10/10 Preview – Season Opener! Anderson + Kempe Get A’s, Lee’s First NHL Start + Hiller on Opening Night Lineup

 

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (0-0-0) vs. Buffalo Sabres (0-0-0)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular Season Game
WHEN: Thursday, October 10 @ 4:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: KeyBank Center – Buffalo, NY
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports West – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak, @OvertimeScottB & @lakings


TONIGHT’S MATCHUP:
 The long-awaited season opener for the new-look Los Angeles Kings against a Buffalo team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2011.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Kings head coach Jim Hiller noted on Wednesday that the team hasn’t had much success at KeyBank Center. He was likely referencing a 7-0 shellacking at the hands of the Sabres in this location last Feb. 13. That followed a 5-3 loss to Buffalo in Los Angeles about three weeks earlier giving the Sabres a clean sweep 2-0-0 season series against the Kings last year.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings’ Opening Night lineup Thursday will likely include eight players who were not in the lineup when the team’s season ended in Edmonton last spring including a new starting goaltender in Darcy Kuemper, half of the defense corps and four new forwards. The game against the Sabres marks the start of an epic seven-game road trip to kick off the season for the Kings. It stands as an early, critical test of the team’s new additions and new system.

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

Anderson – Spence
Gavrikov – Burroughs
Edmundson – Clarke

Kuemper
Rittich

BUFFALO VITALS: The pressure on new/old head coach Lindy Ruff is already ratcheting up in Buffalo after the Sabres looked sluggish in dropping both games of their overseas set with the New Jersey Devils in Prague. The Sabres managed two goals and were outscored 7-2.

Notes –
Introducing The Two New Assistant Captains
Adrian Kempe and Mikey Anderson will share an assistant captain’s ‘A’ this season with Kempe wearing the letter at home and Anderson wearing the letter on the road starting with Thursday’s game against the Sabres. Both players acknowledged the need to be a little more vocal with defenseman Drew Doughty out month to month with an ankle injury especially with so many new faces in the lineup – there will be eight new players Thursday night that weren’t in the lineup the last time the Kings played in Game 5 of the first round in Edmonton. “I’ve been lucky since I’ve been here to have some good leaders to learn from,” Anderson said. “Try and just keep doing what I can do. Super cool. Super honored.” Kempe said it’s about accepting more responsibility for he and Anderson. “Be more vocal,” he added. The leadership group may be even more important this season with Doughty out and so many new faces. Kempe, for one, is excited to see how all the pieces come together. “They’re all new but it seems like they’ve been here for a while so that’s great news,” he said. “Everybody is very excited. I’m excited to see all the new guys in the real game action.”

A Final Lineup Question Answered
Jim Hiller was a bit cagey on Wednesday when it came to what his lineup would look like Thursday night but he erased any doubt on that matter when he announced after the morning skate that Andre Lee would, indeed, get his first NHL start playing the wing on the team’s fourth line with Alex Turcotte and Trevor Lewis. Lee has been a pleasant surprise to management and the coaching staff throughout the preseason process and has rose to every challenge presented him. “I like that Andre, he’s big, he skates well and he finishes his checks,” Hiller said As for a motivational talk Hiller figures Lee’s got enough going on without any other discussion. “I think he’s had some family come in tonight so I just let him know that I knew his family was coming in, he should be proud and just go out and enjoy the night. It’s pretty simple. He’s got enough motivation with all those things in the bag already.”

No Knute Rockne Speeches
Continuing a theme don’t expect Hiller to be pumping up his group knowing how desperate the Sabres are for a win. “It’s an 82 game season and then there’s the playoffs. So I try to keep my redundancy to a minimum. Of course I have to throw out the cliches, we all do, but I try to keep those to a minimum,” Hiller said. “These guys understand the moments so I try to save the times that I would hope they would listen to me for the moments that I think are really more important.” In short, the guys have been waiting a long time for Game 1, like Lee, there shouldn’t be any extra motivation needed.

To That Point, It’s Time
“Obviously camp was right from the get-go super intense and up-tempo which is good,” Anderson said. “I think everyone is feeling good in the group. I think everyone’s just excited to finally play a game that matters and I think everyone’s ready to go.” Amen to that.

Rob Blake Meets With Media Via Zoom
One of the issues when the team is away from home for literally weeks before the start of the home part of the season is that reporters haven’t had a chance to chat with GM Rob Blake. He took questions from media back in the L.A. area via Zoom on Thursday. He was asked about Doughty and Arthur Kaliyev (broken collarbone). Doughty, of course, is month to month recovering from ankle surgery and Kaliyev will be back sooner with the original six to eight week window still the projection for him to return after he broke his collarbone early in camp, Blake said. The GM told reporters he feels optimistic about the team’s chances in large part given the depth the team has shown within its forward group. Blake said that forward depth should be the team’s biggest strength especially given the new system being employed by the Kings this season.

It all gets going later this afternoon at 4 PM Pacific from Buffalo!

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