11/27 Preview – Focus on Forechecking + New Lines, Foegele w/ Kopitar & Kempe, Kuemper/Jones Updates

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (11-8-3) vs. Winnipeg Jets (18-4-0)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Wednesday, November 27 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings are back home for their final game before Thanksgiving, hosting the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets this evening.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings and Jets square off for the first of three meetings this season, the first of two here at Crypto.com Arena.

Forward Trevor Moore led the Kings last season with four points (2-2-4) against the Winnipeg Jets, while forwards Anze Kopitar (2-1-3), Kevin Fiala (1-2-3) and Phillip Danault (1-2-3) each had three points in last season’s series.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings are back at home for their final game before Thanksgiving, with the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets in town for a Wednesday-evening faceoff.

Look for goaltender David Rittich to get the start this evening against his former team. Rittich, who played in Winnipeg during the 2022-23 season, has faced the Jets seven times throughout his NHL career, posting a record of 3-1-1, with a .934 save percentage and a 2.13 goals-against average.

After yesterday’s team off day, the Kings held a full-team skate this morning in El Segundo, with the following alignment –

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

Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmundson – Clarke
Moverare – Spence
Englund – Burroughs
(Jones)

Rittich
Portillo
(Kuemper)

On the top line, the Kings got a goal in San Jose with Warren Foegele skating with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, a line that was continued this morning. In 18 minutes together, that line has produced solid splits, including three goals for and none against. See how it potentially gels in a full game here tonight.

Moving Foegele up impacts the other lines as well, with the above configuration showing four new units, with Akil Thomas the lone forward on the ice late for additional work. The defensive pairings looked the same, with Andreas Englund and Kyle Burroughs on late after today’s skate for extra work. Kind of feels like you could move Lines 2, 3 and 4 around as you see fit, with amore balanced approach there. More on the forward lines below.

JETS VITALS: The Jets are currently in the midst of a six-game roadtrip, coming to Los Angeles with a record of 2-1-0 via wins over Minnesota and Pittsburgh, sandwiched around a defeat in Nashville.

Per Mitchell Clinton of WinnipegJets.com, here’s how the visitors lined up on Monday in Minnesota –

#NHLJets line rushes. Looks like Heinola is in:

Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Ehlers
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
Gustafsson

Morrissey-DeMelo
Fleury-Pionk
Heinola-Miller
Stanley-Coghlan

— Mitchell Clinton (@MitchellClinton) November 25, 2024

Last time out, forward Kings forward Gabriel Vilardi lined up on the first line, while forwards Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari were on the team’s fourth line. Iafallo scored two goals on Monday in Minnesota, with Kupari assisting on one. Should he play tomorrow, it would be Kupari’s first game back, while Iafallo and Vilardi would return to Los Angeles for the second time.

Storyline Of The Day – War-ren Peace
Could certainly use some peace here in Kings land.

Perhaps Warren Foegele can help to find it.

The revolving door of wingers in the LW1 hole continues, now with Foegele getting his opportunity alongside Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. The reasoning as to why on this one feels pretty simple. Because it’s been productive.

Foegele was on the ice with the Kopitar/Kempe pair for Kopitar’s goal in San Jose. There was Kempe’s breakaway goal against Detroit, set up by Foegele. There was even a goal back in the 6-3 win over Vegas back in October, with Kopitar the goalscorer again. Foegele’s style of play has seemed to gel with 11 and 9 and he’ll get a longer look here this evening.

“For me, it’s just trying to use my speed to create space for them,” Foegele said “They’re two, high-skilled players and for me it’s just trying to open space and get to the net.”

Foegele added that when you join two players who have played together so regularly, the focus is on complementing what they’re doing. In Kopitar and Kempe, it’s the most productive duo for the Kings offensively, hands down, and Foegele recognizes that. His game, a straight-line game with good speed and strong forechecking instincts, should mesh well there.

Their longest stint of the season was by far the game on Monday and in 5:27 together at 5-on-5, that line controlled almost all of the shots, including a 7-0 advantage in high-danger chances. How many of them came on saved efforts before Kopitar’s goal? That I’m not sure of. But 9-2 in scoring chances throughout their game tells at least part of the story.

