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4/15 Preview – To Rest Or Not To Rest + Lineup Thoughts, Byfield, Jones Emergency Recall, Fiala Clancy

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WHO: Los Angeles Kings (47-24-9) @ Seattle Kraken (35-40-6)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Tuesday, April 15 @ 7:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Climate Pledge Arena – Seattle, WA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: ESPN – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings conclude the second-half of a back-to-back, as they play their penultimate regular-season game tonight in Seattle.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kraken have had the better of the season series to date, winning two of the first three games played, including the lone game played here in Seattle.

Forward Anze Kopitar leads the Kings this season with three points (0-3-3) versus the Kraken, while forwards Adrian Kempe and Quinton Byfield have each scored two goals from the first three games played.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings did not hold a morning skate today, coming off the game last night in Edmonton.

Head Coach Jim Hiller confirmed that goaltender David Rittich would get the start tonight for the Kings in Seattle. Rittich has a lifetime record of 3-1-0 versus the Kraken, with a .923 save percentage and a 1.97 goals-against average. Rittich made 19 saves on 20 shots in his lone appearance against the Kraken earlier this season, a 2-1 Kings victory in Los Angeles.

For reference, here’s how the Kings lined up last night in Edmonton –

Lots of unknowns with tonight’s lineup, for a few reasons.

The Kings have three players who did not play last night – forwards Akil Thomas and Trevor Lewis, along with defenseman Kyle Burroughs. All three are options to check in tonight against Seattle. Additionally, the Kings have recalled defenseman Caleb Jones on an emergency basis, adding another wrinkle into the mix.

Will detail some thoughts below.

KRAKEN VITALS: Tonight is the final game of the season for Seattle, concluding their 2024-25 schedule at home against the Kings.

Per the Sound of Hockey blog, here’s how the Kraken lined up last time out versus St. Louis –

Forward Kaapo Kakko leads the Kraken this season with four points (0-4-4) from two games played against the Kings. Kakko missed the first meeting in November, as he was still with the New York Rangers at the time of that game. Kakko has eight career points (2-6-8) from nine games played against the Kings, between his time with Seattle and New York.

Storyline Of The Day – To Rest Or Not To Rest?
The Kings secured their seed with last night’s victory, assuring that Game 1 of the postseason will be in Los Angeles.

But they’ve still got two games left to play before we get there.

Had all gone according to plan, health-wise, the Kings might’ve had a plan for tonight, assuming they beat the Oilers and locked up home ice. Then Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse crosschecked Kings forward Quinton Byfield in the back of the head, as he lay defenseless on the ice. An act that certainly should result in a suspension, but more importantly from a Kings perspective, one that took Byfield out for the remainder of the game with an upper-body injury.

Thus, any plan that might’ve been in place potentially has changed.

“No plan at all,” Hiller said after last night’s game. “We’re going to have to see what’s going on in there. We’ll figure that out, but no decisions have to be made right now. We’ll just relax, take a breath, get on a plane and get in late and be ready to play tomorrow.”

Regarding Byfield’s status and availability for tonight, no updates are available at this time. He obviously left the game and did not return. We’ll hear from Hiller at the rink today prior to the game and will see if there is anything further on number 55.

Whether it’s in place of Byfield or somewhere else in the lineup, the Kings do have three players who are healthy and able to check in. Up front, that’s Trevor Lewis and Akil Thomas, with Kyle Burroughs available on the blueline.

Personally, I’d expect Burroughs to play tonight. Thinking out loud, wondering if it might be in place of Drew Doughty, who is managing his ankle on a day-to-day basis. With back-to-back games, it might make sense not to risk anything there, but his situation has been managed so carefully that I’d trust whatever conclusion they come to, prioritizing Game 1 of the playoffs.

With Jones, his emergency recall would be specifically tied to another defenseman’s status. If that defenseman doesn’t play tonight due to injury, Jones would be eligible to play. If he is able to. go, Jones would need to be re-assigned to Ontario. Will hear from Hiller later in the day to confirm, or it could even be a game-time decision.

Up front, wouldn’t be surprised to see both Lewis and Thomas play either. Byfield’s status is obviously unknown. Anze Kopitar admitted he hasn’t thought about if he’d like a game off or not, but with things now locked up, it might make sense to rest tonight, play Thursday and gear up for Game 1.

“You know, I really haven’t thought about it,” Kopitar said. “Obviously the season is long and everything, you sometimes need an extra rest of course, but coming down the stretch here, it’s a fine balance. We’ll see.”

