1/22 Preview – Tonight’s Lineups & Vitals + Winning The Right Way, Rittich Back In Net

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (22-13-8) vs. San Jose Sharks (11-31-4)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Monday, January 22 @ 7:30 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: Coming off a return to the win column on Saturday against New York, the Kings host San Jose in a Monday evening showdown, in game three of four on their current homestand.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Kevin Fiala leads the Kings with three points (1-2-3) this season from the two prior matchups between the Kings and Sharks, while forwards Adrian Kempe and Trevor Lewis each have two goals. While he has not faced San Jose yet this season, forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan had three points (2-1-3) from three games against the Sharks during the 2022-23 campaign.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held a full morning skate today, coming off of yesterday’s team off day.

As expected, goaltender David Rittich was off first this morning and is likely to get the nod again tonight against the Sharks. Rittich has defeated the Sharks twice so far this season and brings with him a lifetime record of 4-2-2 versus San Jose, with a .899 and a 2.80 goals-against average.

Here’s how the Kings lined up last time out, without any changes expected in tonight’s lineup –

Tonight’s @LAKings Line Rushes –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence

Rittich
Talbot

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) January 21, 2024

Coming off last game, the Kings do not appear likely to make any lineup changes. Should they need to, or should they look in that direction, defenseman Brandt Clarke and forward Arthur Kaliyev are options to check in at their respective positions.

SHARKS VITALS: San Jose enters tonight’s game off a win in Anaheim, their second win of 2024.

Unclear at this time who will get the start for the Sharks, but should they turn back to goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, who has started his team’s past two games, he brings with him a record of 2-0-2 versus the Kings throughout his NHL career, with a .950 save percentage and a 1.74 goals-against average.

Per Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News Group, here’s how the Sharks lined up last time out versus the Ducks –

Sharks, Ducks lines, d-pairs pic.twitter.com/Rb4ri59t0o

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) January 21, 2024

San Jose captain Logan Couture made his season debut, tallying an assist, on Saturday against Anaheim, after missing the start of the season due to injury. Among active skaters, just four players have more all-time points against the Kings than Couture’s 40. The Sharks currently have five players on injured reserve, including forward Mikael Granlund, who leads the team with 24 assists.

Notes –
Keep Building, Keep Growing
It was important for the Kings to win on Saturday the way that they did.

As Todd McLellan said after the game, had they won 7-6, the offense would clearly have driven the victory, but it would likely have come at the expense of defensive play. Instead, in winning 2-1, the Kings built off of the things they did well the prior game versus Nashville, but came out on the winning side of a 2-1 game. They sacrificed very little defensively at the expense of taking a small step forward offensively.

“When your scoring is down, your defensive play has to be sharp,” McLellan said this morning. “We’ve now played in back-to-back 2-1 games, come out on the good side and the bad side. We’d like to see that change in our favor offensively, but the low-scoring, checking-type mentality is something that has to stick with us. If we try and open things up – which we have a little bit I thought in Detroit, we tried to do that and it cost us, we weren’t patient enough – then we’ll be in trouble.”

That’s not to excuse the lack of scoring offensively, especially at 5-on-5. A full look HERE on the 5-on-5 struggles and how the Kings are trying to improve in those areas. I do think it’s important, though, that the Kings found that win at home the way that they did. A lot of times, when there’s a problem, the solution is an overcorrection, even if not intended. The Kings have not scored enough goals, they commit to scoring more goals but in doing so, they take risks that compromise their defensive play. One problem turns directly into another and you’re back where you started. That wasn’t the case with the win over the Rangers.

The Kings showed earlier this season, when they were winning games regularly by 3+ goals, that they could score goals with the best of them without compromising things the other way. We all knew that being at the top of the charts in both goals for and against would be unlikely to continue at the blistering pace that it started, but even still, the reality is somewhere in between October and November and the last 12 games.

While the line looks pretty large between those two times, it’s such a fine line between winning and losing, despite recent offensive struggles. The Kings have believed in staying the course and that things will fall into place if they continue to do the right things.

“We haven’t been playing bad, the margin for error is pretty slim right now and bounces haven’t gone our way,” forward Alex Laferriere said. “I think once we get back into a roll, get some confidence back, some of our top guy finding the back of the net a lot, then it will just keep pouring.”

With two more games at home on tap, beginning tonight against San Jose, the Kings have the opportunity to continue to get things moving in the right direction offensively, while also staying the course with keeping the puck out of their net. Small steps forward, to get through the most trying stretch of the season.

Big Save Dave
The name may be a bit played out, but inside 90 seconds to play on Saturday evening, it couldn’t have been more true.

With the Rangers on a 6-on-4 advantage, the play unfolded simply enough, though it was a simple play made by elite players. Artemi Panarin to Adam Fox for a one-timer from the center point. Chris Kreider in front, for the screen and perhaps a deflection. All executed to perfection, with the rebound coming to Alexis Lafreniere at the back post. He had the look to tie the game. Until he didn’t.

Big Save Dave. 'Nuff said. pic.twitter.com/lI5x0WiSr8

— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 21, 2024

Enter in David Rittich, who sprawled to his left with his pad to make the biggest save of the evening, preserving a 2-1 lead late in the third period in a game the Kings would go on to win 2-1. As of late, those are the moments that have eluded the Kings. Remember Florida? 48 hours ago, the Kings scored twice in those types of situations and got the save they needed, one of 22 Rittich made in the game. Big Save Dave was in fact Big Save Dave.

Rittich’s play has naturally prompted questions. Questions around how much more of Rittich we might see in coming games. Todd McLellan opted to dive into an area he rarely has after the win over the Rangers, naming Rittich his starting goaltender against San Jose as well.

“There’s no sense beating around the bush or trying to be coy, Ritter’s going to start on Monday, he’s played well and we’ve talked about it already,” McLellan said after the game. “The saves he made, he deserves to go again.”

Since he’s joined the Kings, Rittich has posted a record of 4-0-1, with the lone blemish coming via the shootout against Detroit. When Pheonix Copley went down with what ultimately became a season-ending injury, the Kings certainly felt fortunate to have a goaltender as experienced as Rittich in the system. His body of work was that of an NHL goaltender, even though he had been playing in the AHL. A lot of fingers were crossed in El Segundo when Rittich was placed on waivers back on October and with things playing out the way they did, the Kings are certainly thankful to have Rittich now.

Rittich’s situation coming in, though, was quite different to that of Copley last season, because the Kings were getting solid enough goaltending overall and the defensive play was generally speaking not the problem. Still, the wins and losses were not adding up to where they needed to. Eight straight defeats, snapped with Rittich in net against Carolina, and 10 of 11 in total.

After each of his most recent three starts, Rittich’s teammates have pointed to key saves made to either help secure the victory or the way he’s played that’s given the Kings a spark, given the team something to build off of.

“I think the biggest thing was how outstanding Ritter was,” forward Trevor Moore said of his goaltender. “The way he competes, that save at the end there was all-world. When you have someone competing like that, it’s huge.”

All Rittich can do is exactly that – compete.

It’s what he said after the game against New York and it’s what his teammates have said about him all along. Keep working, keep stopping the puck and keep making the most of his opportunity. With another start here tonight, that’s the sole focus between the pipes.

Kings and Sharks tonight, penultimate home game before the All-Star break and the first of two this week. The Kings won a game on Saturday. If they win again today, that’s two in a row. If they win on Wednesday, that’s called a winning streak. It has happened before……

7:30 PM from Downtown Los Angeles! See you there.