The Kings and Reign were both shut out on Saturday night.
If it wasn’t so damn frustrating to those in management, somebody just might laugh at this point. To say things have gotten completely weird in recent days would be a massive understatement.
Both teams are still sitting in second place in their respective Pacific Divisions.
However, over the past week or so, Kings coach Todd McLellan has seen Viktor Arvidsson, Andreas Athanasiou, and Brendan Lemiuex suffer a myriad of injuries, making them temporarily unavailable. Given the organization’s current depth at forward — albeit with some fairly inexperienced, yet highly skilled young players — many have remained hopeful they’d somewhat be able to weather the storm. Then came the blueline tornado. LA’s top pairing of Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson also suffered injuries, resulting in neither player being available for the past two games.
As if all of that wasn’t enough to scream about, Saturday night in San Jose brought another series of tremors, as Dustin Brown and Matt Roy left the game with injuries, as well.
Dustin Brown leaves the game after Spence's shot hits him in the hand: https://t.co/h4Xeu4rTSR #LAKings #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/43cEen9NvW
— Eric (@kingsgifs2) March 13, 2022
In response to their ever-growing list of walking wounded, the Kings were forced to once again look to AHL Ontario for some reinforcements heading into Sunday’s matchup with Florida.
More LA Kings roster moves:
Brown to IR
Doughty to IRFrk, Vilardi, Strand recalled
— The Mayor | John Hoven (@mayorNHL) March 13, 2022
Along with the above moves, Jaret Anderson-Dolan was also returned to the Reign.
Per MayorsManor editor, John Hoven, defenseman Matt Roy will not be available for tonight’s game vs. the Panthers.
Jonathan Quick is expected back in net for what will be his 700th career NHL appearance. He will become only the 30th goaltender in league history to reach that milestone.
How will McLellan piece everything else together to close out this rough stretch of three games in four nights? Well, without a morning skate, it’s a bit difficult to predict. The following is merely a guesstimate, at best.
LA KINGS PROJECTED LINEUP vs. FLORIDA PANTHERS
Kempe – Kopitar – Kaliyev
Moore – Danault – Frk
Iafallo – Byfield – Vilardi
Grundstrom – Lizotte – Kupari
Other options: Andersson
IR: Arvidsson, Brown, Lemieux
Maatta – Spence
Björnfot – Durzi
Moverare – Strand
Other options: Roy, Wolanin
IR: Anderson, Doughty, Edler
Quick (starter)
Petersen
KINGS DAILY QUESTION
N/A
VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE
Spencer Knight is expected to start in goal for Florida, while veteran forward Joe Thornton is still not quite ready to return to the lineup.
More here:
The last time the #LAKings faced the #FlaPanthers, the Cats were missing half their lineup due to injury and Covid tests.
That’s not the case tonight in the City of Angels. https://t.co/jJVSgPL7XC
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) March 13, 2022
KINGS MILESTONES WITHIN REACH
Anze Kopitar — needs 19 points to pass Dave Taylor for third on the Kings all-time scoring list
Dustin Brown — 4 goals away from passing Bernie Nicholls for fifth place in Kings franchise history
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00pm PST today and the game will be televised on Bally Sports Network.
RELATED CONTENT:
Lead Image created by ALo Images for MayorsManor
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com
Lias needs to play every game to show he does or doesn’t belong.