TONIGHT'S MATCHUP: After picking up two wins on the road, the Kings are back in action tonight as they host the Vancouver Canucks in a Pacific Division clash.

HEAD TO HEAD: The Kings had a 3-0-1 record against Vancouver a season ago and picked up seven of a possible eight points in four meetings against the Canucks.

The Kings were led by forwards Kevin Fiala (3-3-6) and Anze Kopitar (2-4-6), who each collected six points in last year's series. Forward Trevor Moore scored three goals in four games played, with a total of five Kings skaters averaging a pace of at least one point per game.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings are back home for a quick two-game set at Crypto.com Arena.

After the goaltenders split the away games, Darcy Kuemper will return to the net tonight against the Canucks. In Monday's win over Nashville, Kuemper posted his first shutout with the Kings. Kuemper has played Vancouver 22 times during his NHL career, more than any other opponent, and has solid stats with a 13-6-2 record, a .923 save percentage and a 2.29 goals-against average.

This is how the Kings lined up for this morning's skating session –

Fiala – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore-Danault-Thomas
Foegele-Byfield-Laferriere
Lee-Lewis-Jeannot

Anderson-Spence
Gavrikov-Burroughs
Edmundson-Clarke
Englund-Jones

Kümper / Rittich

As for today's game, striker Alex Turcotte is not expected to play as he misses his second game in a row due to injury. Turcotte left Monday's win against Nashville early and did not return. According to head coach Jim Hiller, he is currently out “day-to-day” with an upper body injury. It is important to note that his injury is NOT related to his head, which is particularly important with Turcotte given his injury history.

There is no Alex Turcotte on the ice this morning. He won't play tonight and is dealing with an upper-body injury, according to Jim Hiller.

The injury is not related to his head, which is a very important clarification.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 7, 2024

Without Turcotte, the Kings have twelve forwards and eight defensemen at their disposal. With the Ontario Reign close, they don't need to make a roster move today and could do so before traveling to Calgary on Sunday if Turcotte is unable to make the trip.

In Turcotte's absence, the Kings tried out a few players in addition to the Kopitar/Kempe pairing, with Kevin Fiala playing there for most of Tuesday's game. It looks like this will continue to be the case today, at least initially. More on this below.

If the Kings decide to move one of their defensemen, Caleb Jones and Andreas Englund could check in on the blueline.

VANCOUVER VITALS: The Canucks conclude a three-game road trip through California here tonight by visiting the Kings after wins over San Jose and Anaheim.

According to Harman Dayal of The Athletic, the Canucks lined up as follows during yesterday's practice at Crypto.com Arena:

#Canucks LA practice lines

DeBrusk-Miller-Boeser
Suter-Pettersson-Garland
Heinen-Blueger-Sherwood
Höglander-Räty-Sprong

Hughes Hronek
Soucy Myers
Brännström-Desharnais

Juulsen the extra. Joshua and Forbort not on the ice pic.twitter.com/mtfvJfyzYR

— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) November 6, 2024

Vancouver was without forward Dakota Joshua and defenseman Derek Forbort for yesterday's skate, and neither player is expected to play tonight. Goalkeeper Thatcher Demko continues to recover from her injury and skated alone yesterday, but will not play tonight.

In Demko's absence, goaltender Kevin Lankinen has taken over the starting job early in the season and has performed solidly (.923 SV%, 2.09 GAA). He has played against the Kings twice during his professional career, compiling a 1-0-0 record, a .964 save percentage and a 0.82 goals-against average, with one appearance coming as a relief.

Plot of the Day – What’s old is new again
Early in the second period Tuesday at Minnesota, the LA Kings introduced a line they once believed could be the team's first line for a long time.

When the Kings acquired Kevin Fiala, he was initially used as the team's hopefully LW1, on a line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. We return to the 2022-23 season, when Fiala was the team's shining offseason acquisition, joining a Kings team in need of game-changing forwards. Fiala is that player and the move came a season after Kopitar and Kempe had become a trusted pair and a left wing complement was needed.

There were certainly ups and downs in that first season, with Fiala starting the season there and switching back a few times. However, it never completely gelled. At least not for longer distances. All three players were productive offensively, but the entire game never went right. Ultimately, everyone seemed to contribute more when apart.

