Practice 2/12 – Intense, Battle & Competition + Latest on Arvidsson, Quick Hitters from BUF

Practice Day, Buffalo edition.

The Kings are back on the East Coast to begin four-game roadtrip, as they hit the ice this afternoon in Western New York, in advance of tomorrow evening’s game against the Sabres.

For today’s skate, the Kings aligned as follows –

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Fiala – Arvidsson
Laferriere – Dubois – Anderson-Dolan
Grundstrom – Turcotte – Lewis – Kaliyev

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence – Clarke

Rittich / Talbot

Another strong sign for forward Viktor Arvidsson, who participated in line rushes for the first time since he returned to the group following the NHL All-Star break. Arvidsson rotated in with Danault, Moore and Fiala during today’s practice, wearing a gray jersey. No real indication, though, on where that potentially translates into actual deployment, because all seven of the forwards in gray jerseys are seemingly lineup regulars and no indication to suggest otherwise. As we keep an eye on Arvidsson’s eventual return to the lineup, we’ll continue to monitor where he lines up during practices and morning skates.

The beauty of Arvidsson is his versatility and his ability to slot in anywhere in the lineup. He has natural chemistry with the pair of Danault and Moore and was extremely effective alongside Kempe and Kopitar during Game 6 of the playoffs last season. While he’s never played with Dubois, both have good hockey IQ and Arvidsson has shown an ability to move to different places and still be effective and productive.

Head Coach Jim Hiller has expressed a ton of admiration for Arvidsson’s game and is excited to get him back in action, however the inclination from today seemed more likely than not Arvidsson wouldn’t play tomorrow against Buffalo. Hiller said that Arvidsson is “getting close” and that he’ll have to check with team trainers again after today’s practice. Didn’t firmly rule him out, but as of today, Hiller had not received the word that Arvidsson is ready to play tomorrow, though we still have 24 hours until that time. Getting close, Insiders. Getting close.

As for the full group today, there was once again a lot of energy in today’s practice.

Hiller spoke after the Edmonton game about simply wanting to make the most out of each day. For him, that was the approach to his first two practice days and coming off an opportunity to relax a bit yesterday, that was the approach again here today in Buffalo.

“We had a really good first practice, a good second practice, a good game and we wanted to make sure today was an intense practice, that we worked on all the same things that we’ve worked on since day one,” Hiller said today. “We didn’t want to get too far away from all this kind of stuff, just focus on what we’ve needed to improve and what we have been improving.”

One thing I noticed that I really liked –

Hiller has designed certain drills and certain portions of practices to be competitions. Whether that’s between lines or between the forwards and defensemen, there have been certain drills run each day that are intended to stimulate that competitive side of the players during practice settings. That’s all by design. When there’s a score kept and there’s a winning side, it ups the adrenaline and the intensity naturally. It’s something Hiller aims to bake into every practice day.

“We try to build them that way, to always have some type of a game,” Hiller said. “It doesn’t matter, for all of us, we could be playing Monopoly and we’re going to get serious about it. These guys are ultra-competitive, so you turn something into a game for them and it amps way up, it’s just human nature and these guys are built even a little bit different than most of us, they’re even higher. So, you always get the best out of them when there’s something on the line.”

It’s something that the players have picked up on as well.

During practice, it was pretty clear that the guys were into it. The drill today was in a smaller group situation, with battle elements and forwards versus defensemen. Speaking with defenseman Jordan Spence, he picked up on a consistent theme of “battle drills”, which he felt was important for everyone coming out of the All-Star break.

“I think we’ve been having a lot of battle drills,” he said. “We were on a break for a week, so the two practices we had before Edmonton were pretty crucial, because they already had two games in hand, so for us to do a lot of battle drills and kind of get our bodies going, get our energy back, it’s been really good. We’ve got to keep it going.”

It’s one thing, though, to simply do it in practice. It’s another to translate it into games.

We saw that against the Oilers, as the Kings did a good job of replicating that energy and intensity against Edmonton. Forward Trevor Moore put it pretty well after today’s practice.

