4/26 Notebook – The Day In Between + Line & Usage Analysis & Quick Hitters on Scoring, Challenge, Reign

The Kings did not skate in full today, between Games 3 and 4. Which is not particularly surprising, right?

All season long, the Kings have prioritized rest and recovery over on-ice practice time. So, when presented with that decision again today, the Kings kept their heavy-minute players off the ice, as we’ve seen throughout the course of the season.

As far as debriefing Game 3 for the final time, Jim Hiller was asked if he would go back and play the third period any differently, if given the opportunity. While first acknowledging that you can’t do that, he said that he wouldn’t do so. While the players who spoke said that they might’ve sat back a bit more than they wanted to, it was a bit, not a lot. Hiller pointed to the notion of scoring chances versus puck possession in that final frame. He acknowledged they had some “zone time for sure” but he didn’t feel there was a ton against of danger until the game-tying goal.

“What were the scoring chances in the third relative to the first and second,” Hiller asked, in response to a question about if he felt the Kings sat back at all in the third period. “I have different stats, that’s the problem we have sometimes. No, I wouldn’t say that [we were too passive].”

If nothing else, a relatively united front.

Hiller added that there were a couple of areas within the game that he felt both watching live yesterday and again upon video review today that the Kings “did not do a good enough job of”, highlighting that they’re smaller details within the game and things he’s not going to share in the media. Same goes for a couple of areas he felt Edmonton excelled in. There weren’t a ton of regrets, though, from Hiller or players who spoke between Games 3 and 4.

“We obviously won two games at home and last night didn’t work out the way we wanted it to, but for the most part, we still liked our game,” forward Anze Kopitar said today. “That one’s behind us and we’ve got to get ready for tomorrow.”

With no practice to look at, here’s something I found interesting. Wondering if you all will as well.

It’s no secret the Kings have relied on their Top 9 up front and their Top 4 on the blueline early in this series. That is compared to the Oilers, who have had much more balance within the four lines, but more disparity within the Top-9. The way the two teams have used their personnel has certainly been vastly different over the course of the three games, if nothing else.

We haven’t seen much of the fourth line at all over the three games and same goes for defenseman Jordan Spence on the backend, while Brandt Clarke’s minutes have been steady, yet under his usual workload.

In terms of that point, Jim Hiller has been steadfast in his answer, as he was again today.

“I’m going to give this answer again, for about the fifth time, we play the players who, in the moment, we think are going to give us the highest probability to win that game,” Hiller said. “Some guys are going to play more, some guys are going to play less and that could be from night to night. Beyond that, I don’t know. You can question the decisions, if they’re good or bad, that’s your prerogative, but that’s how we approach it.”

Starting up front, here are 5-on-5 forward line deployments through three games.

Kings

What I see here reflects exactly what I’ve seen on the ice. The Kings have three lines with 30+ minutes together 5-on-5. They have established the Top-9 the way they’d like it to look and they have not deviated almost at all from those lines. Sure, we saw Jeff Malott mixed in for a shift or two
last night but the lines you see in warmups have been the lines we’ve seen throughout all three games thus far. Very little of the mixing and matching we saw a lot more of throughout the first, say, 60 games or so this season.

The Kings have their lines and they like what they have. They’ve leaned into that, for better or for worse, through the first three games.

“I think we’re deeper this year than we were in previous years,” Kopitar said. “That’s thing, if you’re talking about depth, it’s making sure that everyone is contributing. We’re happy about it.”

Oilers

I had to zoom out twice on my screen to even get this entire photo.

Quite the difference, right?

While the Kings have three lines with heavy minutes together, the Oilers don’t have a single line with 15 minutes together in 5-on-5 situations. What they do have is eight different lines with at least five minutes together. Many of those lines don’t include Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, so it’s not just mixing and matching around those two players. Edmonton is certainly less reliant on set combinations and pairings. Perhaps some of that is searching for the right mix. Others just a difference in approach.

But what we have here are two very different strategies, without a doubt.

While the blueline has felt, from the Kings perspective at least, like there’s been more mixing and matching, the numbers show that it’s actually the same thing on defense as it is up front. The Kings have five defensive pairings with at least five minutes together, where as Edmonton has ten.

