10/22 Preview – “Just A Matter Of Time” for 22/24/12 + Lineup Notes, 7-Game History, Frozen Frenzy

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (3-1-2) @ Vegas Golden Knights (3-2-1)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Saturday, October 22 @ 8:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: ESPN – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The LA Kings are in Vegas for the final of seven consecutive road games to open the season, as they take on the Golden Knights in a Pacific Division showdown.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings posted a 1-1-1 record against Vegas last season, with the teams splitting the games played at T-Mobile Arena.

Forwards Adrian Kempe (2-2-4) and Anze Kopitar (1-3-4) led the Kings a season ago with four points apiece against the Golden Knights, while forward Trevor Moore added two goals from three games played.

KINGS VITALS: Although the return home in between makes it feel differently, tonight is technically the conclusion of a season-opening, seven-game roadtrip for the Kings.

The Kings held an optional morning skate today in Vegas. Goaltender David Rittich did not skate, while Darcy Kuemper and Pheonix Copley did, which points to Rittich as tonight’s starting goaltender, his fourth consecutive nod between the pipes. Rittich has faced Vegas eight times throughout his professional career, posting a 2-6-0 record with a .872 save percentage and a 3.82 goals-against average.

No formal line rushes today, with the optional skate, but here’s how the Kings lined up during yesterday’s practice –

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

Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmundson – Clarke
Englund – Spence
Jones – Burroughs

Rittich / Copley / Kuemper

Jim Hiller said this morning that “we’ll see” with regards to any possible lineup changes for tonight’s game. Coming off a win, though, and two strong team performances defensively, I’m not sure I’d expect any changes. Hiller is “not married” to the notion that you don’t change your lines up after a win, but indicated feels there is good reasoning behind not doing it.

“I think there’s a lot of merit in it, but I wouldn’t be married to that,” Hiller said. “Let me ask you this, if you have a challenging day at work and it goes very well for you, what are you going to differently the next day? It’s not that simple, there’s schedule, there’s people banged up, there’s fresh people who need to get in, there’s all the things you need to take into consideration, but you make decisions and you’re comfortable with how the guys played, sometimes you don’t want to change that.”

Should the Kings decide to make any moves, forward Akil Thomas is available, as are defensemen Kyle Burroughs and Caleb Jones.

Darcy Kuemper is here in Vegas and skated this morning, which is a good sign he is close. He is still on injured reserve as of this morning, though, and I wouldn’t expect him back tonight. Getting close, though.

VEGAS VITALS: The Golden Knights are 3-0-0 at home this season, though they return to Nevada following a 0-2-1 trip to the East Coast, which ended on Saturday.

Per Jesse Granger of The Athletic, here’s how the Golden Knights lined up during morning skate today –

Golden Knights morning skate line rushes:

Barbashev—Eichel—Stone
Howden—Hertl—Dorofeyev
Pearson—Roy—Kolesar
Brisson—Schwindt—Holtz

Hanifin—Pietrangelo
McNabb—Theodore
Hague—Whitecloud

— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) October 22, 2024

The rushes above show a pair of former Kings – forward Tanner Pearson and defenseman Brayden McNabb – who could play in tonight’s game.

Vegas forwards Jack Eichel (2-8-10) and Mark Stone (2-7-9) are each inside the NHL’s Top-5 in assists and the Top-10 in scoring in the early stages of the season. Shea Theodore ranks tied for second in the league amongst defensemen with six assists.

Storyline Of The Day – Just A Matter Of Time
Phillip Danault and Jim Hiller were in agreement this morning.

It’s only a matter of time until that line starts putting the puck in the net.

“We had some great chances the last two games, it’s just a matter of time I think,” Danault said. “I think it was right there, from the get go, and it feels like we were hungry as well, taking care defensively first. Just a matter of time.”

Hiller said he is “not worried about that line at all”, pointing to the number of chances they’ve created since they were reunited in Montreal.

