo

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (21-13-8) vs. New York Rangers (28-14-2)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Saturday, January 20 @ 7:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: KCAL-TV (Ch.9) – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The LA Kings continue on their four-game homestand with the New York Rangers in town this evening to conclude the season series.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Phillip Danault scored his team’s lone goal last time out, with forwards Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar collecting the assists. Kopitar has five assists over his last five games against the Rangers, while forward Kevin Fiala has ten points (4-6-10) over his last eight contests versus New York.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held an optional morning skate today, coming off a full-team practice yesterday.

Goaltender David Rittich was off first this morning, making him tonight’s projected starting goaltender for the third time in four games. Rittich has faced the Rangers twice throughout his NHL career, posting a 2-0-0 record with a .971 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average.

Here’s how the Kings lined up during yesterday’s practice –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence – Clarke

Rittich
Talbot

Should the Kings opt for a lineup change, they have defenseman Brandt Clarke and forward Samuel Fagemo as lineup options. Morning skate saw more players off early than lineup spots, so we’ll have to wait until warmups for clarity on tonight’s lineup.

RANGERS VITALS: New York has lost five of its last seven games entering tonight, including the first game of a four-game trip by a 5-1 margin against Vegas.

The Rangers are expected to give the start tonight to none other than goaltender Jonathan Quick. Quick has faced the Kings just once in his NHL career, back in December, when he made 25 saves in a 4-1 win over Los Angeles at Madison Square Garden.

Per Vince Mercogliano of USA Today Sports, here’s how the Rangers lined up last time out in Vegas –

#NYR morning skate lineup is unchanged:

Kreider – Zib – Kakko
Panarin – Trocheck – Laf
Cuylle – Brodzinski – Wheeler
Goodrow – Bonino – Vesey

Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Trouba
Gus – Schneider

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) January 18, 2024

Look for former Kings forward Jonny Brodzinski to be in tonight’s lineup for the visitors. New York forward Artemi Panarin is tied for third in power-play points (27), fourth in the NHL in points (61) and tied for fifth in the league in goals (27). New York brings the NHL’s second-best power-play unit into tonight’s game at 28.7% on the season. Per Mollie Walker of the NY Post, defenseman Erik Gustafsson will not play tonight with a lower-body injury.

Notes –
Lineup Shuffles
Expect to see a different look off the opening puck drop here tonight against the Rangers.

During the third period on Thursday, the Kings moved forward Pierre-Luc Dubois onto a line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, in search of a tying goal. That saw forward Quinton Byfield move back to center, then on a line with Alex Laferriere and Jaret Anderson-Dolan. In the moment, McLellan felt Dubois was having a good night offensively and could perhaps make a difference in the extra minutes.

First things first, this is tonight’s lineup. It’s not the lineup for the next eight seasons. It’s just the lineup for tonight and we’ll see where it goes. The Kings still see Dubois as a center, but when you’ve lost 10 of 11, and 5-on-5 scoring is a major issue, you’ve got to change something up and it can’t always just be swapping out the 12th forward. With Byfield, the Kings do believe he can be a center long term, but they’ve been quite happy with his play on the wing.

Back on track. With regards to Dubois, McLellan pointed to a few different areas as to why moving to the wing could be a benefit to him. The Kings have liked his physical engagement and his play on the boards of late and being on the wing puts him on the wall more often. He also clicked with Kempe earlier in the season and should see an uptick in 5-on-5 icetime, which has been lower for him this season than in past stops, despite his per/60 production being right in line.

“He’s become a little more physical lately, I think he’s been more engaged physically and this is going to put him a little closer to the boards,” McLellan said. “He’s playing with really good players. Throughout his career, he’s played on the top couple of lines, so this puts him back in a position, providing those lines play that way, to be there, so he’s got to feel confident. We’ll see how things go on the wing, but he’s played there before. It’s not always in the middle, he’s had some shifts and the way we play all the pieces are interchangeable.”

For Dubois, he did admit that the bulk of the time he’s played on the wing in his career has been on the right as opposed to the left, which is a change for him. It’s been a season of change and a season of adjustments for Dubois, who understands it’s part of the process.

“I feel like this year, my game has been adjusting the whole season to new roles, new position, new linemates, new systems, just another adjustment to make,” he said. “I haven’t played left wing in a long time, even before when I was a winger, I was a right winger. It’s definitely an adjustment to make but it’s part of the job.”

An adjustment, certainly, but perhaps one that can benefit all parties. Kopitar and Kempe have continued to sustain offensive-zone time, and create chances, but the goals haven’t followed as of late. Koptiar hasn’t scored in his last eight games and Kempe’s last goals came when he was paired with Dubois against Detroit and Washington at the beginning of the month, when he buried three times in two games. A shakeup that could perhaps help everyone.

With regards to Byfield, McLellan expressed a ton of confidence in his young center. Not just with the ability to move back to a position he’s played his entire life, because that’s not a huge change, but rather in what he believes now is a confident and assured player who can drive his own line through the middle.

“The situation we’re in right now, we’re trying different things to pull the group out of it and I think Q can be a big part of that solution,” McLellan said. “We have enough confidence in him now and he’s earned the right to be a confident player no matter where he goes. He was drafted as a center and I don’t know if he’ll stay there, but we feel that Q can drive a line. He can be a guy that takes Laf, it could be a kid line, or whoever it is, and be the go-to guy and drive a line. He’s not going to be the savior, we’re not putting that pressure on him, but he’s confident enough and sure enough of himself now that we think that he can do that there.”

Positionally speaking, there’s really nothing new for Byfield.

He’s been a center since he was a kid. He was drafted as a center, played in the AHL as a center and broke into the NHL as a center. His move to the wing last season earned him more minutes and a more prominent role in the lineup, something he’s taken into this season as well. Positionally speaking, the move back is nothing new for number 55.

“I’ve played there before, I’ve played center my whole life until the last year,” Byfield said. “Going back, it might be a little adjustment for me, just getting back, getting used to being down the middle. I was working on faceoffs after the skate today, just getting my timing back. I’ve been playing there my whole life, so just getting back to the basics, using my speed a little more, having the puck a little bit more. I’m excited.”

QUICK Hitters
– Get it?

The Kings are expecting the return of Jonathan Quick tonight against the Rangers. Certainly will be a special night for Kings fans, who will get an opportunity to honor the greatest goaltender in franchise history. Quick naturally faced the Kings in December with the Rangers and backed up with the Vegas Golden Knights late last season, but he’s yet to be a part of a game in Los Angeles as a member of a visiting team. Tonight should be the night and the Kings will honor #32 during the game, likely early in the first period.

– We could see forward Samuel Fagemo tonight in his season debut for the Kings. Not 100 percent, but Fagemo was not on late today after morning skate, which at least points to the possibility he could be in tonight’s lineup. Fagemo has one goal from four NHL games this season with Nashville and a scorching-hot 20 from 24 in the AHL with the Ontario Reign.

Should Fagemo play, Todd McLellan is looking for an Alex Laferriere-esque performance. A performance that says you can’t take me out of the lineup and a performance that pushes for more ice time.

“He can go in and have an Alex Laferriere-type game one, if you remember how he played that first night,” McLellan said. “It almost isn’t fair, but if he has one of those nights, he’s going to keep on going. He’s been around long enough, he’s played on two NHL teams now, us and Nashville, and when he gets his opportunity, he can have one of those nights.”

Back to a 7:30 puck drop tonight for the Kings, as two of the NHL’s best teams early in the season meet during their respective rough patches.