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1/20 Preview – Playing for LA + Players Talk Return Home, Rittich, Doughty/Laferriere skate

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WHO: Los Angeles Kings (25-13-5) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (19-21-8)
WHAT: 2024-25 Regular-Season Game
WHEN: Monday, January 20 @ 7:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Fan Duel Sports Network – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings are back home for just a few days, beginning a short, two-game homestand this evening against Pittsburgh.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forwards Anze Kopitar and Alex Turcotte scored for the Kings when these teams met in Pittsburgh, while defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov collected assists on both goals.

Kopitar leads the Kings with 11 points (2-9-11) from seven games played against the Penguins over the last four seasons. In that same span, forward Adrian Kempe has eight goals in seven games, the fourth most goals in the NHL in that span against Pittsburgh specifically.

KINGS VITALS: After yesterday’s day off, the Kings hit the ice today for a full-team skate this morning in El Segundo.

Goaltender David Rittich was the first goaltender off the ice this morning after morning skate, making him tonight’s projected starter between the pipes for the Kings. Rittich has played against Pittsburgh four times throughout his career, posting a record of 1-0-2, with a .906 save percentage and a 2.77 goals-against average.

Despite the full skate, I didn’t see formal line rushes today. As such, here is last game’s lineup for reference –

Not expecting any changes to the lineup tonight, though, beyond the goaltender. The Kings went 11/7 in Seattle, as is their preferred alignment, and both Akil Thomas and Andreas Englund were on late after skate today.

Both Drew Doughty and Alex Laferriere joined the team in red, non-contact jerseys this morning. Neither will play tonight, but still a positive sign. Laferriere is unlikely to play Wednesday either, so we’ll reassess heading onto the road. More on Doughty’s return below.

PENGUINS VITALS: Pittsburgh has won three of 12 games since the NHL’s holiday break, posting a record of 3-6-3 in that span.

Per the Michelle Crechiolo of PittsburghPenguins.com, here’s how the visitors lined up this morning in Los Angeles –

Forward Blake Lizotte will play at Crypto.com Arena for the first time as a visiting player, after signing with the Penguins as a free agent over the summer.

Pittsburgh forward Rickard Rakell did not take the morning skate earlier today in Los Angeles and will not play tonight due to “family reasons”. Forward P.O. Joseph, who missed the game in Washington due to illness, was on the ice today and is available to play tonight against the Kings.

Storyline Of The Day – Playing For LA
Should be a special night in Los Angeles.

“We felt far away from it and we want to be here with our city,” Kings forward and California native Trevor Moore said this morning. “It’s good to be back and we’re looking forward to tonight.”

For the Kings, yes there’s a hockey game. Yes, it’s a big one, back at home after a 2-3-0 roadtrip came to an end with a disappointing performance in Seattle. It’s likely to be an emotional one for the team, though, as was the game in Winnipeg. Since the most recently scheduled home game on January 8 was postponed due to the wildfires throughout California, the Kings have not played a game in Los Angeles since they begun.

Until tonight, with the Penguins in town for a Monday-evening faceoff.

“We’ve all seen the pictures of our home ice, so that’ll be really cool to see,” forward Trevor Lewis added. “Just to see the support for the city, the firefighters and everyone chipping in and coming together. I think it’ll be a good start for us.”

What Lewis is referring to is a specifically designed center-ice logo, which will be in place for games this week and likely through the 4 Nations Faceoff break at least.

The Kings have worn LAFD stickers on their helmets and patches on their jerseys throughout their recent five-game roadtrip. They’ll do that again tonight here at home as well. But the in-ice logo is a new element, something that you don’t see very often in professional sports. The Kings were able to make it happen starting with tonight’s game and the players certainly expressed their support.

“I don’t think we can thank the first responders enough, Lewis added. “For the rink to have that and to come out and skate on it will be pretty special.”

