3/22 Preview – No Skate Today + Fourth-Line Fury, Eastern Conference Success

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (37-21-9) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (42-22-4)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Saturday, March 22 @ 1:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The LA Kings begin a stretch of seven games in 11 days, six of which are at home, with this afternoon’s season finale against Carolina.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings skated to a 4-2 victory over the Hurricanes in Raleigh back on February 1.

Forward Kevin Fiala led the Kings in that victory with two goals, while forward Phillip Danault scored a goal and added an assist, while forward Quinton Byfield collected two assists. Since joining the Kings in 2022, Fiala has collected six points (3-3-6) from five games played against Carolina.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings have not taken the ice since Thursday’s win over Chicago, so not positive as to any potential lineup changes.

Without the skate, unclear who will get the start this afternoon. Should Darcy Kuemper get the nod, he made 26 saves on 28 shots in the win over the Hurricanes back in February. Should the Kings turn to David Rittich today the Czech netminder brings a 4-3-0 lifetime record against Carolina, with a .911 save percentage and a 2.73 goals-against average. Expecting both goaltenders to play once with the back-to-back this weekend.

For reference, here’s how the Kings aligned during Thursday’s win over Chicago –

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Spence
Edmundson – Clarke

Kuemper
Rittich

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 21, 2025

Personally, I am not expecting any lineup changes today for the Kings, but we won’t know for sure until we hear from Jim Hiller in a couple of hours at Crypto.com Arena.

Should the Kings opt for a change, they have four healthy players available to check in – forwards Akil Thomas and Trevor Lewis, as well as defensemen Kyle Burroughs and Jacob Moverare.

HURRICANES VITALS: After a 3-1 victory over San Jose on Thursday, Carolina continues its California swing today in Los Angeles.

Per Walt Ruff of CarolinaHurricanes.com, here’s how tonight’s opponent lined up against the Sharks –

The #Canes in warmups at the Shark Tank –

Jarvis – Aho – Blake
Hall – Kotkaniemi – Roslovic
Martinook – Staal – Stankoven
Robinson – Jankowski – Jost

Slavin – Burns
Walker – Chatfield
Gostisbehere – Orlov

Andersen
[Backup: Kochetkov] pic.twitter.com/kJIIQxl3kl

— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) March 21, 2025

The Kings will see forward Logan Stankoven tonight for the first time as a member of the Hurricanes, after he was acquired in a deadline deal from the Dallas Stars, as a part of the package that sent forward Mikko Rantanen to Texas. Stankoven scored twice last month against the Kings in Dallas and has four points (2-2-4) from five career games played versus the Kings.

Storyline Of The Day – Fourth-Line Fury
Long time coming for the fourth line on Thursday.

Forward Alex Turcotte scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in Chicago, his eighth of the season, and his first as a part of a line with Tanner Jeannot and Samuel Helenius. Since the NHL’s Trade Deadline, those three have played together in all seven games and have not allowed a goal in that stretch.

Their numbers are on the right side of 50 percent pretty much across the board, including controlling two-thirds of high-danger chances (10 For, 5 Against). They’re also on the right side of scoring chances, shots on goal and shot attempts, all of which with an offensive-zone start time of below 42 percent. The Chicago game, though, was their coupe de grace.

How about this statline.

With those three on the ice, the Kings had 16 shot attempts for, compared to just two against. Shots on goal and scoring chances both 7-1 in favor and Turcotte’s goal was the only goal scored with that line on the ice. Just a masterclass. The Kings have tried numerous different combinations on the fourth line throughout the course of the season, with varying degrees of success. Right now, it just feels right, doesn’t it? With Turcotte’s speed and skill, combined with the physicality of Jeannot and Helenius, there’s something going right now and it’s working.

“We’ve had some good chances, we’ve been playing hard, we’ve been playing the right way, a lot of o-zone time, taking care of our own end, so it was nice to get on the board [in Chicago],” Turcotte said. “Definitely helps the confidence, for sure, as a line and indiviually.”

