Reeling from the road, the Kings returned home for a two-step that’ll see them dance with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday and the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
The Kings have collected just three of a possible eight points so far, rallying from multi-goal deficits to force overtime in both instances where they earned points. They’ve also been shorthanded an NHL-high 22 times this season and exacerbated that issue by allowing a league-worst seven power-play goals.
“First off, we need to stay out of the box. Way too many kills are killing the vibe,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty told reporters after Monday’s shootout loss in Minnesota. “One of our strengths is rolling four lines and three ‘D’ pairs, and once you take penalties, that momentum goes away.”
Also of serious concern was the newly acquired defensive pairing of Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin. Through three games together, they had the lowest expected goals for percentages on the Kings. In fact, they brought up the rear in every major analytical category while being outscored and outshot lopsidedly in more traditional barometers.
Coach Jim Hiller opted to break up the pair and, in turn, his top duo as well, skating Dumoulin with Doughty and Ceci with Mikey Anderson. Dumoulin’s numbers improved dramatically alongside Doughty, and Ceci experienced a significant uptick as well, albeit at the expense of Anderson’s ice time and the analytical quality thereof.
“It seemed that both pairs played well. It was just the PK [allowing three goals],” Doughty said. “The pairs played well, so it’s definitely a good thing for our team that we can move guys around.”
The Kings’ clash with the Penguins had been hyped because it featured two future Hall of Fame centers from the 2005 draft – there are just five genuinely active players from that draft – in captains Anže Kopitar and Sidney Crosby. Both players are pushing 40 but have also notched four points in four games to start their respective campaigns.
Billed widely as the final meeting between the two franchise icons, the marquee is now flickering as multiple reports from practice indicated that Kopitar (lower body) would be a game-time decision Thursday for the Kings. Additionally, No. 1 goalie Darcy Kuemper was also dealing with a lower-body injury, one that prompted a series of moves, all of which indicated Kuemper would likely be unavailable Thursday (neither Kopitar nor Kuemper practiced Wednesday).
First, the Kings recalled prospect Erik Portillo from the minors. Then, they reacquired Pheonix Copley from the Tampa Bay Lightning, who’d plucked Copley from the waiver wire, in exchange for future considerations. Finally, they reassigned Portillo to the minors.
Pittsburgh at Kings
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: FDSN West
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