Asking around the room, most guys have actually said they’d prefer to play down the stretch.

Trevor Moore noted that he missed games earlier this season and wants to play. Warren Foegele said he’d like to play as well. As did defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. Forward Adrian Kempe didn’t seem to care either way, but said he definitely does not want both games off, between tonight and Thursday against Calgary.

A common source of reasoning was the notion of keeping momentum going. If you’re healthy and available, why risk losing what’s going so well right now?

“I think you’ve got to play,” Foegele said. “I’ve seen it both ways, in the past, where you have four days off and then you have Game 1 and you don’t really feel the same. The nice thing about this last month is that everyone’s kind of been in rhythm with these every other day games, and that happens in playoffs too. Staying in rhythm is actually pretty key.”

For Kopitar, who has a lot of miles on the body, perhaps it makes sense. Long night of travel, an arrival around 2 AM in Seattle, give him the day. That’s a conversation for Kopitar and Hiller and the Kings will make that call, ultimately.

For others, it doesn’t seem like many will be pushing to sit a game over the final two. If they do, though, I wonder if tonight makes more sense than Thursday. Rest tonight, play a more-full lineup on Thursday and build the momentum from there, eliminating what Foegele talked about, which was having too many days off.

The Kings do have options in Burroughs, Lewis and Thomas and there might be a couple of willing participants if Hiller and the staff feel that is the best course of action. Perhaps an unwilling on in Byfield, outside of the team’s control.

Will see, soon enough, where the chips land.

3 To Watch For –
– In Game 80, when a playoff matchup is already decided, in a game where the outcome felt close to decided, it’s disappointing to be leading with an update on a player’s health because of a reckless and dirty play in a 4-0 game.

But, that’s where we’re at, after the cross check to the back of Byfield’s head, which has his status for tonight’s game in doubt.

The Kings made their point clear after the game – it doesn’t much matter what they think about the play, though defenseman Mikey Anderson admitted they “didn’t like” the play. Ultimately, it’ll be on those at the league level to make the call.

On that note, it was announced this morning that Nurse is scheduled to have a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety tonight.

With Edmonton concluding its regular-season schedule on Wednesday, assume we’ll get an answer by then and see where things land for Game 1. Will reserve judgement on the process until the process is conducted. But, simply put, Nurse should not play in Game 1.

– Weird situation last night with the goaltenders.

The Kings did not allow a goal in last night’s win over the Oilers but neither Darcy Kuemper nor David Rittich was credited with a shutout. That’s because the Kings opted to make a goaltending change midway through the third period, once the game became out of doubt. Kuemper made the first 16 saves in his 48 minutes and 13 seconds of action, before Rittich made five saves in the final 11 minutes and change.

Jim Hiller pointed to the outcome of the game being pretty comfortable at the time of the change, noting that the Kings wanted to get Rittich a bit of action before tomorrow’s game, knowing he’d make the start against Seattle after not playing since March 30, which was two weeks ago. He added that he did not make the change for risk of injury, in a game that had gotten out of hand in the second period.

It’s not something you see every day, but Hiller has shown that he’s not going to do something because it’s conventional. He’s willing to do things differently. In that moment, he felt it was the right call. So, while it cost Kuemper one shutout in the end of season totals, there are bigger games to be played for this team. Ultimately, with Game 1 in mind, it’s tough to argue if that’s what the team felt was best, in a game that was decided at that point.

If Hiller and the staff felt that getting Kuemper that bit of time off helps him be at his best for Game 1 then it’s hard to argue argue? Rittich will go tonight and we’ll see how the Kings opt to handle Thursday’s regular-season finale.

– Lastly, how about a note of applause for forward Kevin Fiala, who was announced as the team’s King Clancy nominee earlier this morning.

The award is presented annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to his community.”

From the team’s release –

Through his “Fiala’s Friends” organization, Fiala hosts patients and families from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) at Kings home games, makes regular visits to the hospital, and organizes youth hockey camps and clinics to help raise money for the Kings Care Foundation and CHLA. In addition to his work with CHLA, Fiala is involved in other charitable causes, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Adopt-A-Family, among other team-related initiatives.

Fiala has been active in the Los Angeles community since he was acquired via trade in 2022. This is his second consecutive Kings Clancy nomination and it’s so well deserved!

Kings and Kraken. Game 81. Coming at you on ESPN tonight at 7 PM Pacific, as we approach the end of the regular season!

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