Although they ended up playing shifts or parts of games, we never really saw a lasting reunion of this team as they played less than 50 total minutes at 5v5 last season. Until Tuesday, that is, when the Kings had a first half in which they only had two shots on goal. Hiller then thought it appropriate to make a change.

“We knew we wouldn’t be set in stone with the outcome,” Hiller said of the changes. “(Akil Thomas) had good legs early on and that line was balanced against Kaprizov, so we wanted to make sure we checked that line. Then Kevin got the chance to play a little more offensively with Kopi and Juice.”

They played offense.

In the 7:10 match in the 5-on-5 system, there were nine shot attempts on the final sheet, compared to three attempts against. Five shots on goal with only one goal against and five chances to score with only one goal against. Three talented offensive players who should contribute offensively to the game together. With Koptiar and Kempe on the ice, Fiala ultimately scored the game-winning goal, albeit on the power play.

Seven minutes of change isn't exactly a revelation. But was there anything that perhaps worked a little differently than a few seasons before?

“I think overall we got along well,” Fiala said. “We hadn't played together for a long time. In the beginning when I came here we had good opportunities and I think just getting to know each other, building chemistry, you know what (everyone does). I think those two years definitely helped to figure out what type of hockey player they are and I think that's why we did so well in the last game. We connected well, we moved well, we shared the puck and we had great opportunities to score goals and we were also very good defensively. It's a 200-foot game and I think we did that better in the last game than we have in the past. We look forward to continuing.”

It might make sense to the players why they mostly played separately. Fiala is a player who thinks about the game differently and that makes him effective. Kopitar and Kempe have found this common way of thinking over the course of their time together. It seemed like the testing process had run its course in 2022-23 when Quinton Byfield finally added depth along with Kopitar/Kempe and Fiala by moving his own line further down the lineup.

Still, these are your three highest-scoring forwards from last season, and with Turcotte out a gap has opened up on that line. Akil Thomas has shown that he may deserve a chance to continue playing with Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore, a formation that has proven effective in short stints together. Fiala offers different things than Turcotte, but the ceiling of the line is very high. It's up to the three boys who play there to achieve this.

“We moved the puck well, I think we had some really good chances to score,” Kempe added. “Kevin is really creative. Once he has the puck, he just tries to find open spaces and get open. It's been a while, but we run him on the power play all the time, so we know how he plays… we played a solid 40.”

It's time to turn a solid 40 into a solid 60, and hopefully beyond.

3 to watch out for –
– In this regard, the three of them haven't really played much in the 5v5 system, but they have been together on the power play for almost two years.

It's not exactly the same, but it's not nothing either.

“I think the one thing is they spend a lot of time on the power play and I know it's not 5-on-5, but when you communicate you start to understand what each individual does well,” Hiller added. “I think the power play time helped them more than anything.”

Kempe, as he mentioned above, and Fiala both agreed.

It's not quite the same, but the power play time may have allowed them to develop some tendencies together, so that helped things.

“The power play is a little different, one more man than the other (team), but the chemistry is building,” Fiala said. “I've been here for two and a half years now, so I know what they do and they know what I do. I think it worked well against Minnesota and I’m looking forward to this game tonight.”

With three experienced players and a strong opponent tonight, we can hope it works out, whatever the reason.

– Additionally, a second injury update from today –

Little update here – Arthur Kaliyev is back on the ice, skating alone in a non-contact jersey.

I think his return is still a bit in the future, but an encouraging sign. https://t.co/GmRSEjyGmA

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 7, 2024

“He's on his own, he's making slow progress, he's still a ways off, but good to see he can put his skates on and get this process started,” Hiller said.

Good signs regarding Kaliyev. He's still a little off. It's not like he'll be returning to the lineup on Saturday. I wouldn't be surprised if he went to Ontario on a conditional loan to give him a balanced start considering he hasn't even played a friendly yet, but that's the future. Still, it is a positive sign for number 34 and I will report on his progress as he takes the next step, which I assume would be a return to the full group.

– Lastly, Insiders, tonight’s game against Vancouver marks the start of the team’s Spanish-language broadcast schedule.

If you comment here in English but would prefer to listen to the game in Spanish, I have the link for you – https://www.tuligaradio.com/

The team will have a total of 11 games broadcast in Spanish over the course of the season, shown in full below –

Kings and Canadians! Tonight the puck drops at 7:30 p.m. as the Kings return to divisional play on home soil tonight!