3/7 Preview – 11/7 Tonight w/ Kaliyev in, Moverare Extended, JAD to NSH + A Look At Tonight’s Game

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (31-19-11) vs. Ottawa Senators (25-32-3)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Thursday, March 7 @ 7:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports West – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings host the Ottawa Senators this evening in a cross-conference showdown, their third game of a five-game homestand.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forwards Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault scored when these teams met in Ottawa back in November. Kopitar has eight points (2-6-8) against Ottawa over the last two seasons. Kings Assistant Coach D.J. Smith was behind the bench in Ottawa when these teams met earlier this season and defenseman Andreas Englund was an Ottawa draft pick, making his NHL debut with the Senators.

KINGS VITALS: Following a scheduled team day off yesterday, the Kings were back on the ice today for a full-team morning skate.

Goaltender Cam Talbot was the first goaltender off this morning, making him tonight’s projected starter against his former team, his fourth consecutive start in total. Talbot has a record of 6-4-0 against the Senators throughout his career, with a .915 save percentage and a 2.48 goals-against average.

An eventful morning for the Kings. Forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan was claimed off of waivers by the Nashville Predators shortly after he got off the ice following morning skate. The Kings will go with an 11/7 alignment again today, with Arthur Kaliyev in the lineup in Anderson-Dolan’s place. A potential alignment below for tonight’s game –

Turcotte – Kopitar – Byfield
Moore – Danault – Fiala
Laferriere – Dubois – Kaliyev
Lewis – Lizotte

Moverare – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence
Clarke

Rittich / Talbot

“We’ll go 7/11 again, Arty will draw him for sure, we’ll go 7/11 and we’ll sort it out from there,” Head Coach Jim Hiller said this morning. “We found out just like you guys did, not long ago, so we’ll sort it out once we get going, what it’ll look like.”

SENATORS VITALS: Ottawa enters tonight’s game on a five-game losing streak, including a 2-1 defeat yesterday evening in Anaheim to begin their California swing.

Former Kings netminder Joonas Korpisalo will get the start tonight against Ottawa. Korpisalo had a strong night, with 35 saves on 38 shots faced, when these teams met back in November. He’s got a lifetime mark of 1-2-0 versus the Kings throughout his NHL career, with a .897 save percentage and a 3.34 goals-against average.

Per Ottawa’s team account, here’s how the Senators aligned yesterday evening against the Ducks –

Our projected lines from Anaheim! 💪#GoSensGo | @UpperDeckSports pic.twitter.com/LTeJoEFjRH

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 7, 2024

Korpisalo missed yesterday’s game due to illness, but should dress tonight against his former club. Forward Josh Norris will not play, as he is currently out on long-term injured reserve. Ottawa will also be without forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who was traded to the Florida Panthers yesterday morning in exchange for a pair of draft picks.

Notes –
Here’s Where We’re At
Just a quick recap first of where we’re at.

Yesterday at 11 AM, the Kings placed defenseman Jacob Moverare and forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan on waivers. Later in the day, the Kings signed Moverare to a two-year contract extension. This morning, just an hour ago, Anderson-Dolan was claimed by the Nashville Predators, while Moverare cleared and remains with the Kings. That leaves the Kings with a healthy roster of 11 forwards and seven defensemen, all of whom will play tonight against Ottawa.

Regarding Anderson-Dolan, it sucks to lose a person like that.

Exemplary character and an honest, versatile player. Showed up at the rink every day and gave you everything he had, whether he had played ten consecutive games or been scratched for 10 consecutive games. A guy who had been shuffled around over the last few years, but showed an ability to pinch hit when called upon. He’ll be missed within the room.

“What a great King, what a great teammate, somebody that’s seemingly had to scratch and claw his way, year after year, and it’s a real credit to him, he’s always got a great attitude,” Hiller said of Anderson-Dolan. “My first year, he sat out maybe the first 10 or 15 games, we put him in the lineup and he’s ready to play, does a lot of work after, he and Derek Johnson formed a good bond and he had JAD ready to play every time. Without a doubt we’re going to miss him, just a great teammate, great guy and a really good hockey player.”

