4/12 Preview – It’s Still Colorado + Doughty/Turcotte, Special Teams Focus, LAKI x2 On The Call

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (45-24-9) vs. Colorado Avalanche (48-28-4)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Saturday, April 12 @ 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 Kings conclude a four-game homestand today with their penultimate home game of the regular season this afternoon against Colorado.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Avalanche have won the first two meetings of the season against the Kings, winning 4-2 and 4-0 in Denver earlier this season.

Forward Adrian Kempe is the lone Kings player to score against Colorado this season, as he buried twice in the defeat back in November. Dating back into last season, forward Quinton Byfield scored three goals in two games played against Colorado in this building, while Kempe added two assists.

KINGS VITALS: With the afternoon game, the Kings did not hold a morning skate in advance of today’s game.

Unclear who will get the start in goal without the morning skate. Would lean towards it being Darcy Kuemper against his former club, with the veteran carrying a lifetime record against Colorado of 4-3-2, with a .915 save percentage and 2.26 goals-against average. Should the Kings turn to goaltender David Rittich, he’s faced the Avalanche 14 times in his NHL career, with a record of 5-7-0, including the 4-0 loss last month in Denver. Won’t be sure for a bit, though.

The Kings did not have set defensive pairings during yesterday’s practice, so sharing the lineup from Thursday’s win over Anaheim for better reference –

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

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

Gavrikov – Spence
Anderson – Clarke
Moverare – Burroughs

Kuemper
Rittich

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) April 11, 2025

The two names to watch who are not listed above are forward Alex Turcotte and defenseman Drew Doughty.

Turcotte feels as close as can be to a return to the lineup, so we’ll see if that comes in today’s game against Colorado. Doughty practiced in full yesterday, but his situation is being carefully monitored and managed. Both could play today, but only will go if everyone is absolutely certain.

Expecting to hear from Jim Hiller in a few hours at the rink, so should have a better sense then.

AVALANCHE VITALS: Colorado concludes its regular-season slate this weekend, with a two-game trip to Southern California to take on the Kings and Ducks in Games 81 and 82.

There will be several changes, but Colorado’s lineup from Thursday’s 4-1 defeat against Vancouver is shown below –

Lineup for tonight.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/A88zzaMktM

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 11, 2025

Several veterans did not make the trip for Colorado, starting with forward Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar, both of whom will not play today. Also not expected to play are forwards Ross Colton and Jonathan Drouin, as well as defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Josh Manson.

The Avalanche have recalled Wyatt Aamodt, Jack Ahcan, Jere Innala and Chris Wagner from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles and that quartet could all feature today for the visitors.

Storyline Of The Day – It’s Still Colorado
It’s certainly no secret that Colorado is bringing a depleted group with them into today’s game. If faced with the choice of playing against Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon or not, I would certainly choose the latter.

While on paper, it makes the task easier, the focus has to remain the same. The Kings are still simply in search of getting a win and while they will face a team without its two star players, that makes it a hungry opponent of players who are eager to show they deserve to play, or play more, in Game 1 of the postseason in what should be a heck of a series between Colorado and Dallas.

Regardless of lineup composition, Colorado has outplayed the Kings pretty handily in Denver this season. That’s fresh in mind and something they’re eager to change.

“We didn’t play them well either game and I think the other teams that are in and around the playoffs, at least, we’ve had one strong game against all those teams, but we haven’t had a strong game against them yet,” Head Coach Jim Hiller said. “That’s one team that I don’t think has seen our best yet.”

It’s a good point.

Among the 15 teams that are likely to make the playoffs in addition to the Kings, the Avalanche and Maple Leafs are the only two teams that Los Angeles has not beaten. A 3-1 loss against Toronto in late-March was a well-played game. Against Colorado, though, outside of a strong first period back in November, it’s been a one-sided affair all season.

So, that’s top of mind for the Kings, regardless of the names on the backs of the jerseys.

“I’m not looking at [the roster], because they still have a pretty good team,” defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov said. “Whoever is playing or not playing, they still have a pretty good core, so we’ve just got to be focused on our game, how we approach it and how we do it. That’s going to be key for us.”

It would be a mistake for the Kings to underestimate a team where players are playing with something to prove. It would also be foolish to say this isn’t a real opportunity for the Kings to take a serious step towards securing home ice in the first round of the postseason, an opportunity that comes without arguably two of the best five players in the NHL on the other side of the ice, as they were expected to be.

