4/3 Preview – Focus Is What Focus Does + Changing Things Up, Lew-Tah, Drew-Tah

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (42-23-9) @ Utah Hockey Club (34-29-12)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Thursday, April 3 @ 6:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Delta Center – Salt Lake City, Utah
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings are back on the road for a quick, one-game trip as they visit the Utah Hockey Club for the first and only time this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings have skated to a pair of victories this season over Utah on home ice, bringing a 2-0-0 record into tonight’s game.

Defenseman Joel Edmundson leads the way against Utah this season, with two goals and four points from the first two meetings. Edmundson is one of three defensemen in the NHL with multiple goals against Utah this season, and one of four with at least four points, trailing only Edmonton’s Matias Ekholm for the league lead.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings switched up their routine from Colorado and opted for an optional morning skate in Utah after a full practice yesterday. As such only seven skaters and one goaltenders hit the ice at Delta Center.

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper did not skate today in Utah and is expected to get the start tonight in Salt Lake City. Kuemper has a 2-0-0 record against Utah this season, with a .907 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average.

Here’s how the Kings lined up on Tuesday against Winnipeg –

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Malott – Helenius – Lewis

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Spence
Edmundson – Clarke

Kuemper
Rittich

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) April 2, 2025

Forwards Tanner Jeannot and Alex Turcotte did not travel with the Kings to Utah and, thus, will not play tonight. Beyond that, no confirmation on tonight’s lineup, so we’ll see come warmups. Expecting the same group for now and we’ll see if anything changes.

UTAH VITALS: Utah won its last two games to remain on the outskirts of the playoff picture, sitting eight points behind Minnesota for the second Wild Card spot with seven games remaining.

Per the Utah team account, here’s how they lined up last time out in their victory over Calgary –

The lineup vs. the Flames ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Zbi1uXqfLf

— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) April 2, 2025

Former Kings defenseman Sean Durzi is expected to be in tonight’s lineup, while former Kings goaltending prospect Matthew Villalta will serve as the backup goaltender in tonight’s game. Durzi played 136 regular-season games with the Kings across two seasons while Villalta played parts of four seasons with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, before making his NHL debut with Arizona last season.

Storyline Of The Day – No Time To Lose Focus
The Edmonton Oilers visit the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon. Four-point game coming up. But that cannot be the focus today.

“The focus is on Utah,” forward Quinton Byfield said. “Hopefully we’ll go in there, play a really solid game and get the win.”

Yeah, that Oilers game on Saturday is important. But the Kings are in action tonight in Utah, while the Oilers pay a visit to the San Jose Sharks. It’s like blackjack. You always assume the dealer has a 10 and you always assume Edmonton will beat San Jose. The Kings sit two points ahead in the Pacific Division standings and with both teams playing tonight, that scenario could change between now and Saturday So, therefore, all of the focus needs to be on getting two points tonight. If it’s not, the Kings aren’t doing themselves justice.

“It’s a big game,” Head Coach Jim Hiller said. “You don’t come and play [tonight], then when we get to Saturday, you put yourself in a hole. So, never mind Saturday, [tonight] is a big hockey game. We’re on the road, we haven’t had as much success as we want, so you’ve got something to prove.”

Maybe it’s good to bring it up. It is human nature that with a big game on Saturday, there could be a semblance of looking past tonight’s game. But man would it be a mistake to do so.

Los Angeles and Utah have played two, tightly-contested games earlier in the season. While it’s a longshot, Utah is still motivated to try and narrow their gap in the postseason picture. That type of team presents a big challenge, not to mention the struggles the Kings have had on the road this seaso. Full focus has to be on tonight’s tilt.

“No thought has gone through my head about Edmonton until you just brought it up, we’ve got to beat Utah,” defenseman Drew Doughty said. “Yeah, Edmonton’s coming up, but we won’t worry about that until after [tonight].”

In terms of preparation for getting the win tonight, I found this interesting from Jim Hiller yesterday –

Interesting note today from Jim Hiller.

Full team practice today & an optional morning skate tomorrow in Utah. Reason being?

Kings did the opposite on the Colorado trip & after feeling like the legs weren't there in that game, they decided to change it up this time around.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) April 2, 2025

The Kings were obviously not happy with their game in Colorado on most fronts. Warren Foegele said after the game that the Kings just didn’t skate the way they’re used to skating. Others have echoed that. Hiller’s thought was that it was a night when just about all 18 guys didn’t have their usual legs. If it’s 5-6 guys, you have to think more individual. But when it’s nearly the entire group? He said the staff spent a lot of time trying to identify why.

