Coming off the best homestand in franchise history, where the Kings went 5-0-2 (and have gone 12 straight games with at least one point), the team will now try to take some of that success to Western Canada. LA enters play on Tuesday just two points out of first place in the Pacific Division, while Calgary is in full desperation mode sitting four points out of the second wild-card spot in the Conference.
It’s no secret that the Kings will need to solidify a starting goaltender come playoff time. While the rotation between Pheonix Copley and Joonas Korpisalo has been nothing short of excellent since the trade deadline, LA will need a number one guy to turn to once game 83 comes around. Following Sunday’s home victory over the St. Louis Blues, coach Todd McLellan was non-committal when asked about a timeframe for abandoning the rotation and suggested he hadn’t given much thought to anything beyond the next game. As such, look for Joonas Korpisalo to get the nod tonight in Calgary. For those interested, on the most recent Kings Of The Podcast episode, they shared some opinions on when to likely expect one goalie to start getting more playing time as McLellan begins to prepare his club for the first round coming up in a couple of weeks (listen here).
Blake Lizotte’s suspension is over, so look for him to slot back in at 3C. McLellan was very complimentary of the scrappy center, noting that some of the sloppiness in LA’s game on Sunday could likely be attributed to Lizotte being out of the lineup. Where things get really interesting heading into tonight is what will happen on the fourth line. One would assume Zack MacEwen is going in and things are already tight because what does McLellan do with Moore now that Lizotte is back? Things are crowded in the bottom-6, to say the least.
LAK update: No Gabe Vilardi at AM skate, did not make start the trip – upper-body injury day-to-day per Toddfather.
Alex Iafallo replaced him on PP1.
— Dennis Bernstein (@DennisTFP) March 28, 2023
Could this be the last time LA will see head coach Darryl Sutter behind the Calgary bench? The Flames finished with 111 points last season and a Pacific Division title. Just one year later, they are not in control of their own playoff destiny with eight games remaining. If they don’t make the postseason this year, rumors are swirling that Sutter’s time in Calgary may be up.
Finally, if you missed the news yesterday:
Kings Sign Top Offensive Prospect to ELC; Here’s The Upcoming Plans for Him
LA Kings Projected Lineup vs. Calgary Flames
Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Danault – Arvidsson
Iafallo – Lizotte – Moore
Grundstrom – Kupari – MacEwen
Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Edler – Durzi
Korpisalo
Copley
Scratches: Anderson-Dolan, Kaliyev, Vilardi, Walker
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 6:00 pm PST and will be televised by Bally Sports.
Across the Ice
In their last game played, the Flames downed the Sharks in San Jose on Saturday night.
Here’s how Calgary is expected to lineup tonight:
#Flames tonight vs. Los Angeles:
Mangiapane-Lindholm-Toffoli
Huberdeau-Backlund-Coleman
Ritchie-Kadri-Dube
Lucic-Lewis-Duehr
Hanifin-Andersson
Zadorov-Weegar
Gilbert-StecherMarkstrom
— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) March 28, 2023
On This Day in Kings History
On March 28, 2019, Dustin Brown passed Dave Taylor as the @LAKings' all-time leader in games played when he appeared in his 1,112th NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks. Brown ended his career with 1,296 games played in 18 seasons with the #LAKings.#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/IEzHh2bAEV
— The Kingstorian (@Kingstorian) March 28, 2023
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