Coming off a loss on Tuesday night to open their five-game road trip, the LA Kings look to regroup in New Jersey on Thursday night. It’s an opportunity to reset their focus after missing out on two points a few nights ago. Despite not claiming victory in that one, coach Todd McLellan said he didn’t feel there were “a lot of passengers” in Tuesday night’s defeat, but rather the Kings “had everybody engaged in the game.” On to the next one was the mantra, and the next one comes in a city that stirs up memories of 2012.
It was against the Devils when the Kings won their first Stanley Cup. Even though that was more than a decade ago now, it will likely always come up when these two clubs meet up. Anze Kopitar scored in Game 1 of that series and, as luck would have it, arrives in town tonight having scored the Kings most recent goal — coming late in period three vs. Minnesota.
While the Kings certainly could have used more offense in that game, it was the team’s first regulation loss when allowing three goals or fewer this season. They had gone 31 games this season (27-0-4) with collecting at least one point when playing in those tighter defensive contests.
Further, the sky isn’t falling. Through 58 games last season — a year they ended up with 99 points — the Kings were 32-19-7. They’re sitting at the exact same spot this year with 24 games remaining.
Indications from morning skate suggest Toby Bjornfot will replace Alex Edler on the Kings blueline. Resting the latter in one of the two games of a back-to-back set has been fairly common practice.
With Phoenix Copley expected to start in goal, that also most likely means Jonathan Quick will get the nod in Long Island tomorrow.
LA Kings Projected Lineup vs. New Jersey Devils
Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Fiala – Lizotte – Iafallo
Kaliyev – Kupari – Vilardi
Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Bjornfot – Walker
Copley
Quick
Scratches: Anderson-Dolan, Edler, Lemieux
Injured Reserve: Grundstrom (Jan. 19)
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 4:00 pm PST and will be televised by Bally Sports.
Across the Ice
In their last game played, New Jersey was downed by Montreal 5-2 on Tuesday.
Here’s how they lined up earlier today:
Forward lines:
Tatar Hischier Mercer⁰Sharangovich Hughes Bratt⁰Palat Haula Boqvist⁰Wood McLeod Zetterlund— Mike Morreale (@mikemorrealeNHL) February 23, 2023
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Lineup image created by ALo Images
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Byfield’s presence has dropped a tick the last few games. I feel his consistency will come with time and maturity. He saw what happened when he doesn’t bring his A game. Vilardi replaced him for good reason as GV is a much better passer and natural scorer.
Speaking of GV… I’d love to see the fourth line get on the scoreboard. It’s a big line and they need to use their size to keep puck possession in the offensive zone.
#GKG