The Los Angeles Kings are coming off their best win of the season on Wednesday night against the Winnipeg Jets. They are going to try to keep that momentum rolling on Friday night against the Anaheim Ducks which will be a memorable night for one player.
According to Zach Dooley of the LA Kings Insider, the Los Angeles Kings are planning to have Erik Portillo get the start in net to give David Rittich the night off. Rittich has started every game since Kuemper was placed on injured reserve and gone 3-2 over those five games.
However, outside of the game against the Sharks, he has played much better than his record would indicate as he has allowed only one goal in four of the five games. The Kings almost certainly will turn back to Rittich on Saturday when they return home to play the Ottawa Senators.
Erik Portillo has high expectations for the Los Angeles Kings
For this season at least, the goalie position seems pretty much set with Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich, when the two are healthy. However, past this season is a different story and Erik Portillo should factor into that discussion.
The Kings traded with the Buffalo Sabres for Erik Portillo during the 2022-23 season but he has yet to make his NHL debut. He has had plenty of experience though with the Ontario Reign and has played in 45 games dating back to last season with a goals against average of 2.52 and a save percentage of .917.
Even though it is a road game, this is a good first matchup for Portillo as the Ducks rank near the bottom in goals this season with an average of only 2.62 goals per game. If the Kings defense can limit shots like they did against the Jets, it should give Portillo a great chance to be successful in his first career NHL start.