The Los Angeles Kings finish their road trip with the second game of a back-to-back taking on the Washington Capitals.
LA has had a great trip with a 3-1-2 record, 9-7-4 away from Crypto.com Arena, this season.
Washington comes into this matchup having won five of their last seven games, outscoring the opposition 19-13. During that span, former Kings Forward Pierre-Luc Dubois (PLD) recorded seven points (2G, 5A) and a +6 rating.
Although cleared for full contact practices, Capitals Captain Alex Ovechkin will be kept out of game action until at least December 28th, 2024.
HILLERING
Kings Head Coach Jim Hiller has made some lineup decisions that have earned him his own word in our lexicon.
Hillering (verb): Avoiding playing certain players against their old teams or other interpersonal matchups.
On November 20th, 2024, Goaltender Erik Portillo had a chance to start against the Buffalo Sabres, the team who originally selected him 67th overall. He didn’t see his first (and only) NHL game for another nine days.
Yesterday, Goaltender Darcy Kuemper started against the Nashville Predators and in this the second game of a back-to-back, it’s expected David Rittich will play against Washington. Kuemper spent the past two seasons with the Capitals and Rittich had a brief seventeen-game stint with the Predators in 2021-22.
There are two schools of thought here:
1) If you start a netminder against his old team, his old team knows his tendencies and it could be a bad outing.
2) If you start a netminder against his old team, he knows their tendencies and it could be a good outing.
As for the, “interpersonal matchups,” portion of the verb, Defenseman Caleb Jones was a healthy scratch on November 2nd, 2024 when the Kings hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. Had he suited up, it would have been just the second time in his NHL career facing his brother Seth.
LOGAN’S RUN
This past offseason, the Capitals made some aggressive acquisitions, bringing in seven players who have paid dividends. Kings fans are aware of the PLD for Kuemper swap, as well as Matt Roy signing with Washington in free agency.
Another name Kings fans are aware of is Defenseman Jakob Chychrun who has long been rumored to be on General Manager Rob Blake’s radar. Side note: Chychrun is a free agent at the end of this season. Just saying.
But, arguably the best addition for Washington has been Goaltender Logan Thompson who was traded from the Vegas Golden Knights on day two of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
After leading the Golden Knights to their first Stanley Cup victory in 2023, Goaltender Adin Hill signed a two-year extension with Vegas, solidifying his position as the club’s number one option in net. Thompson felt as though the job should be earned not given, an opinion that created tension between himself and the front office, resulting in the trade to Washington.
This season, Thompson has put together an outstanding 12-2-2 campaign. His 9.0 goals saved above expected is tied for ninth-best in the league (with Linus Ullmark) in a minimum of ten games played.
QUINTON TRI-FIELD
In his last four games played, Kings Forward Quinton Byfield has registered three goals, one assist, and a +4 rating.
He’s currently on a two-game goal streak, the second time he’s done so, this season.
In his NHL career, Byfield has yet to put together a three-game goal scoring streak, capping off at the two-game mark three times (including the two aforementioned).
Puck drop is slated for 2:05 PM PST. You can watch the game on television via FanDuel Sports Network or listen live with the ESPN LA app.
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