12/4 Preview – Rittich Expected + 11/7 “A Possibility”, Kuemper Activated, Lewis to IR, Kempe to Team Sweden

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (14-8-3) vs. Dallas Stars (16-8-0)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Wednesday, December 4 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: TNT – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings continue what amounts to a three-game homestand here this evening, with the Dallas Stars in town for the first time this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Dallas won each of the three games contested between the teams last season, winning by a collective 13-3 scoreline.

Kings forward Kevin Fiala scored in two of the three games against the Stars, the only King who is expected to play tonight who had multiple points against Dallas last season. Throughout his NHL career, Fiala has 20 points (10-10-20) from 27 games played versus the Stars.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held an optional morning skate today, coming off of yesterday’s full-team practice.

Look for goaltender David Rittich to make the start tonight for the Kings, his seventh start of the team’s last eight games played. Rittich has a lifetime record of 2-3-1 versus Dallas, with a .912 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average.

Here is tonight’s projected lineup, based off of yesterday’s practice –

Moore – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Byfield – Jeannot
Fiala – Danault – Laferriere
Helenius – Turcotte – (Lee)

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

Rittich
Kuemper

In speaking with Jim Hiller this morning, he called an 11/7 alignment a “possibility” for tonight’s game. Looked as if Kyle Burroughs was off early, while Andre Lee was out late for additional work. Could be a game-time decision in there, though, as it didn’t sound definitive, but I’d keep an eye on an 11/7 look during line rushes today. If not, I’d look at Lee to check back in on the fourth line. Either way, that player is checking in for Trevor Lewis, who is out into 2025 with a lower-body injury and was placed on injured reserve earlier today.

In net, goaltender Darcy Kuemper was activated from injured reserve earlier today and will serve as the backup goaltender for Rittich tonight.

STARS VITALS: Dallas enters today’s game riding a three-game winning streak, extended most recently on Monday, with a 2-1 victory over Utah Hockey Club.

Per Mike Heika of DallasStars.com, here’s how the visitors lined up last time out –

Dallas forward and California native Jason Robertson led the way with five points (1-4-5) in the 2023-24 season series with the Kings. The Arcadia, CA native has 12 points (5-7-12) in eight career games versus Los Angeles. Forward Wyatt Johnston scored three goals from the three head-to-head matchups last season to lead all Stars players.

Dallas will be without forward Tyler Seguin tonight. The team announced that Seguin will be out for 4-6 months with a hip injury.

Storyline Of The Day – Measuring Week
The Dallas Stars had the Kings’ number last season. The gap in those three games felt quite large. The Stars outscored the Kings 13-3 across three matchups that were, ultimately, not all that competitive, all resulting in Dallas victories. Coming up on Saturday is a Minnesota team that the Kings handled quite well on the road, but a team that is currently on a four-game winning streak, sitting atop the Western Conference with 38 points. Two very high-caliber tests.

If you’re still on the train of believing that the Kings haven’t matched up well against the higher-caliber teams, then this is the week for you to watch. There’s been a mixed bag in those games to date, with the Kings 3-4-1 against teams currently in a playoff spot. Last week’s win over Winnipeg a convincing one, joining the win over Minnesota and the win over Vegas before that, but there were losses in Calgary and Colorado last month, and a couple of lopsided ones before, that drag that record down.

So, which is it?

Suppose we’ll find out soon enough.

“It’s always fun playing against those top teams, you always want the challenge and you know you’ve got to be at your best, that’s what makes it exciting,” goaltender Darcy Kuemper said. “We’re going to meet everybody [at some point], so a good test for the group and those are the kinds of games that make you better.”

The Kings have certainly battled inconsistency in the early stages of the season. The low point of late was the 7-2 loss in San Jose on November 25. At the time, I thought there were a ton of compareables to the 6-0 loss in Buffalo during the 2022-23 season. In both games, the Kings entered the third period tied and conceded 5+ unanswered goals. Both teams struggled for consistency, but both teams followed up that loss with a victory over the team leading the NHL in points. In this year’s case it was Winnipeg.

In that season, the Kings rattled off a 10-2-1 run over their next 13 games, taking them from the inconsistent middle to a solid playoff team. Included in that stretch were wins over Boston, Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton and Vegas, teams that accounted for the league’s best point total (BOS) and the four highest totals in the Western Conference. Thus far, the Kings are 3-0-0 coming off that San Jose loss but they’re now looking at a very difficult December.

With two games here at home versus Dallas and Minnesota, the test starts today, with the focus coming on tonight’s opponent, first and foremost.

“They’re two top teams in the league, obviously tonight with Dallas they’ve made it to the Western Conference Finals two of the last three years, so they’re a contender,” forward Warren Foegele said. “It’s a great step for us and a nice challenge today to measure where we’re at.”

The Kings will begin the test on home ice, where they’ve been at their best so far this season. The Kings are 8-2-1 on home ice this season, the fourth-best mark in the NHL by winning percentage. Under Jim Hiller, the record is 22-5-2, good for a .793 winning percentage that is the best in the NHL. Those numbers will be put to the test this week against a pair of high-quality opponents.

“They’re obviously a really good team over there, we know that they have strengths, they’re a really fast team, really good off the rush and they take time and space away pretty good,” forward Tanner Jeannot added. “We watched some video on it, we know our jobs and know what we need to do, come out there an execute.”

3 To Watch For –
– 11/7, question mark?

Looks like it could be trending that way, though, based on this morning’s skate.

Jim Hiller has said in the past that in some situations, he prefers the 11/7 alignment. It gives him a lot of flexibility up front and allows for his high-end forwards to get extra shifts and more icetime.

“I played a lot of 11 forwards last year, I’m really comfortable with that, it’s almost a preference at times, to be honest with you,” Hiller said.

The downside comes on the backend, where the third pairing in particular on the blueline sees a minutes production.

“Seven, it pulls down the icetime of not just the seventh defenseman, but probably five and six and maybe a little bit for four too,” he added today.

The 11/7 is a preferred option of the forwards and probably less so on the blueline. Looking likely that, should the Kings go that route tonight, that it would be Kyle Burroughs who checks in for his first game since November 7 versus Vancouver. See how it goes.

– Congratulations are in order for Kings forward Adrian Kempe, who was selected earlier today as a member of Team Sweden at the upcoming 4 Nations Faceoff in February.

Kempe was the only Kings player selected at this time and will represent his native Sweden for the first time in a best-on-best international format. Kempe has represented Sweden four times previously at the senior international level during the IIHF World Championships, winning a gold medal in 2018 and a bronze medal in 2024. Kempe totaled 25 points (6-19-25) across his four tournaments, the fourth most all-time among active Swedish players.

Roster for Team Sweden and Team Finland were announced earlier today, with Team Canada and Team USA to follow in a couple of hours. Former Kings defenseman Olli Maatta was a part of the Finnish contingent set to participate, while former Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson will join Kempe on Team Sweden.

– Information that was previously announced, but Kempe will be joined at the tournament by a pair of Kings staff members – Goaltending Coach Mike Buckley and Head Equipment Manager Darren Granger.

Buckley will be a part of Mike Sullivan’s staff with Team USA, while Granger will be a part of Team Canada’s training staff. For Buckley, it’s his first international coaching experience. Granger was a gold-medal winner with Team Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics and has been behind the bench at four IIHF World Championships and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

Congratulations to all three. More to come tomorrow once we get the chance to speak with Kempe about joining Team Sweden!

Kings and Stars, national game on TNT from Crypto.com Arena. See how it goes with one of the league’s best teams in the building.

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