11/23 Preview – Kings Talk Power Play + Portillo/Copley, Breaking Down Buffalo, Kopitar at Quarter Mark

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (10-7-3) vs. Seattle Kraken (10-9-1)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Saturday, November 23 @ 1:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings will conclude a three-game homestand this afternoon, as they host the Seattle Kraken in a Saturday matinee at Crypto.com Arena.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings posted a 2-1-0 record against the Kraken last season, with the teams splitting the two games played in Los Angeles.

Forward Trevor Moore led the Kings with four goals from three head-to-head matchups, while forward Kevin Fiala added three points (1-2-3) from three games played. No player around the NHL had more goals versus Seattle than Moore, as he tied with Zach Hyman and Jeff Skinner for the league league.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings will conclude a three-game homestand this afternoon, which is included in a stretch with seven of nine games here in Los Angeles.

For the third straight game, expecting goaltender David Rittich to get the start between the pipes. Rittich has faced Seattle three times throughout his NHL career, posting a record of 2-1-0, with a .917 save percentage and a 2.29 goals-against average.

The Kings did not hold a morning skate today, with the early puck drop, so here’s an estimate on today’s alignment, based on yesterday’s practice –

Turcotte – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Byfield – Laferriere
Moore – Danault – Fiala
Jeannot – Helenius – Lewis – Thomas

Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmundson – Clarke
Moverare – Spence
Englund – Burroughs

Rittich / Copley

Per yesterday’s practice, doesn’t seem like there will be any changes for the Kings on the backend, with Andreas Englund and Kyle Burroughs paired together again during yesterday’s practice. If the Kings make a change, I’d expect it to come on the fourth line, with Akil Thomas checking in. The fourth line didn’t have their best game on Wednesday and the Kings went down to 11 forwards in the third period, with Samuel Helenius the odd player out, while Trevor Lewis played only two shifts. With Thomas’ versatility, could be something the Kings consider with one of those two players.

In net, expecting a swap at the backup goaltender position. Erik Portillo has been assigned to the AHL and will play tonight for the Ontario Reign against San Diego. Pheonix Copley will be up as the backup goaltender tonight, behind Rittich. The move appears designed to get Portillo a game while the schedule is soft for the Kings. Starting on Monday, the Kings will play four games from six days, including a back-to-back. Not positive on the intended distribution, but the Kings could recall Portillo as soon as tomorrow, and he could make his NHL debut sometime next week. Regarding goaltender Darcy Kuemper, no update at this time, per Jim Hiller.

SEATTLE VITALS: The Kraken are on a short, two-game trip to Southern California, with the Kings this afternoon and the Ducks on Monday evening in Anaheim.

Per Emereld City Hockey, here’s how the Kraken aligned on Wednesday evening versus Nashville –

Here's our projected #SEAKraken lineup for tonight's game against the #Preds

Shane Wright a healthy scratch again. Daccord starts. pic.twitter.com/eXqe6PUBtX

— Emerald City Hockey (@EmeraldCityHky) November 21, 2024

Goaltender Joey Daccord pitched a 24 save shutout on Wednesday evening and is expected to get the nod between the pipes again this evening.

Forward Daniel Sprong was reacquired from Vancouver earlier this month and scored his first goal back with the Kraken on Wednesday against the Predators.

Storyline Of The Day – Power Play Continues
You may not agree with him, but Jim Hiller believes that the Kings power play is close. As do the players who play on it.

“We created a lot of chances,” forward Alex Laferriere said. “We didn’t get a lot of reps before last game, so it was good to get some touches in. I think the chances were there and [we were] one bounce away from it going in. I think it’s going to go in eventually and then it will just keep piling on.”

Wednesday’s defeat against Buffalo was certainly a frustrating one, as the Kings lost 1-0 on a night in which they couldn’t convert on five power-play opportunities. Make no mistake, there was no satisfaction with the outcome. You can have chances for days, but if they don’t go into the back of the net, ultimately it’s for naught. Same goes for the power play as a whole Still, I wouldn’t expect to see any changes on that unit, in terms of personnel.

