Preview 1.26 – Focus On The Collective + Tonight’s Task, Reactions To DD Comments

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (22-14-9) @ Colorado Avalanche (31-14-3)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Friday, January 26 @ 6:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Ball Arena – Denver, CO
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports West – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings begin a three-game roadtrip heading into the All-Star break, as they visit the Colorado Avalanche for the final matchup of the season between the teams.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: LA and Colorado have split a pair of games at Crypto.com Arena this season, with the Kings winning most recently in early-December. Forward Quinton Byfield leads the Kings with three goals from the two games played, while forwards Carl Grundstrom (1-1-2), Adrian Kempe (0-2-2) and Anze Kopitar (0-2-2) have two points apiece.

KINGS VITALS: It was an optional morning skate for the Kings today in Denver, following a full-team practice in El Segundo yesterday morning.

Goaltender Cam Talbot was not on the ice for morning skate today, which points to him getting the nod in net tonight against the Avalanche. Talbot has faced Colorado 16 times to date throughout his professional career and brings with him a record of 8-7-0, with a .900 save percentage and a 3.20 goals-against average.

No formal line rushes today, considering the optional, but here’s how the Kings lined up last time out versus Buffalo –

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Clarke

Talbot
Rittich

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) January 25, 2024

Expecting forward Arthur Kaliyev to check back in tonight in Colorado, with forward Samuel Fagemo on the ice late. McLellan said on Wednesday that he wants Kaliyev to “fit the team” and we’ll see how and where he aligns tonight. All seven defensemen were off early today, so we’ll have to wait for warmups to see how the Kings align there.

AVALANCHE VITALS: Colorado is the NHL’s best team at home this season, entering tonight’s action with a league-high 19 victories at Ball Arena.

Look for goaltender Alexandar Georgiev to be between the pipes tonight for the Avalanche. Georgiev has faced the Kings six times throughout his NHL career and brings with him a record of 2-3-1, with a .914 save percentage and a 3.00 goals-against average.

Per the Avalanche team account, here’s how the hosts lined up last time out against the Capitals –

Feels good to be home. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/OHzbXzj9zI

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 25, 2024

Forward Nathan MacKinnon currently leads the NHL in assists (52) and points (82) and is coming off a four-goal game on Wednesday. Forward Mikko Rantanen ranks fourth in the NHL with 65 points this season, while defenseman Cale Makar ranks second among defensemen with 59. Georgiev leads the NHL in wins (26) and games played (40) on the season.

Notes –
Starting off with a standalone quote from Todd McLellan –

“I’m not even going to go there in this situation, I’m not talking about individuals, because collectively we have to play with all 12 forwards and six d-men, night in and night out, and all those pieces have to be together, the puzzle has to fit. I think a team like the one we play tonight, if their big line has an outstanding game, they alone can win, with their two D, can win a game. We don’t quite have that. We have really good players, but we have to play as 12 and six joined, both offensively and defensively, as we did earlier in the year, to have success. So, I’m not going into individuals and who’s playing well and who’s scoring, it’s the collective thing right now.”

The question came in reference to a quote from after the last game against Buffalo, when he referenced underlying metrics at the team level. Are there individuals who are in the same boat? Right now, with 12 losses from 14 games, it’s not the focus. The Kings have to deliver as a group, collectively, in order to find success tonight.

The Task At Hand
As the title says, the job does not get any easier for the Kings.

Their current form is well documented, that we know. Ahead of them tonight are the 2022 Stanley Cup Champs, who are not only the most successful home team in the NHL this season, but one of the hottest teams in the league presently, with three wins from their last four, seven from their last nine and 11 from their last 14.

A difficult challenge for a group that’s struggling to find its way.

Defenseman Andreas Englund knows perhaps better than any about tonight’s opposition. He played 36 regular-season games with Colorado a season ago, skating alongside the bulk of this group, including guys like MacKinnon, Makar and Rantanen. He understands how this team plays and when all of those guys are going, pulling others up with them, he understands how difficult a team they are to defend.

