10/16 Preview – Rittich Starting, Kuemper “day-to-day”, Copley Recalled, Edmundson back in LA

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (1-0-2) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2-1-0)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Wednesday, October 16 @ 4:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ONT
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports West – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings have reached city 4 of 5 on their season-opening roadtrip, with a matchup tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings and Maple Leafs split their games last season, with each team winning on the road.

Forward Quinton Byfield led the way in that game with two assists, while forwards Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault both scored in the victory. Defenseman Andreas Englund, who could feature tonight, scored his first goal as a King in this building last season.

KINGS VITALS: With points in three straight games to begin the season, the Kings look to make it four tonight in Toronto.

Per Head Coach Jim Hiller, goaltender David Rittich will make his season debut for the Kings in net. Rittich has a lifetime record of 3-3-1 versus Toronto, with a .929 save percentage and a 2.44 goals-against average. Tonight’s game would mark his first start of the 2024-25 season.

The Kings took an optional skate today, so unclear for sure on tonight’s exact lineup, but expecting a few changes for sure.

First things first, defenseman Joel Edmundson is not expected to play for the Kings, as he is back in Los Angeles as he and his wife, Ebony, are expecting the birth of their first child! Unclear how that might impact the group as a whole, but it seems as if one or both of Andreas Englund and Caleb Jones could check in tonight for the visitors, with both players off relatively early after the morning skate.

Additionally, goaltender Darcy Kuemper will not dress tonight and is “day-to-day”. Goaltender Pheonix Copley has been recalled from the AHL’s Ontario Reign on an emergency basis and will dress tonight as the backup to Rittich.

More below on what we could see in terms of tonight’s changes.

TORONTO VITALS: The Maple Leafs are currently in the midst of a four-game homestand, which began with a win over Pittsburgh on Saturday evening.

Per the Toronto team account, here’s how the Maple Leafs lined up last time out against the Penguins –

Home opener lineup!!@Molson_Canadian | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/S3aFLa5dxz

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 12, 2024

Forward William Nylander led the Maple Leafs last season versus Los Angeles, as he collected two goals and an assist from two games played. In total, Nylander has 11 points (4-7-11) against the Kings over his last 10 games played. Nylander, however, did not practice yesterday due to illness and is a “game-time decision” for tonight’s game. Forward John Tavares missed Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh due to illness but did practice yesterday.

Storyline Of The Day – Making Moves
Let’s recap.

Joel Edmundson will not play tonight and based on today’s skate, it appears as if both Andreas Englund and Caleb Jones may. Unclear in what deployment, as the skate was optional, so it could be an 11/7 alignment or it could be in place of someone who played on Monday. I would expect a pairing of Anderson/Clarke, though, regardless of how the rest of the blueline is deployed.

Goaltender David Rittich will get the start tonight and it is expected that goaltender Pheonix Copley will be the backup, not Darcy Kuemper. Copley was recalled on an emergency basis, with Kuemper nursing a minor injury, out day-to-day.

Up front, morning skate indicates that there won’t be any changes at forward for the Kings, at least in terms of personnel. Possible the lines could shuffle a bit, although I’m not expecting that based on yesterday’s practice, so unless it’s an 11/7 approach, I think the forwards will likely be the same.

So.

In net, the Kings turn to the man they call Big Save Dave for a bit opportunity here in Toronto.

Rittich was likely to play this game anyways, after eight goals against on Monday, he will just have a different backup. Pheonix Copley won his return to action with the Ontario Reign on Sunday, as he made 19 saves on 22 shots in a win over the San Jose Barracuda. He arrived in Toronto last night, skated this morning and will dress as the backup versus the Maple Leafs.

On the blueline, Jim Hiller conveyed trust in both Englund and Jones, understanding that both players have NHL experience,

“Yeah, that’s just it, they’ve both played in the league, they’re both comfortable, [we’re comfortable] with both of them, either or,” Hiller said. “It makes it easier for us, it’s not like we’re bringing just a young guy in.”

In speaking with Jones this morning, three games really isn’t all that long to have been out.

