10/3 Preview – Today’s Game Group + Quebec Energy, Opportuni-Lee

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (3-0-1) vs. Boston Bruins (2-2-1)
WHAT: 2024 Preseason Game
WHEN: Thursday, October 3 @ 4:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Videotron Centre – Quebec City, QC
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: LAKings.com – AUDIO – ESPN LA App / LA Kings App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings will conclude their exhibition slate with two games in Quebec City, the first of which comes tonight against the Boston Bruins.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings and Bruins are not traditionally opponents during the preseason, but the uniqueness of the Quebec trip made Eastern Conference opposition a possibility.

Last season, the Kings won in overtime in Boston and lost in regulation at home, with the season series split 1-1. Defenseman Brandt Clarke, who scored the overtime game-winning goal at TD Garden, is expected to be in the lineup for tonight’s game.

KINGS VITALS: These are the final tune-up games for the Kings, who will be expected to ice something resembling their NHL roster over the next two games. Most Kings veterans have played in 1-2 games to date in the preseason, so it would not be surprising to see the Kings ice the bulk of their regulars in both games, as they prepare for the season.

Look for goaltender David Rittich to get the start tonight, continuing the rotation that’s been set here over the last few days. Rittich has played one exhibition game to date, a 3-2 win over Anaheim on Saturday at Toyota Arena in Ontario. Rittich made 17 saves on 19 shots to pick up the victory and is expected to get the nod here this evening in Quebec.

The expected game group is shown below –

Laferriere – Kopitar – Kempe
Jeannot – Danault – Moore
Fiala – Byfield – Foegele
Lee – Turcotte – Thomas

Anderson – Spence
Gavrikov – Burroughs
Edmundson – Clarke

Rittich
Kuemper / Copley

As Hiller said yesterday, he’s treating this trip as if it’s an 84-game regular season. While we might see a couple of pieces shuffled in and out between tonight’s game and Saturday’s matchup with Florida, Hiller has committed to playing the bulk of his lineup in both games, as the preparation for Game 1 continues.

“If you look at our lineup, we’ll have the most veterans we’ve played all season, so what happens is, when you have a little bit more of a mixture, you have more spots in the top nine, top six and guys get more ice time,” Hiller said. “So tonight, there’ll be some players still fighting for jobs, but their roles and their ice time will be much more limited. So now you’ve got to make sure what you’re doing with what you’ve got and you’re impressing in those few minutes, you just don’t get the 12, 13, 14, 15 minutes that some of these guys got earlier.”

For that fourth line in particular, they’ve played higher in the lineup all camp. Tonight, they’ll be more in the role they might say this season. See how those guys do. Same could be said for the Edmundson/Clarke pairing, which has been played as a top pair when used previously. Keep an eye tonight on the distribution of minutes on the blueline specifically.

BOSTON VITALS: The Bruins are in and out for tonight’s game, skating this morning in Boston before the quick jaunt up to Quebec.

Per Scott McLaughlin of WEEI Radio in Boston, here’s how the Bruins lined up today at morning skate –

Bruins lines at morning skate:

Zacha-Lindholm-Pastrnak
Tufte/Koepke-Coyle-Lysell
Frederic-Johnson-Brazeau
Jones-Brown-Viel

Lindholm-McAvoy
Zadorov-Carlo
Lohrei-Wotherspoon

Korpisalo
Bussi

— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) October 3, 2024

Assuming that holds true, former Kings goaltender Joonas Korpisalo could get the nod in net against his former team. Forward Brad Marchand will not play tonight due to illness. Otherwise, looks like a relatively strong roster for the opposition.

Notes –
Good Day, Quebec
For many, yesterday’s practice was the first time they’ve played in this building, in this city. Not for everyone though.

Throw it back to 2016 and Anze Kopitar was here, only in a different jersey.

Koptiar represented Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey and he played in an exhibition game here at Videotron Centre. While his side was on the losing end that night, the building is one that Kopitar remembered.

“It’s great to be here, I know that the city’s been waiting a long time to get some NHL action, with the passionate fans and everything that they have here,” Kopitar said. “I have played in this building before, the pre-tournament game with Team Europe here, so I know how good of an atmosphere this building can bring. We’re hoping that’s going to happen in the next couple days.”

The atmosphere should be pretty cool tonight.

Preseason games can be the opposite of that sometimes. It’s often games that season-ticket holders have in their packages but don’t always come to, or aren’t as interested in. I certainly get that. Individual tickets aren’t as hot of a commodity. When you play in a neutral market, though, the energy can be a little bit different. This is a marquee event here and that’s pretty cool.