In Jeannot, he’s the known quantity, as he works towards his 300th career NHL regular-season game. Consider Helenius on the other end of that scale. He’s in his first season and he’s still learning the way. What he does, though, is play to his size, providing a menacing presence on the forecheck. While he had his struggles early and his overall total isn’t all that strong, Helenius has been over 50 percent in the faceoff circle in four consecutive games. He shared that he’s worked on his draws quite a bit and it’s starting to show.

It makes sense why Jeannot and Helenius work. Turcotte, though, is kind of the X-Factor. He’s not necessarily a fourth-line type player but he has fourth-line work ethic. An energy player with a ton of speed and a willingness to go into the corners, Turcotte has helped to drive the line forward. He was deserving of his goal in Chicago and though Jim Hiller noted he needs to cut down on the minor penalties, he’s earned the trust of the staff to be a line-driver, playing key shifts in one-goal games.

“He’s a great player, he’s really tenacious out there,” Jeannot said of Turcotte. “He’s got a lot of skill, sees the play pretty well, so it’s fun to play with him. He’s quick, he gets in on the forecheck, causes turnovers and maybe [loosens] pucks so maybe I can go in and get a hit or Sammy can get a hit. I think we’ve been doing really well together.”

For whatever reason, it’s just working and that’s pretty exciting for the Kings.

Hiller has referred to that line as a “tone” setting line. Certainly seen that of late. With the volume of games upcoming, the Kings can’t be a three-line team. With a fourth line that’s playing like a line deserving of more time, not less, consider their role to even a bit more important over the next couple weeks. Continued quality minutes from those three should help keep the balance in check during a congested stretch.

3 To Watch For –
– On Helenius, feels like a different player since he’s come back up, doesn’t it?

“He just looks a step better this time around, he just looks like he’s more comfortable,” Jim Hiller said. “He just looks like an NHL player right now. Before, we were very excited about him you could see the good things he did, he had some moments, but this time, it might be as simple as just confidence. He looks good. He looks really good.”

Helenius didn’t have the answer. He said he does feel more comfortable this time around after going back to the AHL for a bit. He said the directive in going down was simply to play the same type of game.

Same message as it is coming back up too.

“Just to be myself, do my own job and just play my role,” he said. “Just try to be the same Sammy as down there.”

Helenius played a lot with Jeannot earlier in the season and is very comfortable with Turcotte, as the two were AHL teammates over his first two seasons in North America. Whatever’s working, here’s to hoping he keeps it working.

– The Kings enter tonight’s game with a record of 16-8-4 against the Eastern Conference, good for a points percentage of .643. Among teams in the Pacific Division, the Kings have the best winning percentage, while they rank third among Western Conference

Beginning with today’s game, the next four home games will be against teams from the Eastern Conference, as the Kings conclude their season schedule in cross-conference play.

While I’m not sure, really, how much that statistic means, I do think there are some general stylistic differences between the East and West. The Eastern Conference seems to be a little bit more run and gun, willing to trade chances, while the West seems more structured with a bit more of a defensive focus.

By my count, Eastern teams have scored 81 more goals, 5-on-5, than Western Teams. Not sure, really, what that means, exactly, but it does match the loose version of my eye test this season. So far, the Kings have won a couple of games playing that style but they’ve generally beaten teams from the East by imposing their style and making sure the game was played on their terms.

With Carolina, Boston, New York and Toronto all coming up, the Kings will look to keep that record going as they wind down their non-conference slate of games.

– Lastly, looking forward to seeing many of you this afternoon! Insider Suite Day has more than 50 attendees coming down to Crypto.com Arena!

As such, I’ll be in the suites for the bulk of the game and won’t be as active with updating the game thread. Will get updates in when possible, but defer to social media and hopefully the commentary in the game thread for the information there! Or, you know, NHL.com I guess.

Either way, very excited for this one!

Kings and Hurricanes in a Saturday-afternoon matinee! Should be a good one between two similarly profiling teams as the Kings continue to push forward in the Pacific Division.