9/25 Practice Report – Zuccarello full contact, “possibility” for tomorrow + 3v3, Special Teams Today’s Focus

You could call today the final day of training camp, from a practice standpoint.

The Kings will play their preseason finale tomorrow afternoon and Sunday is a day off. They’ll be back on the ice for practice on Monday and Tuesday, but by that time, we are looking at what should be closer to the regular-season roster. I’d probably consider those to be more of a regular-season practice than a training-camp skate.

With that being said, today’s skate had what I would consider to be a specialized focus.

The Kings spent a good chunk of time playing in 3-on-3 situations. They spent a lot of time working on special teams. There was skating, there was 5-on-5 work, there was all of that kind of stuff. But it was balanced. The coaching staff, over the summer, spoke extensively about the importance of special teams this season. Ken Holland spoke extensively about the importance of special teams this season. It’s one thing to say it and another to practice what you preach.

To their credit, they have indeed practiced what they’ve preached. I’ve noticed more of a focus on special teams in training camp than I can recall seeing in the past. Will it translate onto the ice? The proof will be in the pudding. But we’ve certainly seen it.

The Kings both played and lost more games beyond 60 minutes than any team in the NHL last season. No team in league history had more OT/SO losses than the 2025-26 LA Kings. So, two ways to rectify that. The first is to win more games in regulation. The second is to improve performance in 3-on-3 situations and in the shootout.

Today, the Kings did both. They worked extensively on 3-on-3 situations. They also did shootout practices that seemed to try and emulate game situations as well as they can. The Kings then switched ice sheets and worked on special teams, which is often the difference between a tie game and a one-goal win.

In the 3-on-3 skate, I noticed units of Kempe/Panarin/Clarke and Byfield/Zuccarello/Doughty. Seemed like that was the preference today. What I’ve learned from Peter Laviolette’s first training camp is to not look too deep into combinations, pairs, lines, ETC. They change day to day. Things are in pencil not pen. For the first look at 3-on-3 play, though, I think those units make a lot of sense. It was nice to see the Kings focus on that part of the game with a serious chunk of practice.

“It is [important],” Laviolette said. “Just trying, as much as I can, do it exactly the way it’s going to happen and put some combinations together. We had a meeting to talk about things today, [showed] video, definitely an area that can be improved for our group, especially the amount that the Kings were caught in last year with 3-on-3 and shootouts. Those two things are getting attention and are things that can be better.”

3-on-3 play is often difficult to replicate in practices. Situations are unique to that moment and the players on the ice are often the most creative and gifted in the NHL. Still, that doesn’t mean that a good plan can’t be executed.

Laviolette said that the best way he thinks you can work on overtime play is to meet on it in the locker room, go over video and concepts and then go out that day and try to work on it. That was today’s intention.

“I think the best way to do that is to have meeting and to have a plan, with the puck and without the puck, faceoffs, whatever it might be, and then do your best to replicate it on the ice and let the guys work on it,” he added. “I find that when they get touches on something, that usually they can improve, they’re smart hockey players. They understand the meeting, then they go out and they try to execute it on the ice. I feel that that’s the best way to try and implement something.”

Kings working on 3v3 play today.

Kempe/Panarin/Clarke and Byfield/Zuccarello/Doughty were the first trios used.

Associate Coach Phil Housley put a lot of time in over the summer on 3v3 concepts & adjustments. Interested to see what might look different there.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) September 25, 2026

On special teams, I think we maybe learned less. We saw a couple of different looks both power play and penalty kill. To be honest, I’m not sure if it was a PP drill or a PK drill, or perhaps a mix of both depending on the moment. Either way, it was a focus. There were certain players who only played on the power play, who I think could kill penalties in games. We also saw two defensemen on PP2 – Doughty and Gustafsson – and for that to happen, Gustafsson would need to be in the lineup, which he won’t be tomorrow. Suppose we’ll see. But it was a focal point today, as the Kings continue to work on it.

For the 5-on-5 portion of practice, here’s the alignment we saw –

Panarin – Byfield – Kempe
Zuccarello – Turcotte – Laferriere
Moore – Haula – Laughton
Lee – Helenius – Armia
Ward – Connors – Wright

Dumoulin – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Anderson – Ceci
Perunovich – Gustafsson

Kuemper/Forsberg/Portillo

Seems like the top four lines and three pairings are the group we will see tomorrow. That aligns with players who have not yet played in two exhibition games. Perunovich and Gustafsson are both ineligible to play, as is Anton Forsberg. We could see someone from the “fifth line” check in, as they are all under 100 NHL games. The spot Lee is in feels like the up for grabs spot and Lee has earned his place with his preseason. We’ll see. Kuemper should get the start in net to round out his schedule and off we go.

On the pairings, it’s another adjustment. The Kings tried Dumoulin/Doughty and Anderson/Clarke in exhibition games. One stuck together in today’s practice, one did not. Over the summer, we were promised experimentation. We’ve gotten it. Think it makes sense to do it now and we’ll see where the pairs ultimately land when the games get underway next week.

One very encouraging common theme from this story thus far – Zuccarello!

First day we’ve seen him as a full-contact participant. Zuccarello was on a line with Alex Turcotte and Alex Laferriere.

Zuccarello called his injury a “flukey thing” right before camp, which was tough for him, but he didn’t miss a day on the ice throughout, which was a positive.

“I’m excited to get a game in,” he said. “It’s always tough to come in and get hurt, it was a flukey thing. That wasn’t ideal, but it’s nice to get practice in, a game in and get some time with the team. I’m new, I’ve got to get to know guys on a personal level and on the ice and they’ve got to know me a little bit. It’s good to get some time together.”

Laviolette said that Zuccarello is a “possibility tomorrow.

“There’s a possibility for that, so I think everybody’s hopeful,” Laviolette said of Zuccarello playing tomorrow. “We’ll see how he does after today, but I thought it was good for him. He was full go, full contact and he managed it fine.”

Good signs there.

Feels like if everyone is on board, there’s definitely a chance Zuccarello could feature tomorrow, which would complete both the top six up front as well as the top power-play unit. However, if there’s any hesitation, there’s no sense in risking him with Wednesday’s opener coming up, with substantially more importance. Still, it seems like Zuccarello is in a good place and Wednesday doesn’t appear to be in a ton of doubt.

Peter Laviolette is "hopeful" Zuccarello plays tomorrow. Just wants to see how he came through his first contact skate. Doesn't seem to be any concern for regular-season opener.

Zucc himself seemed to want to get a game in, excited to go tomorrow if everyone signs off! https://t.co/8JqSji3IkW

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) September 25, 2026