Practice 10/12 – Identity Through 3 Periods + Notes on Vilardi’s Speed, Fourth Goal, Looking Ahead

Good Afternoon, Insiders!

The Kings hit the ice this morning for practice in between games against Vegas last night and Seattle to come tomorrow.

Game 1 versus Vegas could probably be summed up in one word, which Todd McLellan reinforced this morning – Second.

“We were second to everything,” he said. “You could look at it from an analytics standpoint, use all the stats you want, but there’s a reason for those stats. When we needed to be first, we were second. We were slow, poor execution, second everywhere.”

The theme of the day centered around identity and game one not quite looking like the identity we saw last season.

McLellan spoke about identity, touching on the potential differences between this and last year and how we’re 60 minutes into a season that spans much longer than that. The Kings had an idea of what their identity could be last season, but they didn’t see it from game one. It took some time to sort out, and with a new team in a new season, there’s still work to be done.

“I think that we had an idea of what we wanted to be last year, even the year before that probably,” McLellan said today. “Sometimes you add really good players to your lineup and we’ve done that and you might want to try and be something you’re not. We’re 60 minutes into a season and the first two questions I’ve gotten are about identity and you guys are doing the exact same thing that I’m doing, you’re comparing it to last year and that’s my whole point, it starts all over again. What do you want to be, how can we win, what should we be. We’re figuring that out right now.”

What he said we’re doing IS certainly what I was doing, and that’s comparing the way that the Kings played last season to how they played last night. Not necessarily from a quality of play standpoint, but looking stylistically. Last season’s Kings were a volume-shooting team that almost always controlled the puck possession battle on a night-to-night basis. They prided themselves on being difficult to play against, defensive structure and typically won hard-fought, close games.

Three periods in, it was a different look last night. It’s not fair to really make any true comparables from night one to last season, but as McLellan said, it’s the only comparable we have at this point. The Kings don’t necessarily have to play the exact same way they did last season, but over time they will need to figure out what type of team they want to be and how they can best win games with the group they have. McLellan said he issued that reminder to the team earlier today.

“The first thing that I did was I reminded our players that every year is a new year and you take on your own identity again,” McLellan said. “If you can go back to losing game seven in Edmonton, to that press conference, I said it would be hard, it starts all over again and you reinvent yourself year after year after year. The only comparable we have after three periods was last year, so now we take three periods of hockey this year and we compare it to what was there last year and we weren’t even close. As we go forward now, we’ll have to lay game two against game one because now we’re starting to get this year’s evidence. Maybe we’re going to be a loose, gambling, score five per night team and get it done that way, I don’t know, but that looked like how we wanted to play. If we feel as a group that’s where our identity has to go and we’re going to try it that way, great, but I’m not betting on it. We either reestablish who we are, or we try it a different way.”

The process continues tomorrow. It’s a work in progress for the Kings and despite the disappointing nature of the ending to last night’s game, which it certainly was, the Kings were still in a tie game inside a minute to play, despite straying from the approach we saw last season. All of that from a performance that didn’t match the standards the team has for its play. On night two tomorrow, against Seattle, we’ll get another glimpse into what this team will look to be, with hopes of a strong bounceback effort.

McLellan indicated that we should see some lineup changes heading into tomorrow’s game versus Seattle, though he did not elaborate today. Defenseman Brandt Clarke took some power-play reps today, a potential sign he could make his NHL debut tomorrow night. We’ll examine morning skate tomorrow for potential scratches and go from there.

Quick Hitters

Vilardi’s Speed
Speaking to those closest to the situation – mainly Todd McLellan and his linemates – there seems to be a universal agreement that Gabe Vilardi is a step faster this season than he was last season.

McLellan – Personally, I think, and the coaching staff thinks, that he’s a step quicker. He looks a little faster, some of that’s confidence, some of its feeling good. He feels good about himself, about his game, his teammates are excited for him. There’s a lot of real positive things in his world right now and we’ve got to keep them there.

Iafallo – For sure, yeah. It’s great to see. He’s definitely put his work in and he’s gotten a lot better and he’s definitely faster than he was the year before. It’s been great to see and I’m looking forward to playing with him.

Byfield – I do see that. I think there was a play in the preseason when it wasn’t an icing, but the other team’s defenseman had a lot of space on him and he caught him, stripped the puck and we got a chance off of it. Even on his backchecks, he’s getting back there quickly. He’s creating a lot off the forecheck, I think he’s definitely made a big improvement over the summer.

That Fourth Goal
Lastly, McLellan addressed the fourth goal – the game-winning goal for Vegas last night – in more detail. While he admitted he didn’t have an answer regaring the decision making on that play, he also was quick to point out that he didn’t believe that one play was the reason for the loss, because the other 59 minutes and change weren’t up to par either.

That play was addressed, both with individuals and with the team, as detailed below –

“We cleared the air in practice, because I think that’s the monkey in the room, is what were we doing in that situation? That was a fraction of the game as a whole. So yeah, we can all wonder what the hell is going on in that situation and I don’t have the answer for you, but if anybody was sitting in their stall, including the coaches, thinking that it was the difference maker in the night, it wasn’t. There was 59 and a half other minutes that weren’t played the way they were supposed to be played.”

Looking Ahead
McLellan indicated that there “will be some changes” tomorrow. As noted above, we could see Brandt Clarke, potentially, with forwards Brendan Lemieux and Jaret Anderson-Dolan also options to check in. Clarke took reps when the Kings practiced the power play today, working with the second unit, while Lemieux is also an easy plug and play into a fourth-line role, should the Kings opt to move in that direction. His familiarity with Blake Lizotte makes that an easy move, if it comes. There’s also the thought of which goaltender will play, and whether or not the Kings had a predetermined split in mind, or if Jonathan Quick’s outstanding performance on Tuesday will give him the nod once again.

More to update come the morning.

Kings are back on the ice tomorrow at 10:30 AM for morning skate, before they host the Seattle Kraken at 7:30 PM to conclude the two-game homestand.