“They are very good at capitalizing on the chances they get, so that’s one thing for sure,” he said. “It’s definitely a team with good players and I know those guys, if they get a chance to score, there’s a high probability that they do.”

Despite current records of form, there won’t be anyone feeling bad for the Kings right now either. That’s for sure.

The Kings got a win over Colorado earlier in the season with the Avalanche on the final game of a 4-in-6. That’s how the schedule shook out. Right now, the Kings head into Denver on their worst stretch of games not just of this season, but from the last three seasons. On paper, it’s the time you’d want to catch a team that was as hot and as confident as they came in the first 30 games. Right now, they couldn’t be much lower.

The Kings aren’t expecting any favors, or anything less than Colorado’s best in their final game before the NHL All-Star break.

“It’s a tough league to win in and nobody feels bad for you, nobody goes into a game thinking they’re not playing their best,” forward Pierre-Luc Dubois said. “That’s the end of the story. We’re a good team, teams know that and when they sense vulnerability, they attack……we need the resiliency and the determination as the season goes on.”

That word, resiliency, is one that has been used to describe the makeup of the Kings over the years. Tonight, it’ll be tested as aggressively as it has been in a long time.

On a night when the Kings need a win most, they’ll face one of the toughest tests on the schedule. Colorado away is that for most clubs. Against the Avalanche, the Kings could vastly improve their game and still lose. They could correct most of what needs correcting and still have it not be enough. The Avalanche have the top-end talent, as noted above, in the trio of MacKinnon, Rantanen and Makar. But they’ve also got others beyond them who impact games.

“They’re a hell of a team,” McLellan added. “If you go to sleep with that big group on the ice, especially when they play them together with those two D, you’ll be chasing the game all night and they play a very good defensive game as well. If they get away on you it’s hard to come back. If we’re only paying attention to 29 and 96, and the rest of them get to do what they want to do, then we’ll be in trouble at that level as well.”

Tough go or not, every game right now has that must-win feel. Time to overcome that challenge.

Doughty Comments
Drew Doughty’s comments after last game were pointed.

Drew speaks with media after tonight's loss🎤@LAKings I #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/eI6xQ84MMs

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) January 25, 2024

While they were the first time we’ve heard those things from him this season to the media, it’s clear that it wasn’t the first time he’s spoken to the team. In fact, he’s said that he, and others, have stood up and spoken their minds throughout this run, in an effort to get things back on course. Doughty admitted that perhaps he talks so much, he wonders how his message is landing.

From speaking with others around the room, it seems as if the message has landed pretty loud and clear.

“Dewey has won everything and when a guy like that speaks, everybody listens, including guys that have won and including new guys, young guys, guys who haven’t won,” Dubois said. “He goes out there every night with that passion, he plays with that passion, speaks with that passion. I’m sure he’s going to come out next game and play with that same passion and try to ignite the guys. It starts in here.”

As Dubois notes, for Doughty, it’s a guy who has backed up the words with actions.

Doughty has four goals so far in the month of January and only New York’s Adam Fox has scored more since the start of the calendar year. Doughty has been pretty effective on the power play as of late, manning the center point and feeling free and confident to utilize his shot right now.

“He’s beating goaltenders, he has the ability to beat goaltenders from a distance and we’ll whine when he misses the net, but he’s put it in [11] times already, so that’s a pretty good number,” McLellan said recently.

So, when you have a player like Doughty. A player who has won two Stanley Cups. A player with a Norris Trophy. A player with an “A” on his jersey. A player who has not only delivered in the past, but is leading the way even offensively right now. When you have a player like that speaking, even if he acknowledges he’s a player who speaks a lot, others around him are keen to listen and pay attention.

“I think guys might be thinking similar things, but I think once it’s said publicly to the team, I think it hits a little bit differently,” defenseman Matt Roy added. “I think everyone took a step back, everyone’s assessing their own game and we’ve got to put it all together.”

Kings and Avalanche. 7 PM in Colorado, 6 PM Pacific, to begin a three-game roadtrip against the Central Division heading into the All-Star break.