3/30 Preview – Optional Skate Today + Tendy Tandem, Lineup Options Up Front, Laferriere ATO

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (43-21-10) @ Edmonton Oilers (43-23-9)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Thursday, March 30 @ 6:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Rogers Place – Edmonton, AB
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports So-Cal – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The roadtrip contines tonight for the Kings, as they square off once again with the Edmonton Oilers in a Pacific Division showdown.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Viktor Arvidsson leads the Kings against Edmonton this season with five points (1-4-5) from two games played. Forward Trevor Moore has a team-best three goals in the season series to date, all coming from a hat trick scored in this arena when these teams met back in November.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held an optional morning skate today, following yesterday’s full-team practice here in Edmonton.

Joonas Korpisalo was the first goaltender off the ice this morning, making him tonight’s projected starting goaltender for the second straight game. Korpisalo has a career record of 3-4-0 versus the Oilers, with an .885 save percentage and a 3.77 goals-against average.

No line rushes this morning and nothing to necessarily suggest a change to the lineup, so embedding Tuesday’s combinations from Calgary as a point of reference –

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Danault – Arvidsson
Moore – Lizotte – Iafallo
Grundstrom – Kupari – Kaliyev

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Edler – Durzi

Korpisalo
Copley

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 29, 2023

The Kings have several players available to them, should they opt to make any lineup changes. Up front, forwards Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Zack MacEwen are options to check back in, as is Sean Walker on the backend. Will see if any lineup changes surface when the team hits the ice for warmups later on tonight.

OILERS VITALS: Edmonton enters tonight’s action on an eight-game point streak, with a record of 7-0-1 in that stretch of games.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner was off first this morning for the Oilers, making him tonight’s expected starting goaltender against the Kings. Skinner has faced LA twice throughout his NHL career, bringing with him a record of 0-1-1, with a .909 save percentage and a 3.66 goals-against average.

Per Tony Brar of Oilers TV, here’s how Edmonton took rushes during their morning skate today –

Oilers line rushes this morning ahead of big matchup vs. LA:

RNH – McDavid – Hyman
Kane – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Foegele – Bjugstad – Janmark
Kostin – Shore – Ryan
McLeod

Nurse – Ceci
Ekholm – Bouchard
Kulak – Desharnais
Broberg

Skinner
Campbell#Oilers

— Tony Brar (@TonyBrarOTV) March 30, 2023

Edmonton frequently opts for an 11F / 7D look, as opposed to the traditional 12F / 6D, with Oilers play-by-play broadcaster Jack Michaels indicating that could be the case again this evening. Oilers blueliner Mattias Ekholm has nine points (3-6-9) and a +14 rating since he was acquired by Edmonton at the trade deadline.

Notes –
Tendy Tandem
Tonight signals the first set of consecutive starts for a Kings goaltender since the trade deadline.

After a strong outing in Calgary last time out, Joonas Korpisalo will get the nod again this evening for the Kings. We’ve deemed the goaltending position to be a rotation, though Todd McLellan has said it’s simply how it’s shaken out for the Kings, it hasn’t been a pre-determined thing, which he reinforced today.

“The rotation just happened to roll out the way that it did, we wanted to keep both goaltenders sharp and we’ll continue to do that going forward.”

What’s been perhaps the biggest takeaway is the confidence and comfort that the Kings have right now playing behind either goaltender. Since Korpisalo joined the organization, the Kings have lost just once in regulation, which was on Tuesday in Calgary. They’ve also allowed more than two goals in regulation just once, in Sunday’s win over St. Louis. Goaltending has been strong, it’s been solid and it’s giving the guys playing in front of them a lot of confidence right now.

“I think they’re both playing really well and they’re very calm back there,” defenseman Alex Edler said. “It kind of rubs off on the team and it doesn’t really matter who’s in net, they’ve both been good.”

Despite getting dinged for six against St. Louis, the Kings have still allowed the fewest goals in the NHL, per game, so far this month. At just 2.08, the Kings were the NHL’s only team under that two-per-game threshold until the game against the Blues. When you factor in the number of starts for each goaltender, both guys have needed to be solid. Generally, both guys have been.

It’s lent a conforting approach to the group in front, regardless of who is in net.

“Even when we make a couple of mistakes and give up a couple of Grade-A looks, they’ve been able to shut the door and keep the puck out of the net, which has been comforting for us,” defenseman Mikey Anderson added. “They’ve been really good and it’s helped the team.”