For veteran players like Lewis, Los Angeles has become a second home. He and his family have spent so many years of their life here. For Moore, who is from the area, it certainly hits a bit closer to home as well. Moore has friends and family here too who have been impacted.

“We’re just trying to play for something bigger than just hockey,” he added. “Sometimes it’s silly, because it’s just a sport and these are real people’s lives who were impacted. Anything we can do to support them, we will.”

At tonight’s game, beyond the center-ice logo, look for support and donation opportunities throughout the night, both to show appreciation for those who have gone above and beyond to help and also to help those who were impacted.

As such, it’s obvious there will be emotions tonight. It’ll certainly be an emotional game for the Kings, there’s no doubt about that. Only human, after all.

“Of course there’s going to be, this is real emotion, real human tragedy and you can’t just say ‘let’s put that aside’ and nor should you,” Hiller added. “So, I think the players will feel an appreciation. I think that’s the biggest emotion they’ll feel is appreciation for everybody that’s gone out and done the work.”

Ultimately, as was the case in Winnipeg, we’ll see how things go on the ice tonight. Kings are certainly aware of everything that’s going on but also hope their focus will be between the glass when the puck drops at 7:30.

3 To Watch For –
– No, Drew Doughty is not going to play tonight.

But man, was it good to see him back with the team this morning. When the first 2-on-1 against him didn’t connect, he gave that big, Drew Doughty smile. His teammates smiled when asked about him. Just great to see him back.

Doughty skated today for his first practice back with the team, taking part in today’s morning skate in a red, non-contact jersey.

No defined return date as of today on Doughty.

Hiller said that “it’s coming” and “hopefully not too far away”. Wouldn’t expect Doughty to get back into a game without at least a full-contact practice, considering how long he’s been away. The Kings are scheduled for full-team skates tomorrow and Friday, so we’ll probably get a better sense then of how Doughty continues to progress.

– While he took a couple of shifts up front in Seattle, don’t expect Brandt Clarke to play there this evening.

Clarke admitted after the game he hadn’t played forward in a long time. It was something that Jim Hiller had thought about for awhile in certain situations, but it had not presented itself in a game. Hadn’t even really been much of a conversation. Until it was.

Clarke is a defenseman and made clear he wants to be a defenseman here for the long haul. Nothing changing there, either from player or team.

“I just want to do whatever I can to help this team win,” Clarke said. “At the end of the day, I love playing defense and defense is what I want to do for this team for the next decade plus, but whatever I can do, in any situation that the coach puts me in, I just know I’ll do the best I can, and that’s what I tried to do.”

Clarke was back in his usual spot this morning, alongside Joel Edmundson on the blueline, where he is expected to play tonight. Hiller said there aren’t plans to make Clarke a forward or anything like that, but on a night when the Kings were not handling the puck well, he took one of his best puck-handling players and tried to make something happen.

Ultimately, Kings couldn’t find the game-tying goal and Clarke will be back on defense tonight.

– Lastly, sharing two stats from LA Kings PR I found interesting.

1. The Kings (1.94) are the only team with a goals-against per game (GA/GP) at home under 2.00 in the league while their 2.42 GA/GP overall places second-best behind only Winnipeg’s 2.40.
2. Among goaltenders to have played in at least 20 games this season, David Rittich’s (21 GP) 47 goals allowed, and Darcy Kuemper’s (23 GP) 48 goals allowed rank first and second, respectively, in the least number of goals allowed among netminders.

Rittich will be in net tonight, which makes some sense after Kuemper played four of the five games on the road. Certainly not an indictment on Kuemper’s performance in Seattle, as he gave the team a chance despite allowing three goals. The Kings have been elite defensively this season, especially at home While Kuemper has been outstanding as of late, Rittich has given the team what they’ve needed on most nights as well. Group is confident in him as well, heading into just his second start of the calendar year.

Kings and Penguins, good to see the team back here in Los Angeles. 7:30 PM puck drop here at Crypto.com Arena.

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