Goaltender Jonathan Quick has not played for five straight games. Yet, the veteran netminder has to get back in at some point, doesn’t he?
If it’s Saturday night vs. New Jersey, it won’t be against a familiar opponent. Quick last faced the Devils in February 2020, which was nearly three years ago. In fact, since January 2018 — a span of five years to present — Quick has only faced them a total of three times.
Of course, everybody remembers the magic of Quick vs. the Devils in 2012, where he helped the Kings defeat those Devils in six games to win LA’s first Stanley Cup, earning Conn Smythe honors in the process.
Turning to Saturday night’s game, with the Kings recently playing some winning hockey, most of coach Todd McLellan’s lineup is fairly set. He may swap things around on the fourth line. Further, Viktor Arvidsson missed Wednesday’s game with illness; we’re assuming he’s back tonight, though.
Defensively, it’s worth noting – Jordan Spence was assigned to AHL Ontario and played for the Reign in San Diego last night. The team never issued a formal press release announcing the move, as is customary. We’ll see if he’s recalled today and serves as the team’s seventh defenseman. The Reign play at home tonight, so they may need to keep Spence. Toby Bjornfot or Jacob Moverare could easily serve that role, as well. However, perhaps GM Rob Blake and McLellan opt to roll the dice and leave everybody in the AHL for now.
LA Kings Projected Lineup vs. New Jersey Devils
Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Iafallo – Danault – Arvidsson
Fiala – Lizotte – Vilardi
Grundstrom / Lemieux – Kupari – JAD
Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Walker
Quick
Copley
Scratches: Grundstrom, Spence
Injured Reserve: Moore, Kaliyev (retro to Dec. 20, expected out several weeks)
Additional Game Notes
Puck drop is set for 7:30 pm PST and will be televised by Bally Sports.
In their last game played, New Jersey defeated the Ducks 6-2 in Anaheim last night.
Here’s how the Devils lined up for that one:
#NJDevils expected lineup:
Foote makes his season debut.
Boqvist, McLeod, Mercer line remains intact.Palat – Hischier – Bratt
Haula – Hughes – Tatar
Foote – Sharangovich – Wood
Boqvist – McLeod – MercerSiegenthaler – Hamilton
Graves – Severson
Okhotiuk – SmithVanecek
— Catherine Bogart (@CatherineBogart) January 14, 2023
RELATED CONTENT:
NHL RADIO REPLAY: Mayor’s Minutes – Hoven on Byfield, Fiala, and Kings Goaltending Plan
Lineup image created by ALo Images
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com