The Kings and Flyers have a rich history, which is rather interesting considering they play in two different conferences. It all started in Game 1 for the LA franchise, a 4-2 victory over Philadelphia on October 14, 1967 at the Long Beach Arena. A few months later the two teams rematched for the Forum grand opening, with the Flyers coming out on top 2-0 that night. A half century later, the Kings and Flyers met up again to open the 2017 season, LA’s 50th anniversary in the NHL, where LA posted their own 2-0 shutout victory.
Certainly many more events have happened through the years linking the two organizations, including a trade for fan favorite Dave ‘the Hammer’ Schultz back in 1976, in the hiring of Dean Lombardi as General Manager in 2006, and Mike Richards coming to LA in 2011. Other connections include Ron Hextall, Ian Laperriere, Justin Williams, Jeff Carter, Rick Tocchet, Simon Gagne, Sean Burke, Michal Handzus, Mike Stothers, plus a plethora of additional games and moments along the way too numerous to list.
As for today, the lineup is expected to look identical to Thursday’s game in New York – sans the goaltender. Jonathan Quick is next up in the rotation and he enters the game with impressive career numbers vs. the Flyers — headlined by an 11-3-1 record and a 1.79 goals-against average. Add in his .942 save percentage — the highest against any opponent he’s ever faced — and coach Todd McLellan is likely feeling a bit confident this morning.
LA KINGS PROJECTED LINEUP vs. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS on 1/29
Iafallo – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Athanasiou – Byfield – Brown
Lemieux – Lizotte – Kaliyev
Other options: Kupari, Grundstrom
IR: Andersson
Anderson – Doughty
Maatta – Roy
Bjornfot – Durzi
Other options: Strand
Taxi Squad: Moverare
Quick (starter)
Petersen
On the Philadelphia side of things:
The Flyers are currently riding a 13-game losing streak, that includes a 6-3 loss to the Kings on January 1.
Over the course of 152 all-time games between the two clubs, Philadelphia has come out on top 88 times.
Flyers expected lineup:
Lindblom – Giroux – Atkinson
van Riemsdyk – Laughton – Konecny
Willman – Frost – Mayhew
Ratcliffe – Bunnaman – MacEwen
Provorov – Braun
Sanheim – Ristolainen
Yandle – York
Hart
KINGS MILESTONES WITHIN REACH
Anze Kopitar – needs 32 points to pass Dave Taylor for third on the Kings all-time scoring list
Dustin Brown — 6 goals away from passing Bernie Nicholls for fifth place in Kings franchise history
Puck drop is scheduled for 10am PST today and the game will be televised on Bally Sports.
RELATED CONTENT:
Kings Of the Podcast: Ep. Q for Quarantine – With Mike Stothers
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