Though Korpisalo will get the nod tonight, McLellan re-emphasized the importance of having both guys going and both guys contributing.

“I think that is something that’s really important for our team,” McLellan said. “One, they feel comfortable, regardless of who is in goal and two, we have that luxury to play either one. As the year goes on, I believe that you need two. Whether it’s injury, momentum, type of game, opponent, it’s nice to be able to pick from one or the other and that’s what we feel we have.”

Talking Lineup
Would suck to be the guy who wrote a long story about the Kings having a certain segment of their personnel available, wouldn’t it? SUCKS to be that guy.

Oh well.

With the absence of forward Gabe Vilardi, the Kings had to shuffle things around during Tuesday’s game in Calgary. Coming off a one-game suspension, forward Blake Lizotte checked back in at center, between forwards Trevor Moore and Alex Iafallo. Midway through, however, the Kings swapped Moore with forward Kevin Fiala in an effort to shake up the second line.

When asked if now is a good time to “experiment” with combinations, meaning seeing what could work now as opposed to in the playoffs, McLellan didn’t love that word. He did admit though that those situations could arise during the postseason – it happened last year with Viktor Arvidsson’s injury – and the Kings will have to adapt, but he’s trying to ice the lineup that gives the Kings the best chance to win a given game.

“As far as experimenting, I don’t think anybody really wants to experiment, we want to put the best lineup together possible and keep on playing,” McLellan said. “There are circumstances that come up during the playoffs and at the end of the season where you have to react and that’s what we’re doing right now.”

From a player perspective, it’s not as if the Kings have half a group that’s changed over from a season ago. And, even if they had, it’s March 29 and there’s been ample time to adjust.

Lines have fluctuated throughout the course of this season. The Kings have had relatively fortunate health overall, but most of their injury issues came up front, as opposed to the defensive corps as it was a season ago. That’s led to shuffling, adjusting and moving pieces around to fit the personnel who are available. Speaking with Moore and Iafallo, as well as forward Carl Grundstrom, that’s part of the job and they feel comfortable in doing it.

Grundstrom – Everyone plays a little differently, but I don’t think it’s a problem. It feels good to play with everyone. I’m trying to [play the same way regardless], forecheck a lot, get the puck to the net and go to the paint. I just try to play the same way.

Iafallo – You can switch guys on and off and I think it’s good for a team to have that ability to change things sometimes and play to their ability. With whoever I’m playing with, I try to talk before the game with them and be the best player I can, for them and for the team.

Moore – It’s not like we have an [entire new group], we’ve got a couple of new guys but a lot of us have been together for a few years now. Playing with Lizzo and AI, those are guys that I’ve known for awhile, so it’s not like I’m learning too much about them, you just spend more time with them.

McLellan also sees what the Kings have waiting in the wings.

He’s said as frequently as you’d like to listen that the Kings have more than 12 forwards who they would trust to play a regular role, but can only dress the four lines they’re able to.

With Vilardi out, Arthur Kaliyev checked into the lineup and had the primary assist on Sean Durzi’s goal. He had one of the team’s best looks of the night as well, as he won a battle along the boards, drove the net assertively and got a shot on goal. His line also drew a penalty. It’d be hard to argue that Kaliyev was out of the lineup based on his own performance individually, but rather due to the individual performances of others. Zack MacEwen and Jaret Anderson-Dolan have played to their strengths and done well in their roles as they’ve gotten opportunities.

“There are a lot of players that we’ve had sitting around here that want to play and now they’ll get their opportunity,” McLellan added. “We’ve seen that over the last few days, either through suspension or injury, and it’s a great opportunity for that. It’s cliche and coaches say that all the time, but it is. As one goes down at this time of the year, another one has to step in and fill the role.”

Laffy Taffy
Lastly, Insiders, acknowledging the “officially official” with forward Alex Laferriere, who turned pro last night as he signed an ATO with the Ontario Reign.

Laferriere was a part of Harvard’s trio of high-powered, offensive players and became the three of three to leave school early to begin their professional careers. Laferriere begins on an amateur try out at the AHL level, with the expectation that a formal entry-level contract will follow. Laferriere ranked in the NCAA’s top ten in scoring this season, on a points-per-game basis, and will now join the Reign here during their push towards the postseason.

Ontario is back in action tomorrow evening, we’ll see if Laferriere is an option for that game. Reign Head Coach Marco Sturm said yesterday that Laferriere would practice with the team today and then we’ll see where things go from there.

Kings and Oilers, 6 PM showdown on Pacific time at Rogers Place!