There’s no place like home.
Or the saying goes.
It’s one of the many things Kings coach Todd McLellan likely hopes is true heading into Saturday night’s game vs. the visiting Florida Panthers.
Coming off a three-game road trip where his club left at least one point on the table, now is the time to pick up some ground. LA will now play their next four games at Crypto Arena.
After a pair of salary cap related transactions over the past 24 hours that saw Rasmus Kupari go down to AHL Ontario and then get recalled today, the 22-year-old Finnish forward is expected to again center LA’s third line. Of course, he was originally recalled to replace Quinton Byfield — who is slowly working his way back into game shape (see here for a further update).
LA Kings Projected Lineup vs Florida Panthers
Kempe – Kopitar – Vilardi
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Fiala – Kupari – Grundstrom
Lemieux – Lizotte – Kaliyev
Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Clarke / Walker
Quick
Petersen
Scratches: Anderson-Dolan, Byfield, Walker
Long-term Injured Reserve: Iafallo
Additional Game Notes
Puck drop is set for 7:30pm PST and will be televised by Bally Sports.
The Panthers arrive in town coming off a shootout win vs. San Jose on Thursday night.
Florida’s last visit to Los Angeles saw them fall to the Kings 3-2 on March 13, 2022. Ironically, that was the last time they lost a road game via shootout.
This will be the first time newly acquired forward Matthew Tkachuk plays the Kings in a Panthers sweater. He’s put up 16 points (5G, 11A) thus far this season and his team is 3-1-1 in games where he scores a goal.
Pregame Paul: Bob back in goal, Colin White returns to the lineup.
Patric Hornqvist will be out, considered day-to-day. Maurice said he does “not think it’s a long-term injury.”
— David Dwork (@DavidDwork) November 5, 2022
Potential Panthers lineup:
Verhaeghe – Barkov – Tkachuk
Balcers – Bennett – Reinhart
Luostarinen – Lundell – White
Lomberg – E. Staal – Cousins
Forsling – Montour
Mahua – Gudas
M. Staal – Carlsson
Bobrovsky
Finally, one quick history note involving the two clubs:
On November 5, 2003, Dustin Brown recorded his first career point with an assist on Jon Sim's game-winning goal versus the Panthers. Derek Armstrong and Trent Klatt both scored power play goals, and Roman Cechmanek made 24 saves in a 3-2 win for the @LAKings.#LAKings #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/sPwM18bESR
— The Kingstorian (@Kingstorian) November 5, 2022
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