Kings

What makes things different here is that the Kings have largely run with five defensemen over the first three games. Jordan Spence has logged 18:25 in total at 5-on-5 over the three games, while Jacob Moverare played just one shift in Game 2, when the Kings dressed seven defensemen.

The Anderson/Doughty pairing has played almost exclusively together. Joel Edmundson has almost a dead even split between playing with Vladislav Gavrikov and Brandt Clarke, while Gavrikov has shared time between Edmundson and Spence.

From two different perspectives here, Anderson and Doughty are the least impacted by the shortened rotation. Sure, a few crossovers here and there but largely, they’ve played together. Only one pair in the NHL has logged more minutes at 5-on-5 than Anderson and Doughty playing together in these playoffs thus far.

For Edmundson, he’s had to be more versatile over the three games. With that nearly even split between Gavrikov and Clarke as a partner, that’s a left shot and a right shot and two players who play very differently. It doesn’t change his approach much, though, minus maybe a D-to-D pass behind the net or feeding for a one-timer, versus a tape-to-tape pass at the offensive blueline. At this point, everyone is familiar and comfortable with each other and it doesn’t much matter.

“We all just stick to the system, so we know what everyone’s going to be doing,” Edmundson said. “We’ve played with each other enough, so it doesn’t really matter who you’re out there with. I’ve been out there with Dewey, I’ve been out there with Mikey, so we like to mix it up.”

Oilers

Just like up front, Edmonton is mixing and matching aggressively on the blueline, with 10 different pairs logging at least five minutes together. Much of that, again, has come from lineup changes from game to game, with the Oilers running out different lineups in each game both up front and on the blueline. Again, some of this, some of that.

I don’t think line deployment has been the biggest factor in this series, but there’s certainly been two very different approaches that’s led us to Kings 2, Oilers 1. It’ll be interesting to see how that continues to shake out. The Kings were more reliant on their fourth line down the stretch, and on all six defensemen, than they’ve been in these three games. I certainly don’t think it’s cost the Kings anything thus far, those playing heavier minutes haven’t felt over-taxed or tired thus far. As Hiller noted, he’s coaching to win hockey games and that’s exactly what he’s done. It’s not situational and he’ll adjust if he sees fit. Or he won’t, if that’s how he sees fit. Simple as that, thus far.

Quick Hitters –
– Last thing on the challenge last night, there’s been some conversation about exactly what part of the play the Kings looked at.

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper said first that he was not involved in the decision. He didn’t ask for it or say anything about it. He felt that the interference being looked at was early, when he and Evander Kane were tangled up at the left post, prior to the puck going around the net and eventually getting back to Kane.

“I think they saw that my pad was tangled up with his skates on the original side, so then I had to dive across and put myself in a bad position to be in a desperation situation, I think that’s what they were challenging,” Kuemper said when asked this morning. “As far as from my point, they make those decisions.”

So that’s that.

– Much of the talk today was on the notion of a higher-scoring series than was expected in the media, especially considering that scoring tends to drop in the postseason.

“I didn’t have that on my bingo card, a 6-5, a 6-2 and a 7-4, yeah, I probably would’ve taken the under on all of those,” Kopitar said. “It is what it is. At the end of the day, it’s the first to four wins and it doesn’t matter how it happens.”

Not necessarily the Kings team we’ve seen throughout the course of the season, but also I don’t think anyone is upset with scoring 16 goals in three games.

– Lastly, big game tonight for the AHL’s Ontario Reign. Season is on the line.

The AHL playoffs are really tough because 7 of the 10 teams in the Pacific Division specifically qualify for the first of five rounds. It’s a best-of-three. So, you lose Game 1 as the Reign did and all of a sudden, the team that finished third in the regular season is up against it. The disparity in the standings between Ontario and San Jose was reasonable, but the Barracuda have goaltender Yaroslav Askarov, who started just 8 AHL games after the calendar flipped from 2024 to 2025. He certainly met the criteria to play, no doubt, but he’s an NHL goaltender playing in the AHL, for sure.

So the Reign will have to find a way tonight in order to force Game 3 on Monday in Ontario. Good luck down on the farm.

Morning skate tomorrow for the Kings in Edmonton, which I’d expect to have a few more attendees than today. More to come later in the day today, heading into Game 4 tomorrow.