Over the last two games, in 5-on-5 situations, Kevin Fiala leads the Kings with seven shots on goal while Trevor Moore ranks second with six. With Danault playing between them, they’ve been on the ice for 19 shots on goal for, compared to just nine against and they’ve looked more dangerous together than they did apart. It was a familiar sight for all three guys, having played together for an extended stretch a season ago.

“They played how many, three months, together last year,” Hiller added this morning. “They’re a good line, they’ll score.”

Fiala has certainly had his chances to get on the board, with Hiller calling him “dangerous” against Montreal and Anaheim.

Still, he is tied for the team lead with four goals from six games played, but he could be even higher, with numerous breakaway opportunities and a penalty shot in Montreal. Looking specifically at high-danger chances, no player had more than Fiala over the last two games. He was rewarded with the empty-net goal in Anaheim and continues to generate chances for the Kings.

“I think he’s most comfortable with Phil and Mooresie, I think that’s clear,” Hiller said. “I think Kevin’s been pretty good. He’s probably overhandled the puck a little bit sometimes, but Kevin, I believe, is in a really good spot. He looks, for whatever reason, quicker this year……I think he’s skating better this year than last year. I think he’s in a good place.”

It just seems to work better.

Personally, I was really excited about how Fiala and Quinton Byfield could potentially click on a scoring line. I know the Kings were too. The preseason was extremely optimistic, though the production didn’t quite translate into the regular season, albeit through just 3+ games. A lot of potential there, we could see it return at some point, but it didn’t click as intended early.

Nice to have a Plan B that is proven to have had some success and that’s where we’re at now, with Fiala back alongside 12 and 24.

“Phil and Mooresie complement anybody, the way they play without the puck, they’re tenacious,” Hiller added. “Kevin’s been a product of getting loose a few times. Those two, they’re easy to play with as an offensive player, because they’ve loosened up a lot of pucks.”

Here’s to seeing that play turn into a couple of goals in a big road game tonight.

3 To Watch For
– While tonight is Game 7 of 7 on the road, Hiller said it feels more like a five-game trip followed by a two-game trip.

“Really, once we got back, I think just getting home, the guys being able to see their families, getting out in the sun a little bit, made it feel like we got a reset,” Hiller said. “I would say this feels like a two-game trip.”

I’d be inclined to agree.

Though, officially, it’s a seven-game trip.

With one game remaining, the Kings have amassed 8 of a possible 12 points to date. The best seven-game trip all-time for the Kings was a 6-1-0 mark, back in the 1974-75 season. While the Kings can’t match 12 points, a win tonight would conclude the second-best, seven-game trip in franchise history, with nine points earned in 1991-92 currently holding that distinction.

– With regards to Quinton Byfield, Jim Hiller said there is no timeline when he might return to center.

It’s a hot button line of questioning and understandably so, with the narrative over the summer surrounding Byfield’s move back to the middle.

“No timeline on that at all. We don’t know when it will be. I said he would at some point, that might be for a game, for a period, for three games, I don’t know. I just know I’m really comfortable putting him in the middle and he’s a centerman. We’ll just see. It’s nice to have the option to go back to him in the middle.”

Hiller added he wanted to be certain to drive home the point that the changes were not made because the Kings were disappointed at all with Byfield’s play. Hiller has said now 4 or 5 times that isn’t the case. He believes that Byfield is a center in the long run and that he won’t have any hesitation in turning to him, when the time is right and when he feels it’s best for the team.

– Lastly, first national game of the season tonight, as ESPN will have the coverage tonight from Las Vegas.

8 PM puck drop, which is actually going to be around 8:22 local time……yelp.

Frozen Frenzy is kinda cool though. All 32 teams around the league are in action, so plenty of hockey to watch until this thing finally gets underway.

Good test here for the Kings. Divisional game against a playoff team and we’ll see how the style translates when the competition perhaps kicks up a notch. Big one ahead with a late puck drop!