“We’re going to work every day and we’re going to carry that over into the games,” Moore said. “It’s not a light practice and then we’re going to gear it up into the games, it’s a consistent mentality.”

Or, perhaps Quinton Byfield said it best last game, when referencing Hiller’s mantra for the group. Let’s………Go. Practice day, game day, what have you. Let’s go.

Good space to be in heading into Buffalo tomorrow.

Quick Hitters
– A couple players have spoken over the last couple of days about their feelings on entrusted with certain roles and responsibilities during the Edmonton game.

For Pierre-Luc Dubois, he played 6:27 against Leon Draisaitl, making him Draisaitl’s most common opponent on Saturday. Jim Hiller said that the Kings set out to get the matchup of Phillip Danault and his line against Connor McDavid, but didn’t chase matchups beyond that. Perhaps in seasons past, the goal might’ve been to double down with a healthy dosage of Anze Kopitar against Draisaitl, in more of a matchup-based system, but the Kings showed a lot of trust in Dubois and his line.

Dubois spoke about the challenge he was given by the coaching staff coming back from the break, noting a “black and white” plan for what they wanted to see out of him on the ice. Having the trust to regularly face Draisaitl allowed Dubois to stay in the flow of the game. Dubois pointed to having that level of icetime leading to a good feeling throughout the night, ultimately leading to the win.

For Jordan Spence, he bumped up alongside Drew Doughty in a 4-on-4 situation in the second period, a situation that should play well for Spence’s game. He’s a skater, a puckmover and an offensively-gifted player. We saw the nice play he made in the second period to hold the zone and ultimately set up Dubois for the game-opening goal.

“At the end of the day, I want to help the team win and them putting me on in 4-on-4 and trying to give me the opportunity is obviously great,” Spence said. “For me, I just want to make plays and if the play is there, we’re going to do it. We’re trying to score at the end of the day, that’s what we’re trying to do 4-on-4. It’s awesome and hopefully we can keep that going.”

– Looking back one last time at the Edmonton game, Hiller felt that the second period was the team’s weakest. The numbers agreed, as the Kings took three penalties in the middle stanza, two of them bench minors, with the gameflow shifting drastically towards the Oilers. A stout performance from David Rittich and some timely defensive plays kept things at 2-0.

What Hiller loved, however, was the way the team regrouped during the third period and responded.

“I thought when we come back out in the third, we started skating again, and not until near the end there, where they had the goalie pulled and they had the [6-on-5], did they start taking control again,” he said. “I loved how we bounced back from what I thought was the worst period, which was the second.”

Entering Saturday, the Kings were +19 in first periods this season but -1 in second periods. Nearly a half-goal difference, per game. Despite the Edmonton push, the Kings held firm at +2 in the middle stanza. The team play after that, coming out for the third, cemented what the Kings were hoping to achieve.

– Onto the here and now. Is the game versus Buffalo being taken as a “revenge” game after the way Buffalo flipped the script back? Not if you ask Hiller.

“That seems like a year ago, to be honest with you. I know the result, for sure, but we’ve moved past that. Outside of [it being mentioned today], I hadn’t thought about it at all.”

The Buffalo loss was arguably the worst of the season for the Kings. A 3-1 lead built early before the Sabres – playing on the second half of a back-to-back – scored four unanswered goals to win 5-3. We know the aftermath that was the post-game that day.

I think for the Kings right now, though, the focus is still on them. Doing what they do, focusing on what they need to focus on, as it was before the Edmonton game. Hiller said that Saturday’s pre-scout was more Kings based than Oilers based than it might’ve been otherwise at this tie of the year. Considering the team’s struggles in January and the coaching change, it makes sense. For Buffalo tomorrow, independent of the result last month, or what happened in this building last year, the Kings have to do certain things well, certain things they did on Saturday, to find success tomorrow night. That’s the plan right now.

Morning skate tomorrow, 11:30 AM Eastern, before the Kings get back into game action. Lots more to follow throughout the course of this trip!