The Royal Week Ahead: Kings host VAN, PIT and TB
By Matt Pelkey
The Royal Week Ahead is a weekly feature on RinkRoyalty.com that looks into the Los Angeles Kings’ games for the upcoming week.
This week, from November 30-December 6, the Kings play 3 games. The team will play their final three games of a four-game homestand. After beating the Chicago Blackhawks in thrilling fashion on Saturday, the Kings will host Vancouver, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay this week.
Tuesday, December 1 vs. Vancouver Canucks – 7:30 p.m. (PT)/ 10:30 p.m. (ET)
The Kings will kick off the week with a battle against the Vancouver Canucks, a team who always seems to give L.A. a good game. It will be the 2nd of 5 meetings between the teams this year after the Canucks blanked the Kings at Staples Center back on October 13. In that game, Vancouver defenseman Alex Edler scored a goal and an assist as L.A. only threw 15 shots on Ryan Miller, who stopped them all. The loss was the Kings’ last before they embarked on a 7-game win streak.
The Canucks, who are 2-7 in their previous 9 games, head to L.A. having won just 4 out of 14 games in the month of November. Their most recent loss came on Monday night in Anaheim where they dropped a 4-0 decision to the Ducks.
Oct 13, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings left wing Kyle Clifford (13) and Vancouver Canucks right wing Derek Dorsett (15) exchange punches in the second period of the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
As usual, the Kings will have to keep special attention on the Sedin brothers. Daniel (27 points) and Henrik (23 points) sit 4th and 16th in scoring in the NHL, respectively. For L.A., keep an eye on Milan Lucic. The Vancouver native has three points in his last three games and unsurprisingly always gets an added boost when playing his hometown team. Lucic has been playing his best hockey of the season lately and his 19:05 minutes of ice time on Saturday against Chicago reflects just that.
Last season the Kings won the season series, going 3-1-1 against their Pacific Division foes.
Saturday, December 5 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins – 1:00 p.m. (PT)/ 4:00 p.m. (ET)
After three days of rest the Kings will suit up for the first of back-to-back games starting with the Penguins on Saturday. L.A. is set to play Pittsburgh twice over their next four games.
The Kings struggled mightily against the Penguins in 2014-15, going 0-1-1 without scoring a single goal. L.A. is 2-4-4 in their last 10 games versus Pittsburgh dating back to the 2006-07 season. The Penguins are the only team the Kings have failed to score a single goal against over an entire season since they lost 1-0 to Winnipeg when the Jets played in the Eastern Conference.
Leading the charge offensively for the black and gold Penguins is Evgeni Malkin with 22 points. Not far behind are forwards Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel, each with 15 points, and defender Kris Letang, with 14.
Mar 7, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) defends the goal against Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar (11) in the first period at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Like the Kings, Pittsburgh will have three days of rest before their game at Staples Center on Saturday. The Penguins, having lost 3 of their last 4 games entering the week, will play in San Jose on Tuesday to tangle with the Sharks.
According to the Penguins’ official website, in an attempt to mix things up, Pittsburgh will reunite Crosby with Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis on a line. The trio played three-plus seasons together and Crosby won a scoring title and finished top-5 in scoring in the other two.
For L.A., watch for star center Anze Kopitar to lead the charge against a Penguins team the Kings have struggled with for years. Entering the week, Kopitar has heated up offensively by tallying six points (2+4=6) in his previous 5 games.
Sunday, December 6 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning – 7:00 p.m. (PT)/ 10:00 p.m. (ET)
Los Angeles will battle Tampa Bay for the second time in their previous 5 games. The Lightning won the first meeting of the season with a 2-1 shootout win over the Kings on November 25. In the game, Tyler Johnson and Milan Lucic each scored third period goals to send the game to overtime before a shootout was needed, where Jonathan Marchessault tallied the winner for Tampa. Both Lightning goalie Ben Bishop and L.A.’s Jonathan Quick were stellar in the game, turning away 37 and 29 shots respectively. You can read the game recap here.
Tampa Bay will roll into Staples Center after having battled the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks on their three-game California road trip. The game will be the last in the Kings’ four-game homestand before they embark on a six-game Eastern swing, starting December 8 in Columbus.
The Kings are 2-0-1 in their last three games against Tampa Bay and have outscored them 8-5 over that span.
vs Western Conference
Record: 9-5
Goals for: 35
Goals against: 33
Power play: 7-for-45
vs Eastern Conference
Record: 5-3
Goals for: 23
Goals against: 17
Power play: 6-for-19