4 takeaways from Los Angeles Kings first game in the Rookie Faceoff
The Los Angeles Kings were on the ice for the first time this season as part of the Rookie Faceoff, a seven-team tournament, against the Vegas Golden Knights Friday night. It was the first game of the tournament and the Kings would end up with a 2-0 loss.
The Golden Knights got the scoring started in the first period with a goal on a 5-on-3 man advantage. After a scoreless second, the Golden Knights would add their second power play goal of the night in the third period.
Before their next game, which is Saturday night against the Utah Hockey Club, let's look at a few takeaways from the game Friday night.
Los Angeles Kings put their top draft picks together
The Los Angeles Kings announced their lines shortly before their first game of the tournament and it was clear they had a plan to group their top draft picks together. For the forwards, it was Liam Greentree (1st round, 2024), Franciso Pinelli (2nd round, 2021), and Koehn Ziemmer (3rd round, 2023).
It was a similar situation on defense as it was Brandt Clarke (1st round, 2021) and Jakub Dvorak (2nd round, 2023) on the top line. These pairings make a lot of sense as Clarke and Pinelli are probably the two most experienced so putting some of the younger players on their lines should certainly help them.
Erik Portillo gets off to a fast start
Erik Portillo would get the start in goal for the Kings and he would be tested very early. In the first few minutes of the game, Portillo would face a fast break, and he was able to break up and keep the puck out of the net. A few minutes later it was more of the same as the Golden Knights would get another fastbreak, this time one-on-one, but Portillo stonewalled that shot as well.
Portillo would end up allowing a goal but it was when the Golden Knights had a two-man advantage after a goalie interference and then a delay of game penalty by the Kings. He would only play two periods as Carter George would take over in the third period.
When considering the fact that the Kings have five goalies on the roster, this might be all the time Portillo gets in this tournament as the team tries to get everyone some playing time. However, in what will be a pivotal season for Portillo with the Ontario Reign, this is a great start to the upcoming season.
Kaleb Lawrence and John Parker-Jones don't shy away from a fight
One of the biggest players on the ice is Kaleb Lawrence who is 6'6" and 225 pounds and was one of the players I highlighted to watch out for. He doesn't have much offensive prowess but brings physicality and Lawrence did just that in the first period.
After Angus Booth took a big hit near the red line from Golden Knights' Samuel Mayer, Lawrence decided it was time to drop the gloves in defense of his teammate. Lawrence would end up getting an extra penalty for instigating but his teammates probably appreciated him sticking up for them in that instance.
Then in the second period, it was John Parker-Jones turn to drop the gloves and he is the only player bigger than Lawrence at 6'7" and 230 pounds. As much as the offense struggled, the one thing they didn't lack Friday night was physicality.
Offense struggles early on for the LA Kings
This isn't overly surprising but should be noted that the offense did struggle early on before finding some flow to their game late. The reason this isn't that surprising is that the Kings haven't had much practice time together prior to this game. In the first period, the offense turned the puck over a little too much, which was one reason for the early breakaways Portillo faced.
The good news is that as the game went along, the offense seemed to settle down more and had some decent chances towards the end. They would finish with 25 shots in total but 10 of them came in the third period.
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