The Kings are on the final game of their two-game road trip after losing to the Calgary Flames on Monday night, 3-1. They will be in Colorado to face the Avalance in what should be a spirited bout.
The Kings have not fared well against the Avalanche in their last ten matches, going 3-7-0. Interestingly enough, that mirror’s LA’s record in their last 10 visits to Denver.
The record indicates that the 2022 Stanley Cup Champions still boast some of the best talent in the game, including Mikko Rantanen, Nathan Mackinnon, and Cale Makar. All three players have punished the Kings over their careers:
Rantanen: 28gp 12g 25a 37p +9
Mackinnon: 31gp 12g 19a 31p -6
Makar: 15gp 6g 13a 19p +12
Ouch. These three are difficult to contain for any team and are considered to be elite in their positions league-wide.
It is possible to slow them down, and LA has cultivated a nice trend early this season that may benefit towards playing this team. The Kings have had some early success against the Central Division this year, earning points in their four meetings (3-0-1).
The Kings also boast the top scorer in the league against the Avalanche among active players. Per LA Kings PR, Anze Kopitar’s 61 points (18g 43a) in 64 appearances are the most against the Colorado Avalanche of any active skater in the league.
The Kings’ captain is the franchise leader in both assists and points against the organization and ranks second in team history in goals scored against the Nordiques/Avalanche franchise, behind only Luc Robitaille (32).
The Kings lines per LA Kings Insider Zach Dooley during their practice in Denver yesterday:
Moore – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Byfield – Laferriere
Fiala – Danault – Thomas
Lee – Helenius – Lewis
Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmundson – Clarke
Jones – Spence
Kuemper
Rittich
Here is how the Avalanche are expected to line up:
Lehkonen-MacKinnon-Rantanen
Kiviranta-Mittelstadt-O’Connor
Ivan-Kelly-Kovalenko
Prishchepov-Wagner-Tynan
Girard-Makar
Toews-Manson
De Haan-Malinski
Annunen
Georgiev
Who to look out for
On Saturday against the Blue Jackets, Trevor Moore potted the 11th shorthanded goal of his career to surpass Ziggy Palffy for sole possession of the seventh-most in team history. Moore also skates into Denver on a career-long six-game point streak (2-5=7) after scoring his third goal on Monday night in Calgary.
Moore returns to Colorado for the ninth time in his professional career after spending three seasons at the University of Denver.
Moore’s productivity has been a mainstay since his move into the top six three seasons ago. He forms a formidable duo with Phillip Danault but will get a longer look being on the top line. Due to his recent play, all signs point to what could be a much-needed breakout.
Kings at Avalanche 7 pm PST, coming soon.