With regards to Moverare, he admitted it’s been an eventful and perhaps stressful 24 hours. A whirlwind of a time for him, but he’s excited to remain with the Kings, now and for the foreseeable future.

“Really excited, it’s a great city, a great team and I have really good teammates,” he said this morning. “I’m really happy.”

Over the course of this season, Moverare has done nothing less than his job. The Kings are controlling just over 53 percent of shots on goal and scoring chances with Moverare on the ice, as well as more than 56 percent of high-danger chances. Moverare’s high-danger chances against, per/60, are the second best number of any LA defenseman. While the attempts against are at a higher rate, Moverare lead the Kings in shots blocked on a per/60 basis.

It’s that area of the game in which he excels. He’s willing and able when it comes to blocking shots and he takes pride in doing the little details in the defensive zone. It’s been the reason he’s established himself as an NHL player.

“When you jump in and he’s playing with Drew a lot and you’re playing against the other team’s best lines, that’s pretty good evidence that you’re an NHL defenseman,” Hiller said of Moverare. “Great job by him thus far, he hasn’t played a lot, but the sample that we have seen, against good players with Drew, that’s pretty impressive.”

For Moverare, he’s coming in each and every day trying to cement that impression during practices and games.

He believe he is an NHL defenseman and his play is showing that. He said he’s learned a ton from playing alongside Doughty over the last few days, citing how hard Doughty plays defensively, how much he invests at that end of the ice and how Doughty makes it easier on him to play his own game. At the end of the day, that’s all he’s looking to do.

“I hope so, that’s what I try to do every time I’m here, both practices and games, to show that I am [an NHL defenseman],” he added. “That’s what I’m really pushing for.”

Additionally, defenseman Tobias Bjornfot was placed on waivers today by the Vegas Golden Knights. Should no team besides the Kings claim Bjornfot, the Kings would be able to claim him and assign him to the AHL’s Ontario Reign free of charge, in advance of tomorrow’s AHL roster deadline. They could also opt to claim him and keep him with the NHL club. A situation to monitor over the next 24 hours, as we approach tomorrow’s NHL Trade Deadline.

Where We’re Heading
So, moves or no moves, there’s a game to play tonight against the Ottawa Senators.

The Kings like where they’re going, directionally. Vladislav Gavrikov said it after Tuesday’s game versus Vancouver, liking the way the team has played since the All-Star break (8-4-1), noting that it’s more about steady direction than huge leaps and bounds. His defensive partner, Matt Roy, echoed that sentiment this morning.

“It’s just a matter of playing consistently throughout the game, but I think our efforts are there, our details are there,” Roy said. “I think that’s something we didn’t quite nail down beforehand.”

With the direction trending the right way, all signs point towards tonight’s game versus Ottawa.

On one hand, the Kings are concerned first and foremost with their own style of hockey.

If they execute the way they are capable of, it shouldn’t matter who they play on a given night. They should have a chance to get a result if they commit to doing those things.

“It’s really about us playing our game consistently,” Hiller said this morning. “If you’ve done that pretty well defensively, we want to get a better offensive push. There’s some things we can do, we believe, we can do better to help us in that area.”

On the other side of the ice, though, is an opponent that Hiller believes plays with a lot of speed and skill throughout their lineup. It’s not just the forwards, but a team-wide approach, with blueliners like Thomas Chabot, Jacob Chychrun and Jake Sanderson also contributing to that brand of hockey. Hiller noted that Ottawa is a dangerous team in the neutral zone, which points towards the importance of a high player in the offensive zone and making life difficult through systematic execution.

If there’s one benefit for the Kings, it’s having D.J. Smith behind the bench. Who knows Ottawa better than Smith does, having coached there for several seasons. An important voice for sure in the scouting report.

“There’s probably who knows them better,” Hiller added. “We don’t want to over-prepare, but we’re pretty clear on what they do well and we let our guys know that.”

Kings and Senators tonight at 7:30 PM. NHL Trade Deadline is tomorrow, so we’ll provide any updates over the next 24 hours as they come about. Nothing happening until it does…..stay tuned!