As of this morning, the magic number is four. Kings points earned + Oilers points dropped. With four games left for the Kings and three for Edmonton, including a head-to-head matchup, there will certainly be enough chances. But it would be nice to hit those last couple of games without worrying, wouldn’t it? With Colorado opting for rest these final two games, it’s a big chance here for the Kings to get the job done and cut that four down to two.

With home ice advantage in the playoffs a motivator, the Kings can take a really strong step in that direction with a win today.

“Nothing else we can do but get ready for the playoffs,” forward Phillip Danault said. “We’re obviously pushing for home ice, to switch things up a little bit for that series. At home, this year, we’re buzzing. It’s fun to go at home and you feel it.”

30 wins from 39 games played in this building is, you might say, buzzing. See if the Kings can take another step towards playing Game 1 of the playoffs in this building as well.

3 To Watch For –
– 7:02 shorthanded for Vladislav Gavrikov last game and 6:38 for Mikey Anderson, as a part of a perfect performance from that unit.

While the headlines went towards a power play that scored three goals, and rightfully so, those two blueliners were key cogs on a penalty kill that went 4-for-4, helping neutralize Anaheim offensively, especially when three of those opportunities came with just a 1-0 lead early in the game.

All season, those two have been rocks on the blueline. Jim Hiller said they’ve both developed into two of the leagues best penalty killers, especially important in the way the Kings play aggressively in those situations. Both players take pride in doing so and it’s certainly been really important that they have.

Anderson – We’re big defenders, we like making it hard and that’s a way we can contribute. We’ve found some good chemistry out there together, so something we’re happy with and we’ll try and keep building on.

Gavrikov – We try to be focused, defensively, because it can be a really key moment in the game. We’ve been working on the details, same as always. It’s not just two of us, it’s our four and Darce or Ritter, all helping out. It’s a team effort.

We all know what lies ahead on the penalty kill.

A showdown with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton power play. When the time comes, Anderson and Gavrikov will be two essential pieces in trying to slow down a unit that is at 45.5 percent over the last three postseasons against the Kings. As perhaps the driving forces behind the NHL’s fourth-ranked PK unit, they’ll be important when that time comes, for sure.

– The flip side was…..the five-forward power play!

3-for-6 against the Ducks. During yesterday’s practice, that unit continued to work together, hoping to build on the progress shown in the win over the Ducks.

Personally, I’ve always been a fan of that look. Never more so than now, with Andrei Kuzmenko in the mix. I really thought it was the most effective version of the PP earlier in the season….not that it took much to be more successful than it was otherwise.

I like putting the puck in Adrian Kempe’s hands as much as possible at the top. With Kuzmenko in, it makes Kempe both a facilitator and also a one-timer threat, with the right-shot Kuzmenko able to find Kempe at the center point for a shot. Kuzmenko is another player you want with the puck. It also opens up Kevin Fiala to use his one-timer, which he did to the tune of two goals versus the Ducks. It also puts Quinton Byfield’s 6-5 frame between the netfront and bumper roles, where he has excelled in the past with a willingness to battle and retrieve pucks. He scored in that area on Thursday.

So, that’s exciting.

What’s needed from that unit is, simply, production. Good chance we see those five together again and we’ll see if they can build on what we’ve seen thus far.

– Lastly, Insiders, sharing that I will be on today’s radio broadcast, alongside Ontario Reign Insider & play-by-play voice Jared Shafran! An LAKI double play.

It’s Jared’s NHL debut for a regular-season game and it’s exciting to see him get that opportunity. Even more exciting to be alongside him for it!

Will have less detail and updates in the game thread than usual, with the call ongoing, but will have full game coverage as always. If interested, give it a listen wherever you find your ESPN Los Angeles.

This Saturday I’ll have the pleasure of providing play-by-play for the @LAKings vs. Colorado on @ESPNLosAngeles alongside @DooleyLAK.

I am so grateful to the Kings for giving me this opportunity and for all the amazing experiences I’ve had with the organization in my time here. pic.twitter.com/9kNl2eNN2z

— Jared Shafran (@ShafReign) April 10, 2025

Kings and Avalanche. Two home games to go in the regular season, before what is, hopefully at least, trending towards Game 1 in Los Angeles in the playoffs.