“He’s a forechecker, goes to the net, has enough skill to make a play to complement Kopi and Juice and he really shoots it too,” Hiller said of Foegele. “That’s one thing we know about Foegs is he can really shoot the puck. It should be a good fit there.”

Hiller added that Foegele and Turcotte play a similar game and that the moves aren’t an indictment on Turcotte’s game. After five unanswered goals in the third period on Monday, I’m not sure you can look down on any semblance of change, really.

Overall, Hiller has felt that the Kings haven’t forechecked to the level they’re capable of. It’s something they identified in San Jose, sure, but it goes back further than that in Hiller’s mind, perhaps the Detroit win a side. That was a big reason for the changes made to the lines above. The Kings, at their best, are very strong on the forecheck. They’ll need that element of their game there tonight against a strong Winnipeg team.

“One thing we’ve talked about, which I think was a strength of ours in the past, was our forecheck,” Hiller said. “We just haven’t forechecked enough this year. One, we haven’t been able to consistently make the right decision

At some point, though, it has to stick. By my count, Foegele is the ninth winger utilized on that line for at least a part of a game and we’re not even into December. And it’s not as if Kopitar and Kempe haven’t produced. They’ve been the two most consistent point producers on the team so far this season, though Kopitar has expressed a desire to find a winger to stick in that spot for longer than anyone has thus far.

At some point, the Kings have to find lines that work, or at least lines that they can give an extended run of games to try and make it work. Seems as if a number of players can play with 11 and 9, and perhaps Foegele can be the guy. if that line can be put into place, you can work the rest of the group around that.

3 To Watch For –
– Something that reared its ugly head in San Jose was naturally the start of the third period.

The Kings were in a tie game, coming off a strong second period. Then 2-2 became 7-2. It’s not even that 7-2 was the final score, but how quickly a tie game felt out of reach. Based on the coaches challenge on the fourth goal, it felt like that was the point, and that’s something that can’t happen.

Players spoke on it, as did Jim Hiller but not sure there was a defined answer. Not sure it really matters, until we see it. But there’s an awareness of it.

Overall this season, the Kings don’t have a comeback victory of more than one goal. They trailed 1-0 four times – in Buffalo, Montreal and Minnesota, as well as at home against Columbus – and won those games, but it’s never been more than just the 1-0 deficit overturned and only the Buffalo game on opening night was a third-period comeback, powered by Koptiar’s hat trick. Not that the plan is to ever go down by multiple goals, but should that happen tonight, or going forward, the Kings will look for a more calming influence in those moments, and a better response going forward.

– The Kings welcomed Darcy Kuemper back to their morning skate today. He won’t play today, and doesn’t sound like he will be an option for the weekend either, but he was in fact on the ice.

Not sure I’ve ever seen a goalie in a non-contact jersey before…..but Darcy Kuemper is out taking shots before today’s @LAKings morning skate.

Don’t run the goalie today, fellas.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 27, 2024

Don’t think I’ve ever seen a goalie in a red jersey before.

Kuemper has been out of action since November 13, when he suffered a lower-body injury during the third period in Colorado. Until this point, we haven’t seen Kuemper back on the ice, but he was back with the Kings this morning, taking shots alongside tonight’s projected starter, David Rittich, and Erik Portillo.

“Good to see him out there,” Hiller said of Kuemper. “He’s making progress, obviously, when you see him out there. Still a ways away, but I think it’s always important when it’s possible to get an injured guy out with the group, just to be around his teammates again, guys get to see him. He was able to take some shots, but more importantly, be around it.”

No sign, per that update, on whether or not Kuemper could feature this weekend, but it certainly won’t be tonight and the “ways away” designation makes it seem like it could be further down the road. If Kuemper isn’t ready by the weekend, look for Portillo to make his first career NHL start against either Anaheim or Ottawa.

– Additionally, defenseman Caleb Jones was on the ice today for the first time with the main group.

Jones has been skating with Arthur Kaliyev, both in non-contact red jerseys, before practice. Jones progressed today to the main group, as he joined up with the team towards the end of the practice, staying out late with those who are expected to be scratched tonight.

Positive signs on Kuemper and Jones both, for sure, but doesn’t sound as if a return for either player is imminent.

Kings and Jets, 7 PM puck drop here this evening, as the Kings return home for a quick one in Los Angeles.