Hence the change.

Last week, the Kings went straight onto the plane on Wednesday, flew to Colorado and held a full-team skate on Thursday in Denver. This week, they skated as a group yesterday before flying and then took off later in the day to Utah. As such, most guys took the optional here this morning.

Guess it remains to be seen whether or not it’ll work, right?

I like the thought. There’s something to be said for keeping things the same. There’s also something, though, to a staff identifying when something didn’t go well and trying to make a change that helps to correct it. The Kings know how important these games are and they have been open about their struggles on the road and trying to correct it. If they think this might help then all for it.

“We’ll have legs, I feel really good and we’re in a really good headspace,” Hiller added.

See if the focus and the changes do what they’re expected to later on tonight.

3 To Watch For –
– In speaking yesterday with Doughty, he was candid about where he’s at personally.

His situation is certainly unique right now. He’s not practicing or taking the morning skate on most days, doing work off the ice to be ready to play games. He feels his defensive game has been good and he’s been pretty good there, but without having the practice time, he knows certain areas of his game aren’t as sharp as they normally are.

“I do think in some games, my passing has been off, I feel like my one-timer isn’t where I want it to be and I do think that maybe has a little bit to do with no practicing, but this is the only way I’m able to play,” Doughty said. “I’m still playing well, I’ve been really happy with my game, I had one bad game in Chicago, but other than that, I’ve been happy with my game for the past month.”

Doughty said that the passing is one that he loses his sharpness with on plays like stretch passes, because his only puck touches are coming during pre-game warmups. He isn’t able to feel those passes and it’s impacting him.

As he mentioned, it’s really the only way he’s able to make this work until the offseason. Still, Doughty under these circumstances is better than not having him available and while Doughty would much rather be out there with his teammates, everyone is committed to making things work as well as they can.

“I think it’s good,” Hiller added of Doughty’s game. “I don’t think he’s 100 percent, he’s not 100 percent physically, I think that’s clear. So, it’s hard to evaluate him based on who he’s been over time, because just physically, he’s just not there. So, I think based on the circumstances, everything he’s been able to do and continues to on a daily basis, I think he’s doing a really good job for us.”

– For forward Trevor Lewis, tonight will be a special game.

Growing up in Utah, never in his wildest dreams did he thing he’d play an NHL game in his home state. During the NHL lockout, he played in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies, so he has played a professional game in Utah. He’s also featured in a couple of preseason games here with the Kings, as a part of the Salt Lake Shootout and Frozen Fury series the team has played here since 2018. That isn’t this, though. Not even close.

As he suits up tonight, he’ll become the first Utah-born player to play an NHL game in Utah. Never in his wildest dreams did he thing he could say that.

“It’s cool, I didn’t think it would ever actually happen, especially while I was playing,” Lewis said. “I thought the preseason games and exhibitions were definitely cool. Just to be able to play in front of family and friends, that don’t get to come to LA, will be special.”

Worth the wait for Lew-Tah.

His father, Randy, was at morning skate today. Lewis did not skate, as most of the team didn’t, and the two spent a short moment in the stands, seeming to take things in. Lewis didn’t know the exact count of family and friends coming tonight but said with a laugh that he’s certain his father would round up the guy he played with growing up.

Special night for a player who never thought he’d have this opportunity. And that is cool.

– Lastly, Insiders, it is kind of special to go into a new building.

It’s strange going into an arena and not exactly knowing where to go. Not knowing where the team locker room is, where the right workspaces are, how to get into the stands to watch warmups. You don’t experience that very often once you’ve been around the league. It adds that little bit of giddiness that you sometimes lose in the grind of a roadtrip.

Tonight, for many of us traveling, we’ll hit 32-of-32 in terms of NHL arenas. For me, in total, it’s 33 in terms of places I’ve watched a regular-season NHL game, with Arizona counting twice. Including preseason, this actually isn’t a new addition, with the Kings playing here over the past several seasons and that total is a bit higher.

Should be fun to see the energy and the atmosphere in the building tonight for regular-season action.

“Even in preseason the past few years it’s been really awesome,” Lewis said. “Obviously they weren’t getting regular-season games then, so everyone was quite excited for preseason here. I’m excited to see what the atmosphere is tonight.”

Two hockey clubs. One lower case, one capitalized. Big game for the Kings to maintain their position in the Pacific Division standings!