4/15 Preview – Optional Morning Skate, Kopitar On + Talbot’s Workload & Play, What’s On The Line Tonight

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (43-26-11) vs. Minnesota Wild (38-33-9)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Monday, April 15 @ 6:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: ESPN – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: Two games remaining for the LA Kings, who host the Minnesota Wild for the penultimate home game of the 2023-24 regular season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forwards Kevin Fiala (1-3-4) and Adrian Kempe (1-3-4) lead the Kings this season with four points from the first two head-to-head matchups. Forward Pierre-Luc Dubois has two goals from the three games, the only King with multiple goals versus Minnesota this season.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held a full-team practice day yesterday, in advance of a very optional morning skate here today in El Segundo.

Today’s skate would point towards Cam Talbot getting the nod this evening against his former club, in what could be his final start of the regular season. Talbot was not on the ice this morning for morning skate, which would indicate him as the starter. He has a lifetime record of 8-7-1 against Minnesota, with a .928 save percentage and a 2.33 goals-against average.

With just five skaters on the ice this morning, here’s how the Kings lined up during yesterday’s practice –

Byfield – Dubois – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Fiala – Lizotte – Lewis
Laferriere – Thomas – Kaliyev

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence
Moverare

Rittich / Talbot

In terms of tonight’s lineup, forward Anze Kopitar did skate today, as one of five on the ice. The captain is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, which Jim Hiller referred to as a “nagging” issue. Still not overly concerned with Kopitar’s status. All signs point to him being available come the postseason and we’ll see how the Kings balance rest versus rhythm here down the stretch, but his being on the ice could be a signal of a potential return to the lineup this evening.

Kopitar’s availability will go a long way towards the rest of tonight’s lineup. Should he not be able to play, the Kings have either Jacob Moverare or Arthur Kaliyev available, depending on the appetite for playing 11/7 versus 12/6. If Kopitar is able to play, those were the two on the ice the longest, though no one skated for more than 20-25 minutes.

WILD VITALS: Minnesota is on the final day of a five-game roadtrip, entering tonight’s action with a 2-2-0 record to date on their final trip of the season.

The Wild are currently carrying three goaltenders – Marc-Andre Fleury, Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt – who each have two decisions over the last six games. Per Michael Russo of The Athletic, look for Gustavsson to get the start here tonight. Gustavsson has faced the Kings five times throughout his NHL career, posting a record of 1-3-0, with a .927 save percentage and a 2.44 goals-against average.

Per Curtis Pashelka, here’s how Minnesota aligned on Saturday versus San Jose –

Sharks, Wild lines, d-pairs pic.twitter.com/9BRcajFc8L

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) April 14, 2024

Minnesota forward Kirill Kaprizov has nine goals and 15 points over 16 career games played versus the Kings. The Wild are without defenseman Jared Spurgeon for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.

Notes –
Talkin’ Talbs
The conversation of rest versus rhythm has typically been used here over the last few days to discuss the status of Anze Kopitar. It’s probably just as important for goaltender Cam Talbot.

Talbot has been the workhorse in net over the last month or so, playing in 15 of the Kings’ 21 games during March and April. That could become 16 tonight, with Talbot not on the ice this morning and David Rittich on with a small group of skaters. On these types of days, it’s typically been Talbot’s MO when starting to not skate in the morning.

Jim Hiller has not made any commitments or decisions as to who will get the net in Game 1, though admitted it’s been Talbot that the team has turned to more regularly down the stretch.

“He’s played more down the stretch, it could change, the game changes quickly, so we don’t really want to marry ourselves to anything,” Hiller said. “Cam has played very well down the stretch and he’s certainly played most of the games.”

Hiller has added that the Kings rely pretty heavily on Goaltending Coach Mike Buckley in those situations, to get the best feel for how to deploy the goaltenders. Talbot has also spoken about Buckley’s important to himself and the organization, calling him a “calming factor” for the goaltenders in terms of instruction and a great guy to have in their corner as it pertains to relationships and coaching.