The Kings will move forward with……forwards. Five forwards on the top unit is the expected personnel once again, as the Kings host Seattle this afternoon.

Firstly, it’s not as if things were humming with the old look. Since burying three times in Ottawa back in Game 3, the Kings have scored just five power-play goals, with one coming on an empty net. You could seek out different personnel changes, but the ones made were made to spark a unit that was not producing. For all that didn’t quite work against Buffalo, the chances created were better than in past games.

“There will be one of those games coming up, I hope it’s [today],” Hiller said, when asked about getting one power-play goal and opening up the floodgates. “There will be a game like that, because on our chances, our shooting percentage on our chances is extremely low, unsustainably……they’re going to get some to catchup. We all regress to the mean at some point, sometimes it takes more time than others, but it’s going to happen.”

Yesterday’s skate saw the Kings work on the power play once again, with the same alignment as we saw on Wednesday. Adrian Kempe running the point, with Alex Laferriere to his left and Kevin Fiala to his right. Anze Kopitar was in the bumper position, while Quinton Byfield was at the netfront.

In speaking with Kopitar, he admitted he’d never played as a part of a five-forward alignment before. Like Hiller and Byfield, though, he reiterated his trust in Kempe, who has operated as a defenseman at various points in the season, even at 5-on-5.

“He’s obviously very responsible and a great skater, so I’m sure that puts the coaches at ease with putting him back there. We’ll [keep trying] it out and hopefully it works out and we can keep going with it.”

Keep going we will, at least for this afternoon, as the Kings look to breakthrough against Seattle.

3 To Watch For –
– I walked away from Wednesday’s game thinking it was not a good game. Both ways. Wasn’t that the Kings got dominated. They were the better team overall. Just a game I didn’t particularly enjoy watching.

The post-game quotes suggested that the Kings felt differently. Made me think, what did the stats say?

At 5-on-5, the Kings actually had one of their most dangerous games of the season. When you break chances down on a per/60 basis, to account for differences in penalty time, game-to-game, the Kings had their second highest count of high-danger chances. It was a top five game in scoring chances too.

What it wasn’t, though, was a top tier game in terms of shots on goal. Which suggests what? The Kings had ample opportunities in and around the net, in the most dangerous areas of the ice, but those chances didn’t hit the net. Lack of polish, lack of composure, perhaps just some back luck……I guess that’s the million-dollar question. Trying to piece together the differences between what many of you felt and what the team felt.

Where I land is that the Kings were satisfied with the scoring chances and the high-danger chances. They had a lot of them, as the numbers show. They just didn’t put nearly enough of them on net, let alone in the net. I guess the proof will be in the pudding. Get the same chances going forward, but do more to hit the net, does it change how we’d view a similar game? Time will tell.

– Didn’t think that yesterday’s article was the place for quotes, but here’s Anze Kopitar’s thoughts on the team’s first quarter of the season.

“Given the schedule that we had, I think we can be pretty happy with the record,” he said. “With the games, the performances and everything, I think there’s room for improvement, which I always believe there is. All in all, we can be pretty happy. We’re certainly in the mix, which is what you want come Thanksgiving time, so I think we’re in a good spot. The games can definitely be better, but it’s still a long way to go, so we’re going to keep improving.”

Little up, little down.

The record is solid enough and it’s probably indicative of the way the team has played. As Kopitar acknowledges, the level of play behind the record has room for improvement. Hasn’t been perfect by any stretch, but the Kings have taken care of business at a high enough level to be in a playoff spot one week away from Thanksgiving. That’s where you want to be at this time of the year. If they can improve in certain areas, while continuing their level in what’s worked, they’ll cement that playoff spot. If it goes the other way, it’ll be a steep hill to climb. 62 games to figure it all out.

– Lastly, a small update on defenseman Caleb Jones. He is back skating on his own, in a non-contact red jersey. Currently skating with Arthur Kaliyev early in the day, before the Kings hit the ice as a team.

Jones remains out with an upper-body injury, but a good sign to see him progressing. When the time comes, Jones would give the Kings nine defensemen, meaning someone would have to head to Ontario. But we’re not there just yet.

1 PM today between the Kings and Kraken.