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11/29 Preview – Portillo To Make NHL Debut + Lee Recalled, Moore Out, Thomas to IR + Danault’s Assessment

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WHO: Los Angeles Kings (12-8-3) @ Anaheim Ducks (9-9-3)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Friday, November 29 @ 12:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Honda Center – Anaheim, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings are in Anaheim for a Black Friday matinee, with final game of the season at Honda Center on the docket for this afternoon.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings and Ducks meet today for the second time this season.

The Kings were led by defenseman Mikey Anderson when these teams met last, with the defenseman collecting two points (1-1-2) in the meeting on October 20. Forwards Adrian Kempe, Alex Laferriere and Kevin Fiala also scored in that game, a 4-1 Kings victory at Honda Center.

KINGS VITALS: With the extremely early puck drop, the Kings did not hold a morning skate in advance of today’s game.

Look for goaltender Erik Portillo to make his NHL debut this afternoon against the Ducks, after dressing as the backup goaltender over the past couple weeks. Portillo has a record this season of 4-2-0 with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, with a .906 save percentage and a 2.68 goals-against average.

For reference, here’s how the Kings lined up on Wednesday versus the Jets –

I am expecting forward Andre Lee to be with the team today in Anaheim.

Lee was recalled by the Kings this morning on an emergency basis as forward Akil Thomas was placed on injured reserve.

UPDATE: Forward Trevor Moore will not play today. Consider him ‘day-to-day” at this time, per Jim Hiller. Not a ton of additional information on Moore’s status, but will update if I get it.

As was the case on Wednesday, goaltender Darcy Kuemper and defenseman Caleb Jones skated in non-contact red jerseys during yesterday’s practice. Both are still unavailable, but are progressing towards a potential lineup return.

Should the Kings look to mix anything else up, defensemen Kyle Burroughs and Andreas Englund remain available.

DUCKS VITALS: Anaheim begins a four-game homestand this afternoon, coming off a stretch of games where they’ve collected points in five of their last six (4-1-1).

Per the Anaheim team account, here’s how the Ducks lined up on Wednesday against Seattle –

Anaheim was without forward Leo Carlsson on Wednesday, who is considered to be day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Forward Frank Vatrano collected an assist when these teams met in October, giving him six points (3-3-6) from his last eight games played against the Kings.

Storyline Of The Day – Philling The Net
Phillip Danault didn’t hold back after Wednesday’s win over Winnipeg.

It’s been a tough start to the season for number 24, who hasn’t quite had the same offensive totals he’s accustomed to.

“It’s hard to describe, you think you’re playing well, but then you don’t get goals or assists and it’s a little harder to get the mojo going,” Danault said of his start.

Look, when it comes to Danault, it’s always going to be about more than the goals and the assists. On that front, Danault has been as good defensively as he has in his time here. With Danault on the ice, the Kings are allowing just 2.06 goals per/60 at 5-on-5, the best rate of his time with the organization. In terms of expected goals against, Danault has the seventh best clip in the NHL among forwards with at least 200 minutes played at 5-on-5.

Long story short, it means that the chances against have been extremely low and those chances aren’t turning into many more goals than they should. That’s been good.

“No matter how many points I have, I want to be a difference-maker every game,” he said. “Whether it’s defensively, offensively, ideally both sides, both ways.”

Offensively, though, Danault had just one goal from his first 22 games played. It came on November 2 against Chicago and, at the time, both he and the Kings hoped it would spur more offense from a player who has averaged 21 goals per season since he’s been here. That game did begin a five-game point streak for Danault, all assists, but he entered Wednesday’s game with just the one goal. He left it with two, though.

“It happens [sometimes] in a season, for me it was the beginning of the season, so it’s the way it is,” Danault said. “We play a hard game too, we don’t score a lot of goals, so there was only really one line working the last couple of games, so we’re all in the same boat.”

That line was the Kopitar line, with the captain factoring in regularly, but without a ton of support down the lineup. That changed against Winnipeg and Danault led that charge.

Danault made a nice skill play in front, collecting a terrific pass from Alex Turcotte and deking for a shot, before he stuck with the play and buried the rebound from a familiar area, right in front of the net. The Kings had 11 high-danger chances in the victory over Winnipeg game and Danault had four of them, leading all Kings skaters. In 13:27 played at 5-on-5, the Kings had 11 shots on goal for with Danault on the ice, compared to zero against.

Really, really strong showing from a very important player.

Danault isn’t the top-line center for the Kings, but he’s a guy who gives the team the depth that can separate them. If he’s carrying a line, 5-on-5, he can give the Kings three lines with top-six caliber. That’s important. Last night, the Kings more or less rolled with 11 forwards and Danault mixed and matched his linemates. For the first time in awhile, he wasn’t between Kevin Fiala and Trevor Moore, a line that worked really well last season but has struggled to find its footing so far this season.

“Sometimes, guys struggle all together and it’s fine to move the line to get something going and get some chemistry back again,” Danault said. “It doesn’t mean that it won’t come back together, it’s a long season, and it’s all a part of the process.”

For now, that line will likely proceed apart, with each skating on a different line against the Jets. Seemed to benefit all three players in the early stages. For Danault specifically, as he prepares for Anaheim, he’s looking to be the difference maker the Kings need, the difference maker he knows he can be. If he’s at that level on most nights, it elevates this team to another level. A level we saw on Wednesday and a level we want to see going forward.

3 To Watch For –
– Big Erik!

Can confirm that goaltender Erik Portillo will be the starter today against the Ducks in what will be his NHL debut.

A great sign of development for Portillo, who has become one of the top goaltenders in the AHL early in his sophomore season. He assumed that role in the second half of the 2023-24 campaign and has carried it over into the start of this season, winning four of his first six starts. Assume we will hear from Portillo later today after the game, but more on him HERE and HERE, as well as an interview below from after his initial recall.

– I asked Jim Hiller yesterday if there was a player who he felt set the tone in the win over Winnipeg. He listed three – Tanner Jeannot, Alex Laferriere and Warren Foegele.

“Jeannot for sure, he cracked Lowry early, two big boys, Lowry doesn’t shy away from anybody, didn’t go looking for it, and really Jeannot the whole night, Jeannot and Laferriere, our two most physical guys, Foegele pretty good too, the physicality of those three.”

Jeannot’s hit early was a big one and that’s his game, right? He’s got to play that way to be effective and he did exactly that. Laferriere was moved down in the lineup and “responded”, per Hiller, collecting two assists and almost a goal, while forechecking well and playing with physicality. Foegele was as expected, clicking instantly with Kopitar and Kempe on the top forward line.

We’ll see how the status of all three is impacted by any potential updates, but would love to see Jeannot specifically keep getting that opportunity by playing the same style of hockey.

– What does Hiller want to see early today from the Kings?

“The exact same thing.”

Wednesday’s game is the blueprint going forward. We’d be naive to expect that same level every single night, over the course of 60 remaining games, but we’ve now seen how good it can be. Hiller called it “the standard” and now the Kings have to try and match that standard again today, and again going forward. The inconsistency to date has been well documented, and we’ve seen strong performances followed by a letdown. Kings have to find ways to sort that out and today’s game is a good chance to do so.

Kings and Ducks in a rare 12:30 PM start from the pond. Expecting to hear from Jim Hiller around 11 AM today, will add in any potential updates if we get them.

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