After seeing each other three times during preseason, the Kings and Ducks have only squared off once this far during the regular season. Back on Dec. 20, Anaheim traveled to LA and suffered a 4-1 defeat; with Drew Doughty, Alex Iafallo, Viktor Arvidsson, and Kevin Fiala supplying the offense.
For Round 2 of the Freeway Faceoff, coach Todd McLellan and his Kings squad travel to the Honda Center on Friday night, where they’ll take on a Ducks team that is 5-4-1 over their most recent 10 games, yet only 9-15-1 on home ice.
Despite the Kings calling up Toby Bjornfot earlier today from AHL Ontario, he’ll most likely serve as the extra defenseman — with maybe a possibility of playing tomorrow in LA’s back-to-back weekend set.
At forward, things aren’t nearly as settled, with Gabe Vilardi on the brink of returning to the lineup, which would be his first game action since being sidelined following a Jan. 14 game against New Jersey. Vilardi had 6 points in four games prior to his injury. Should he draw in tonight, he would most likely be on the fourth line.
LA Kings Projected Lineup vs. Anaheim Ducks
Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Fiala – Lizotte – Iafallo
Kaliyev – Kupari – Vilardi
Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Walker
Copley
Quick
Likely Scratches: Anderson-Dolan, Bjornfot, Lemieux
Injured Reserve: Grundstrom (Jan. 19)
Additional Game Info
Puck drop is set for 6:00 pm PST and will be televised by ESPN.
While the Kings will be wearing their 90s era alternate uniforms and silver helmets, the Ducks will wear their normal home sweaters (although they will wear a special jersey during warm-ups).
In their last game played, the Ducks were thumped 7-3 on by the Sabres on Wednesday.
Here’s how they lined up for that one:
Here's who we fly with tonight. #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/VtprXvJDDy
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) February 16, 2023
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