1/24 Preview – Honoring Kopi + Morning Skate Notes, Ceremony Details, Quick Hitters on 80/22/11

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (22-13-9) vs. Buffalo Sabres (20-23-4)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Wednesday, January 24 @ 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: The Kings conclude a four-game homestand here this evening, as they host the Buffalo Sabres in a cross-coast showdown.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Phillip Danault led the Kings with three points (0-3-3) from two games played last season against Buffalo and has eight assists from his last eight games played against the Sabres in total.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held an optional morning skate today, in advance of tonight’s game versus the Sabres.

Goaltender Cam Talbot did not participate in today’s morning skate, making him tonight’s projected starter in net against the Sabres. Talbot has a lifetime record versus Buffalo of 1-2-2, with a .881 save percentage and a 3.77 goals-against average.

With the optional skate, the Kings didn’t take line rushes today, but here’s a projection based off of yesterday’s practice day –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Clarke
Spence

Talbot
Rittich

Lines above would indicate one change from Monday against San Jose, with defenseman Matt Roy returning to the lineup after he missed the game versus the Sharks, following the birth of his first child. Defenseman Brandt Clarke stepped into Roy’s spot alongside Vladislav Gavrikov on Monday, but looks as if he could keep his place in the lineup tonight, with Jordan Spence on the ice late alongside Arthur Kaliyev after today’s skate.

SABRES VITALS: Buffalo heads to Los Angeles on the second half of a back-to-back, following a 4-2 defeat yesterday evening at Honda Center in Anaheim.

With goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen making the start last night in Anaheim, that would point towards goaltender Devin Levi in net tonight in Los Angeles. Levi has never faced the Kings throughout his career to date. The Northeastern product has a record this season of 8-7-2 with a .889 save percentage and a 3.32 goals-against average.

Per the Sabres team account, here’s how tonight’s opponent lined up yesterday in Orange County –

How we're looking tonight in Anaheim.#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/LOqMQxCyOA

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 24, 2024

Buffalo blueliner Rasmus Dahlin leads the NHL in goals by a defenseman this season with 13. Dahlin is also one of eight defensemen in the NHL averaging more than 25 minutes per game in TOI and ranks in the league’s Top 10 in points (7th – 38) and even-strength points (T-6th – 25).

Notes –
Talking 11
“[He’s] a winner. That’s what winners do. They do what they need to do for the group, the organization and the community, not always for themselves. The more you give, the more you get and Kopi’s given a lot to his teammates, to this team. In return, I’m not talking financial or anything like that, I’m talking about getting recognition from his teammates, from his coaches, a pat on the back from a fan, a ceremony. That’s what you get in return and winners do those things.”

That was Todd McLellan on Anze Kopitar, who the Kings will honor in advance of tonight’s game as a celebration of his many milestones with the organization.

Formally, the Kings are honoring Kopitar for the following –

– He is now the Kings franchise leader in regular season games played (he surpassed Dustin Brown’s then-record of 1,296 games in October).
– He is now the Kings franchise leader in assists (he surpassed Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne’s then-record of 757 assists in December).
– He is now second on the Kings franchise list in points (trailing only Dionne, Kopitar surpassed Luc Robitaille’s 1,154 points with the Kings in November).
– He scored the 400th career goal of his career in November 8; the 400 goal plateau is a recognized NHL Milestone.

The big fella here is the games played milestone, as Kopitar passed Dustin Brown for the most games played in LA Kings history earlier this season. With Brown expected to be in the building tonight, Kopitar will be celebrated as Brown was years prior when he set the record himself.

Kopitar’s current teammates will be here as well and they had a lot of say about their captain.

Jaret Anderson-Dolan
It’s great to see, obviously very deserving for what he’s done for everybody in this organization, especially his teammates and the younger guys. It’s definitely deserved and it’s great to see him being honored and he deserves every bit of it for sure.

Quinton Byfield
What he’s meant to this organization, it’s just crazy, and what he’s meant to me as a teammate as well, coming in as a younger guy, he’s been a leader. He’s probably the best King ever, so just getting to play with him, as a teammate and as a linemate now, it’s really special. To get guidance from him, is something you just can’t ask for more of.

