In four games played thus far on their extended East Coast road trip, the Kings have picked up six points.
“Pretty, pretty good.” — Larry David
When @DennisTFP asked, I said the Kings needed to earn 8 points on the orad trip. They leave Philly with 6 points thus far and 2 games remaining.
Full chat 👇 https://t.co/Ortm0LF376
— The Mayor | John Hoven (@mayorNHL) January 29, 2022
What lies ahead won’t be easy, though.
Sunday will be another day game, a back-to-back contest, and the Penguins are coming in red hot.
As if that triple threat isn’t worrisome enough, LA will also be without Mikey Anderson due to an injury sustained early in yesterday’s game vs. Philadelphia. He’s now on the injured reserve list. That body blow to coach Todd McLellan’s plans was met with another shot early on Sunday when it was learned Matt Roy has entered protocol; thus sidelining him for the remainder of the trip.
Exactly how McLellan will piece together his blueline is anybody’s guess at this point. With the absence of Anderson and Roy, LA has lost a left and right shot defenseman, which at least makes it a little easier to add Austin Strand and Jacob Moverare without having guys slot in on their off side.
Style wise, the Kings will be wearing their new alternate uniforms for the ninth time this season. To date, they’ve posted a 3-4-1 record in those games.
LA KINGS PROJECTED LINEUP vs. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS on 1/30
Iafallo – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Athanasiou – Byfield – Brown
Lemieux – Lizotte – Kaliyev
Other options: Kupari, Grundstrom
IR: Andersson
Moverare – Doughty
Bj̦rnfot РDurzi
Maatta – Strand
Other options: N/A
IR: Anderson
Petersen (starter)
Quick
On the Pittsburgh side of things:
Jeff Carter update – he enters today just 12 games shy of meeting the GP requirement to upgrade the 2023 draft pick acquired from the Penguins.
Re: LA Kings
Remember, if Carter plays 50 games this season, the 2023 4th rd pick LA acquired from PIT in the deal bumps up to the 3rd rd.
With 27 GP already, Carter needs to play in 23 of the Pens 49 remaining games.
Oh, and they're in LA Thursday for Carter's tribute video. https://t.co/dWvmignnub
— The Mayor | John Hoven (@mayorNHL) January 8, 2022
KINGS MILESTONES WITHIN REACH
Anze Kopitar – needs 31 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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56-12 for hits
Kings always on the wrong side of this stat.
Is that sustainable?