In fact, he was out of the lineup for nearly two months as a scratched player in Colorado last season. He played on January 15 and didn’t see the ice again until March 4. He played shy of six minutes in Montreal and was tasked with nearly 16 in his return against Chicago.

He talked about that experience as being something he learned from, with it being the first time he had really gone through something like that as an NHL player. This time around, it’s only been three games, but it will be his first taste this season of regular-season hockey, assuming he checks in tonight.

“I think when you get to the regular season, it’s always a kind of a shock, no matter how many games, with the speed, it kind of takes a minute,” Jones said. “I think for the most part, they’ve done a good job of keeping us kind of ready.”

In Game 1, the plan always starts with keeping things simple.

For the Kings, as a group, that’s probably a mentality that should be taken throughout the group, coming off of eight goals conceded in Ottawa on Monday.

“I think you start off that way and as you get into the game, you find out what type of hockey game it’s going to be,” he added. “No matter what, you’ve got to play your game, have fun and trust the work you’ve put in. Everything else will take care of itself.”

3 To Watch For
– Loved this goal from Alex Laferriere in Ottawa.

Laffy gets his second of the game 🎯 pic.twitter.com/xfU9E66Gum

— LA Kings (@LAKings) October 14, 2024

I asked him yesterday if he felt he would have had the confidence to make that move last season.

“Yes, and no,” he said. “I think this year. I’m a lot more confident. I wouldn’t say there was no confidence last year to do that, I just think more nervous, like maybe try it and rush it a little bit and something would happen to kind of break it up. This year, I think I’m a lot more patient and know that the play’s going to develop and I just have to kind of be patient and see what happens.”

Loved the goal, loved the answer. Laferriere is feeling confident, certainly, and with confidence comes the patience to execute a move like that. I don’t think his hands got better, I think the game has just slowed down for him to where he could make a play like that. Which is really good to see. So far, he’s earned his spot on with Kopitar and Kempe.

– After last game, Jim Hiller spoke about the team’s “mindset” not being where it needed to be in Ottawa. Mikey Anderson’s quote yesterday seemed to imply that was the case from his perspective.

Mindset is interesting.

You can’t quantify it. You don’t know all that much about it until you see it. Hiller said that as a younger coach, he used to try and get a feel for mindset in advance of seeing it on the ice. He realized that was a mistake. He said it takes 7-8 shifts, in his opinion, to gauge it and you adjust from there.

“I’ve done that and made that mistake before, by trying to predict just by the energy and that was a mistake,” Hiller said. “5, 6, 7 shifts in, you get a sense of it on the bench, I’m sure you guys do watching. You try everything you can do to change that state, because that state continues and it usually doesn’t end up very well.”

Hiller added that he felt the second period, early on, the Kings played better, but after the penalties kicked in, the game went “sideways”.

Mentality will be important tonight, with a dangerous opponent waiting in the wings.

– Lastly, the Toronto game always presents homecoming opportunities for players.

Last season, it was Quinton Byfield who played for the first time in Toronto. Byfield is from Newmarket, which is less than an hour outside of the city, and has been an Ontario kid his entire life. He had two assists last season as he led the Kings to a 4-1 victory in this building last year, making it extra special.

“It kind of went by pretty fast,” he recalled. “I was so excited to play here and having all of my family and friends there made it special. Seeing them afterwords, being able to talk with them, it made me feel at home. That was my first time playing here, so there was a lot of excitement.”

Byfield said he has a similar level of excitement this season and got the chance to get home yesterday and see his family – and his dog! – after the team practiced at Coca Cola Coliseum.

One guy who we know won’t be here is Drew Doughty, who always gets a little extra juice for this one.

Of course we’re missing Drew, Drew loved to play in Toronto, he’d bring everybody in from London,” Hiller said this morning “He’s been encouraging the guys, letting them know that you don’t lose when you come into Toronto.”

Hopefully Byfield can harness that energy, and Doughty’s for a big night as the team needs one.

Kings and Leafs, 4:30 Pacific time for a national broadcast up here in Canada, local crew back home. Kings in search of a large defensive improvement against a formidable foe tonight.