“I think it adds a little bit of energy,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “Looking back at Australia, that wasn’t necessarily all LA fans or I guess Arizona or now Utah [it was] a mix of everyone that’s happy to kind of watch hockey, so it makes for a fun atmosphere. They know hockey here, so it makes it a fun place to come play. I’m sure they’re excited to have it.”

Part of what Anderson said is what others have talked about too.

It’s not just Kings fans or Bruins fans or Canadiens fans here.

You see all sorts of jerseys in the stands at games like this. Fans of hockey. In a hockey market without a professional team, there is a lot of support, a lot of passion and a lot of knowledge. Should make for a fun night.

“It was cool too to see how many different jerseys are out there,” forward Trevor Moore added. “I kind of felt like I saw that in Australia too, where fans of hockey were there, fans of all sorts of different teams. So, it’s cool to come to a super, super passionate place like this.”

Opportunit-Lee
It’s an opportunity for a few players here to make an impact.

Consider forward Andre Lee firmly in that boat.

If you’d have asked Jim Hiller over the summer, he wouldn’t have had Lee on the roster for these games in Quebec. Training camp exists for many reasons, though, one of which is to provide opportunities for players to showcase themselves for the NHL roster. Lee has done exactly that. Hiller had a load of good things to say about the Swedish-born forward –

“I like that he brought his 6-5 body to camp, I like the way he skates and most importantly, I like his consistency,” Hiller said of Lee. “A lot of times it takes a bigger guy like that more time to understand what his role is going to be, that he’s got to get in quick and forecheck, he’s got to finish checks, do all those things. He does it very, very consistently already. So, it’s again a shoutout to the coaching staff who has worked with him in Ontario. He understands his game, he understands who he is right now, he knows that he’s just got to create himself a role in the NHL and then he can expand it as he gets experience. He’s just one of those guys that as a coach, you don’t have to worry about, just what you see is what you get and he has just been really impressive.”

While preparation and planning is a crucial part of the next two games, there are also jobs still to be won. While injuries have not fallen the Kings’ way during training camp, multiple players out of the mix means that others have the chance to step in. Whether the Kings keep 13 or 14 forwards with seven or eight defensemen remains to be seen. All indications pointed towards a 13/8 alignment, prior to Drew Doughty’s injury, but now it feels less certain. With 15 forwards and eight defensemen here in Quebec, that leaves just two decisions to be made amongst the skaters.

For Lee, while perhaps he wasn’t quite in the picture back in July, he is firmly in it now. Hiller added that he “didn’t know he’d be this close” to an NHL player. For Lee’s part, it’s a cliché, but he’s simply gone out and “played his game”. His game in college was more of a skill role. He was a top-six forward at UMass-Lowell in the NCAA. Now, he likely profiles lower in the lineup at least to start. The clarity behind where he’s at has been key for Lee and he’s now just executing as intended. His game now is different than it was and that’s something he’s embraced.

“I think when I came to the organization, I didn’t really know what my role is, but over the past years, we’ve been working on it and I’ve understood what it is,” he said. “I know if you do it 100 percent, you put your effort in, you’ve got to become good at it. So yeah, that’s just what I’m trying to do. As I said, I know what they want, so I’ve just got to do what they say.”

Lee’s regular season last year in Ontario had ups and downs. An injury cost him a lot of time, as he was limited to 36 regular-season games. The biggest up was the ending, though, as Lee buried four goals from eight playoff games, second-most on the team while skating in the bottom six. He’s taken that experience, that momentum, and carried it into camp this fall.

“It was definitely important, I think with missing some time last year as well, it was great to end the season on a kind of good note,” Lee said. “I wish we went further, of course, but yeah to end the season and have a little confidence coming into the next year, it’s good.”

Lee credited Marco Sturm in Ontario, as well as the rest of the staff there as helping to prepare him for his NHL role. Hiller said similar things. There’s no guarantees here, with 15 forwards for 13 or 14 spots, plus Lee is waiver-exempt when others aren’t. Still, tonight is a moment to showcase himself for an NHL job. If Lee continues the way he has throughout camp, as he’s earned several admirers within the organization, good things will come. Even if, like his development path, they take just a little bit of time.

One to keep an eye on tonight in Quebec City.

4 PM puck drop, Pacific time, for the penultimate game of the preseason. Full game coverage to follow!