Practice Report 3/12 – Full Skate on Long Island + Power-Play Progress, Panarin’s Impact, Wright Adjusting to NHL Role

Practice day on the Island!

The LA Kings hit the ice today for their only practice of the trip, as they skated for around 30-40 minutes at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, New York.

Here’s how the Kings lined up during today’s practice –

Panarin – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Byfield – Laferriere
Turcotte – Laughton – Wright
Malott – Helenius – Ward – Joseph

Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci
Moverare

Forsberg / Kuemper

Full attendance today for the Kings on Long Island.

Today is expected to be the only practice day of the trip for Los Angeles, so they had a few targeted areas of focus throughout the skate. Coming off of yesterday’s practice day, the Kings got the full group on the ice, working on a few parts of the game. Today’s skate does not indicate any lineup changes for tomorrow’s game, so I would expect to see the same group as we did in Boston.

Full team practice today for the @LAKings on Long Island!

Good focus on the power play today, among others. Only practice skate expected on this trip with a 3-in-4 coming up. pic.twitter.com/PSrTCeVO1Z

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 12, 2026

Practice Focus
For the full group, there was a focus on forechecking and breakouts, often pitted against each other in 5-on-5 situations. Think that will be a huge focus of the Kings here down the stretch of the season. Under Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith, there’s been a massive focus on upping the pace the Kings play at. Forechecking with more of a relentless approach, with more aggression and doing so with more physicality. Not much physicality in today’s practice, as you’d expect, but you could see the principles show up in drills and there was a notable energy within a group that seems to have some of its jolt back of late. Good signs.

Something I really took note of, though, was the power play. Since the arrival of forward Artemi Panarin, the Kings have looked different on the man advantage, certainly.

“He’s a hard guy to pressure, so when he gets the puck, he makes plays and that’s why he’s been so good for so long,” Smith said. “Him having the puck, when you make a mistake, he makes you pay. It’s a big difference and that’s why you know they’re the best players in the league, those kinds of guys.”

One note to report is that the Kings practiced two different looks on PP1. That’s not necessarily new, we’ve seen it during games, but they took one set with forward Alex Laferriere involved and one set with forward Quinton Byfield involved. Both players play closer to the net, but they offer some different looks.

With Laferriere, he offers the right-shot option down lo that the Kings prefer with their power-play scheme. He offers a pass to Panarin, as he operates from the left side and can move higher in the zone, as Panarin moves around the offensive end of the ice. With Byfield, he presents more options for motion with regards to Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar. As a left-shot forward, Byfield excels at retrieving pucks, but he can cycle into the bumper position, as well as the one-timer option in the right-hand circle.

I like options. At times, it has too felt static on the power play. Guys had positions, things either worked or they didn’t and on we went. With multiple looks and a lot more puck movement, the power play feels more dangerous than it did before Panarin arrived. That threat hasn’t necessarily translated into a ton more production thus far, coming in at 20 percent over those last eight games. A slight uptick, but still not what it could be or what some of the underlying number say it’s going to be.

Since Panarin arrived, the Kings are third in shot attempts per/60 and fifth in scoring chances per/60 on the man advantage. They were 18th and 22nd, respectively, before Panarin’s arrival. To see a lot of time spent on that area is a good thing, as they look to turn chances and creation into goals. They’ll need PPG’s down the stretch, that’s for sure. Having Panarin integrated has certainly helped in those areas, with the Kings able to find their roles more easily now around what he brings.

“The biggest thing is that people fit into their roles,” Smith added. “You know the puck is going to be in his hands and when he’s got it, get open and he’ll find a way to get it to you. I think every power play has got different dynamics, and it always runs through one or two guys. He’s clearly that guy.”

The Price Is Wright
Has the dust even begun to settle for Kings forward Jared Wright?

He joined the team for his NHL debut on a day-of-game recall. He was in Ontario, at a children’s reading event in the community when he got the call. His second game was a similar story, a day-of-game recall, which became his fourth game in five nights, when factoring in a pair of games with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. Since that point, he’s been with the big club, minus a quick loan to the AHL to retain his playoff eligibility should the Reign go on a long playoff run. He’s been in the everyday lineup with the Kings, though, with no end in sight for his place among the 12 forwards playing.

Does he feel like he’s found the chance to just settle in?

“I think so,” Wright said. “I’m just trying to bring the consistency every night, just bring the energy. Forecheck, backcheck, whatever I can do to help the team win. I think it’s been a really sooth transition, in terms of just knowing the guys, knowing the systems and there’s a great leadership group here, just great people. They’ve made it very good for me.”

For Wright, his game starts with his speed.

His short-course skating is so strong and he spoke about the first three steps in his stride as being extremely important for him in the way that he uses his speed to his advantage on the ice.

“I think just your first three steps, it’s so important, just getting on yourself and just trying to be as explosive as you can,” Wright said. “Those first three steps have definitely helped me.”

Look no further than his first career point in the NHL. Wright’s first strides seemed to catch Montreal defenseman Alexandre Carrier by surprise. Ae he realized what was happening, Wright blew passt him into the corner and won the puck below the goal line. That could have been the end of the sequence for an energy player, but it wasn’t for Wright, who had the heads-up awareness to collect the puck and use a soft, touch pass to teammate Scott Laughton, who scored on a spinning shot seconds later.

SCOTT'S FIRST AS A KING pic.twitter.com/9ppcy0qpG9

— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 8, 2026

A good thing that Wright was able to find both parts of the play, the energy and the tenacity, mixed with the ability to make a play as well.

Wright has earned his spot on that line through his play, showcasing his world-class speed each night, with a desire to hunt and forecheck that has worked well alongside Alex Turcotte and Scott Laughton on a new-look third line that has controlled just shy of 60 percent of shot attempts and just over 60 percent of scoring chances, while scoring in two of their three games together.

“It’s really a blessing that I’m able to play with [Laughton and Turcotte], they play so hard and I think it’s really helping me to develop my game,” he said. “We’re having some success, so hopefully we can keep it going.”

For the Kings, who need contributions from the bottom six, Wright has done a nice job thus far of stating his case to remain in the lineup. As long as he keeps doing what he’s been doing, he won’t be going anywhere.

The Kings are not expected to hold a morning skate tomorrow, so we’ll learn about lineup decisions closer to the game tomorrow. With a back-to-back, I’d expect to see the goaltender split starts and as noted above, no changes expected, though we’ll see what tomorrow brings! Working on a feature story on Assistant Coach Matt Greene as well, which should be up and running later on today!