Kevin Fiala
It’s great to see. What he has done throughout his whole career, for this organization, it’s unbelievable. Winning two Stanley Cups, being our captain not just on the ice, but off the ice he’s such a good guy and a leader. You can say so much about him, he’s an idol and a role model.

Adrian Kempe
You can just tell why he’s the captain and why he’s meant so much to the organization. It’s still impressive, what he does on the ice but also off the ice, whether it’s talking to teammates, talking to family of other teammates, all of it. It’s amazing to see the impact he’s had on the Kings and on myself.

Matt Roy
He deserves it all. He’s our best player every night and he’s still producing just as much as he did when he was younger. He’s a great leader and a great teammates. It’s so good to see him get all of these accolades.

While the focus of the night, pre-game, is naturally on Kopitar, tonight is also quite a big night for the Kings. Ceremony or not.

Mired in a stretch that’s seen the Kings post a record of 2-6-5, tonight is a game that could complete a four-game homestand for the Kings at 2-1-1, with two points here tonight. Two points would go a long way towards calming a lot of things down for a team that’s been in one now for the better part of a month. Could the focus on Kopitar pre-game and the ceremony honoring the team’s captain be a way for the group to perhaps rally around him and his accomplishments, getting minds off the slump and onto playing for their leader? Time will tell, but perhaps there’s something there.

“Well, that’s a good point, though this has happened 10 times this year already, so we’ve had a lot of rally around Kopi nights and I hope there’s more to come, because he’s an incredible human being,” McLellan added to a few laughs from the room. “But, right now, we can’t just rely on that, we have to bring our game, we have to concentrate, we have to focus, we have to execute. If that’s going to be a trigger that helps us then great, but if we weren’t having Kopi’s night, I’d still expect all of those qualities to show up.”

Ceremony or no ceremony – there is one – this is a game the Kings know is massive for them to win. If celebrating and honoring Kopitar is something that can help to drive team towards two points, while also giving a legend his due, then here’s to hoping we’ve got a win/win.

Quick Hitters –
– Sharing a conversation with forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, from John Hoven of MayorsManor.com. Hoven spoke with Dubois following Todd McLellan’s comments after Monday’s game against San Jose.

“Would I want it to go better? Yeah, that’s a pretty easy question. But, you know, I learned a lot my first year in Winnipeg. When you get to a new team, you have to develop a new rhythm, a new routine. Going into practice, going into games. You’re not always in the same chair that you had on your previous team, where you can just come to the rink and know what to expect, and you’re just in the flow of things. You don’t have to think, it just happens naturally.”

The full article is available here.

– Kevin Fiala leads the Kings with 18 assists and 27 points since November 16, which came after he moved onto a line with Danault and Moore, and came after he expressed his desire to play with less risk in his game and committed to delivering more. On this stretch of defeats, Fiala leads the Kings with 11 points from 13 games. He’s averaging over three points per/60 over that first stretch of games, at all strengths and he’s one of 15 players in the NHL averaging both over one goals and two assists per/60 in that stretch.

For all that has not gone well for the Kings of late, Fiala has been arguably the team’s most dangerous and productive offensive player. He’s meshed quite well on that line with Danault and Moore, with McLellan referring to them as the team’s “most consistent line” right now. Fiala expressed confidence in what his line has done as of late.

“We’re very passionate, we play with heart, we want to help out the team to win,” Fiala said of his line’s play of late. “I feel like we’re hunting pucks, we’re fast on pucks and we’re playing both defensively and offensively really good. Lately, I think we’ve been very good.”

More of the same from those guys, as others get going, is what can help bring the Kings out of where they’re at.

– Ceremony details for tonight.

Doors open at 6 PM, warmups expected to begin at 7 PM and the ceremony will start at 7:30 PM. Slightly delayed puck drop to follow, but this won’t be like Dustin Brown’s night last season, which delayed the start much longer. That will come one day down the road when #11 is raised to the rafters! Kopitar poster giveaway at the door to commemorate the night.

Kings and Sabres, final game in Los Angeles before the All-Star break, with a three-game trip against the Central Division carrying us into February. More to come after tonight’s game!