The Los Angeles Kings wanted to put behind them an ugly 8-7 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators from Monday on Wednesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, that was not what happened as the Kings came out flat and would fall behind 3-0 after one period.
The second period was a little better as the Kings seemed to control the puck for the first 10 minutes of the period. However, a break down in the defensive zone resulted in David Rittich giving up his fourth goal of the night.
Rittich was in the net for the first time this season with Darcy Kuemper dealing with an injury and 'day-to-day'. He wouldn't finish the night though as Rittich would be pulled and replaced with Pheonix Copley, who was called up from the Ontario Reign as the emergency goalie.
Copley hasn't played much recently after suffering a torn ACL in December of 2023. After rehabbing, he played in his first game just this past week for the Reign and allowed three goals on 22 shots.
Who should start in net for the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow night against the Canadiens?
The Kings are not going to have much time to regroup as they will be back on the ice tomorrow night against the Montreal Canadiens. Unless they are able to make an incredible comeback against the Maple Leafs, the Kings will be entering this game with a record of 1-1-2 in a game they really need to win to change the momentum on the season.
It will be interesting to see who the Kings want to have in net for this game and my guess would be David Rittich would get the start as Copley might still be working to get completely back from the knee injury. However, neither option is ideal and the goaltender position is starting to become a real concern.