After spending nearly a week Down Under to hype up NHL hockey, the Kings and Coyotes are finally ready to settle in and play the first of two exhibition games.
Friday night (9pm Pacific Time), the respective clubs will square off for the first of two contests set to be played at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
In advance of the first official preseason action for the 2023-24 NHL season, the Kings held an open practice for local fans to get a taste of what’s to come.
Lively LAK open practice at RLA #NHLGlobalSeries pic.twitter.com/tBcyIdGH0p
— Dennis Bernstein (@DennisTFP) September 22, 2023
Kings. pic.twitter.com/DfJPWCUKYm
— Nick Cotsonika (@cotsonika) September 22, 2023
Unfortunately, the ice didn’t hold up very well and the Coyotes had to move their planned practice to another local rink (the O’Brien Icehouse).
Coyotes practice was just canceled as a result. https://t.co/Dl1LxgPMjI
— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) September 22, 2023
Earlier in the week, players from both teams had several opportunities to take in some of the local flavor.
https://twitter.com/NHLPA/status/1704615201541177791
https://twitter.com/LAKings/status/1704969825385378116
https://twitter.com/ArizonaCoyotes/status/1704301022087123069
Now, here’s some actual hockey-related content to get you all dialed in for the game…
ALL NEW EPISODE
Kings Of The Podcast: Ep. 162 – Training Camps Begin, Early Noteshttps://t.co/VPKpd2pkv3 pic.twitter.com/yGruPmdj0t
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) September 16, 2023
Barring any last minute changes at a pre-game skate, the projected lineup below is how we’re expecting LA coach Todd McLellan to set things up for Game 1.
LA Kings PROJECTED Lineup vs. Arizona Coyotes
Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Dubois – Kaliyev
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Grundstrom – Lizotte – Lewis
Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Björnfot – Spence
Talbot
Copley
Likely scratches: Anderson-Dolan, Doty, Englund, Fagemo, Turcotte
NOTE: We’re not expecting guys like Trevor Lewis to play in both games, thus allowing Alex Turcotte and Sammy Fagemo to draw in for one of the contests. On defense, Andreas Englund is expected to get a look on the third pairing for either Game 1 or Game 2.
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 9:00 pm PT and will be televised by the NHL Network and ESPN+.
Across the Ice
The Coyotes could be going with a configuration that looks somewhat similar to this:
Keller – Hayton – Schmaltz
Kerfoot – Cooley – Zucker
Maccelli – Bjugstad – Guenther
Boyd – McBain – Crouse
Moser – Dumba
Välimäki – Durzi
Stecher – Brown
Ingram
Vejmelka
On This Day in Kings History
On September 22, 2009, the @LAKings signed left wing Kyle Clifford to a three-year, entry-level contract. Clifford, who was drafted 35th overall in 2009, recorded 14 points, 138 hits, and 141 penalty minutes in 76 games in his rookie season.#LAKings #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/oR5LqwY04k
— The Kingstorian (@Kingstorian) September 22, 2023
On September 22, 1992, the @LAKings announced that Wayne Gretzky would be out indefinitely due to a herniated thoracic disc. Luc Robitaille was later named interim captain and helped lead the #LAKings to a record of 20-14-5 during Gretzky's 39 game absence.#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/Ix5Y9VQQSJ
— The Kingstorian (@Kingstorian) September 22, 2023
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Kings Add Free Agent Defenseman Andreas Englund for Two Years
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Any idea if the ESPN+ feed of the game tonight will be blacked out in the LA area?
From the ESPN site:
Opening the NHL preseason – and available to all ESPN+ subscribers without blackouts – the Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings are set to face off in the 2023 NHL Global Series – Melbourne at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 24. Both games will start at 12:05 a.m. ET and mark the first-ever NHL games played in the Southern Hemisphere.
Thank you. Looking forward to it.