Kings welcome Canucks in Pacific Division showdown
On the heels of two rousing road victories in two nights, the Kings will welcome the Vancouver Canucks for a clash of two of the Pacific Division’s top teams.
The Kings shut out the heretofore disappointing Nashville Predators on Monday and then put up five unanswered goals to trounce the Minnesota Wild, who had collected 18 of 22 points heading into the match, on Tuesday. Those triumphs put the Kings in first place, albeit with a worse points percentage than Vancouver and Vegas.
Darcy Kuemper rebounded from a subpar game against Chicago to blank Nashville, and David Rittich allowed the game’s first goal and then nothing further in Minnesota.
“This is a tough trip. I mean, I’m really proud of the team for this, and I think the important part is we got great goaltending both nights,” Coach Jim Hiller told reporters.
The Kings’ penalty kill also left its imprint on the journey, going for 7 for 7 across two nights.
Winger Kevin Fiala, who arrived to the Kings from Minnesota, kept his points streak rolling with a goal in each game on the trip. He has three goals and four assists across his five-game surge, tying Alex Laferriere (four goals, two assists) for the longest active streak on the team. Anže Kopitar has a four-gamer going, while Trevor Moore and Phillip Danault have awakened after slow starts to each produce three-game spurts (four points apiece).
Quinton Byfield finally scored his first goal of the season and, in his 988th career game, Trevor Lewis netted the 100th and 101st goal of his career Tuesday.
Byfield, who signed a five-year contract extension over the summer, felt he was missing quality chances in games that he had been burying in practice and expressed relief that he finally scored. He was a bit more ebullient about the milestone goal for Lewis.
“[In Nashville], he could have got his 100th into the empty net and instead decided to pass it,” Byfield told reporters. “It’s just the type of guy [Lewis] is, so to see him get his 100th goal and then 101 was special. He’s a great guy in the locker room.”
Perhaps the only downside of the two-game jaunt was the loss of Alex Turcotte, who absorbed a crunching hit from Jeremy Lauzon into the boards Monday. He neither returned to that game nor played in Minnesota. The Kings were off Wednesday and unable to provide a definitive update by text. In addition to losing a solid early contributor, there’s particular concern for Turcotte given his harrowing history of head injuries.
Vancouver, against which the Kings earned seven of a possible eight points last year despite the Canucks capturing the division, has dealt with its own challenging injury situation since last postseason. A wonky muscle behind the knee of goalie Thatcher Demko threw their playoff plans into flux and Demko, a former Junior King, hasn’t played this season.
He faced shots at the morning skate before a 5-1 thumping of the Ducks on Tuesday that moved Vancouver to 2-0-0 on its three-game California swing, but Demko will not yet make his return. The Canucks will likely tab Kevin Lankinen as their starter after his win at Honda Center, which added to his outstanding performance on the road swing and overall this season.
In that same victory, defenseman Quinn Hughes earned assists Nos. 298, 299 and 300. That’s 66 more than the next most productive player in the 2018 draft class. While his 345 points trail Brady Tkachuk’s 365 for the overall scoring lead from that crop, Hughes has amassed his total in 76 fewer games.
VANCOUVER AT KINGS
When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: FDSNW