For Talbot personally, back at the beginning of the season, he felt he was prepared to play in the range of 50 – 55 games, a sentiment he shared with the media prior even to the team’s trip to Australia. He hadn’t hit that number since 2018, but coming off an injury-plagued season in Ottawa, he was rested and ready to go coming in. He also wasn’t cemented as the team’s starting goaltender, with he, Rittich and Pheonix Copley all battling for NHL starts.

With Copley’s injury and Talbot’s early-season form, he ultimately would up right around that projected number, entering the day at 52 games played. Tonight would put him smack in the middle of his estimation, at 53 games, which puts him right on schedule.

“I feel good, I feel like I hit the nail right on the head, 50-55 and I’m right in that range,” Talbot said. “That’s perfect for me and my body right now, at this point in my career. My body feels good, it feels as good as it’s been in 10 years, I feel like I’m 26 again.”

He’s responded with a solid season, posting a .916 save percentage and a 2.46 goals-against average. 16 goaltenders in the NHL have played 50 or more games this season and only one – Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck – has a better save percentage than Talbot. Per Natural Stat Trick, Talbot ranks fifth among all goaltender with 16.85 “goals saved above average”. Not a bad season for a $1 million contract with another million in bonuses.

Talbot noted before the Kings clinched that he was prepared to play as often as his number was called, both to get the team in and to ramp his game up for the postseason.

He also said yesterday that he’s had a conversation with the coaching staff regarding his usage over the final few games this season. He indicated he’d keep the details that were discussed private, but expressed an appreciation for the coaches being willing to meet with him to get a sense of what he’s looking for and develop a plan to keep both he and Rittich fresh and sharp, with meaningful games to come next week.

Fresh and sharp. Rest and rhythm. Talbot called it right around an even split, with the plan to hopefully prioritize both heading into the playoffs.

“I’d say this time of year, it’s got to be about 50/50,” Talbot said. “You want to stay in rhythm, but at the same time, it’s the most demanding time of the season, so come Game 1, the level just seems to amp up every single year in the playoffs. You want to stay in the rhythm but you also want to get to rest to make sure that you’re ready.”

What’s On The Line
It’s down to three points.

Golden Knights come from 3 goals down to beat Colorado.

Kings on 97 points, Vegas on 96.

Each with two games left to play, LAK has the tiebreaker and will be Pacific 3, or WC2. https://t.co/M9kVbbbe1o

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) April 14, 2024

With two games remaining, the Kings have 97 points. The Vegas Golden Knights have 96, after a pretty thrilling comeback win yesterday over Colorado. The Kings are at home against Minnesota and Chicago while the Golden Knights host Chicago and Anaheim.

The Kings hold the tiebreaker over Vegas with 37 regulation wins compared to 33. Therefore, any combination of three points earned by the Kings or lost by Vegas would solidify the Kings as the third seed in the Pacific Division. Should that not happen, the Kings would be the second wild card team and would visit Dallas in Round 1.

The math would tell you it’s about a 2/3 to 1/3 split, with the lean towards Pacific 3. The two positions come with three potential opponents – Edmonton, Dallas and Vancouver.

The most likely opposition would be the Oilers, who the Kings could only face in that 2 versus 3 matchup. The Kings could play Dallas if they fall to the second wild card position, while there’s actually an outside chance at facing Vancouver in either spot, depending on how other results shake out.

A lot of “if this, then that” scenarios at play.

Only the Kings and Oilers are in action here tonight. A Kings win puts them in a dormie position for third place in the Pacific. One more point earned or one Vegas point dropped and they’d confirm that spot. A loss and it’s very up in the air. We won’t know anything until tomorrow at the earliest, so we’ll continue to keep tabs around the league until that point.

Final national broadcast of the regular season and a 6:30 PM puck drop that screams prayers for Los Angeles traffic. Leave early, I spose. Two more to play until they count for real.