The Los Angeles Kings had a huge third period against the Vegas Golden Knights en route to a 5-2 victory on Monday night. They needed that big third period after a lackluster second period and the Kings coaching staff were trying a number of different combinations to create a spark for this team.
One of the lines they landed on was moving Adrian Kempe to the line with Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala. These two have been arguably the most productive over the past few weeks and adding Kempe, who is one of the team's best forwards, makes a lot of sense.
The early returns were great as Adrian Kempe and Quinton Byfield each had assists on the final two goals, one by Joel Edmundson and then the final one by Kevin Fiala. After the game, Jim Hiller was asked about moving Kempe with Byfield and Fiala and he said this according to Zach Dooley:
"I thought the last two or three shifts of the second period they gave us some life, brought some energy into the building. We just discussed that, should we keep them together? We don’t usually do that and we felt like we had them going, they had some energy, so let’s give them a run. They were really good, clearly, made a big difference. They made a big difference and looked really good doing it. So, I don’t know if we’ll see it again, or if we’ll see it again next game, or whenever, I’m sure at some point, but we’ll talk about it as a coaching staff."
Los Angeles Kings should stick with this line but does raise one big question
With how Kevin Fiala and Quinton Byfield have been playing lately, it makes perfect sense to add a player like Kempe to that line. It will be one that creates problems for opposing defenses and will make it tough to stop.
The big question that is raised though is how this impacts Anze Kopitar as he has played alongside Adrian Kempe almost exclusively over the past three or four seasons. It would be interesting to see who the Kings would pair with him because the past few games they have been rotating frequently at left wing.
A line of Kopitar with Alex Laferriere and Trevor Moore, who had two goals against the Golden Knights, could be effective. This would then move Turcotte down to the line with Warren Foegele and Phillip Danault.
It will be interesting to see if the coaching staff wants to make wholesale changes across their forward lines for a group that has now scored four or more goals in five of the past six games. However, if they don't want to make those changes now it is something they should consider later in the season if the offense struggles again.