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WHO: Los Angeles Kings (11-8-3) vs. Winnipeg Jets (18-4-0)
WHAT: 2024-25 regular season game
WHEN: Wednesday, November 27th at 7:00 pm Pacific Time
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network – AUDIO – ESPN LA App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings are back home for their final game before Thanksgiving, hosting the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets tonight.

HEAD TO HEAD: The Kings and Jets meet for the first of three meetings this season, the first of two here at Crypto.com Arena.

Forward Trevor Moore led the Kings with four points last season (2-2-4) against the Winnipeg Jets, while forwards Anze Kopitar (2-1-3), Kevin Fiala (1-2-3) and Phillip Danault ( 1-2-3) 2-3) each had three points in the last series of the season.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings are back home for their final game before Thanksgiving, while the NHL leaders Winnipeg Jets head to town for a clash on Wednesday night.

Look for goalkeeper David Rittich to start tonight against his former team. Rittich, who played in Winnipeg during the 2022-23 season, has played against the Jets seven times during his NHL career, compiling a 3-1-1 record, a .934 save percentage and a 2.13 goals-against average .

Following yesterday’s team off day, the Kings hosted a full team skate this morning in El Segundo with the following lineup:

Foegele – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore-Byfield-Jeannot
Fiala – Helenius – Laferrière
Turcotte-Danault-Lewis
Thomas

Anderson-Gavrikov
Edmundson-Clarke
Moverare – Spence
Englund-Burroughs
(Jones)

Rittich
Portillo
(Kümper)

At the top, the Kings scored in San Jose with Warren Foegele playing along with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, a line that continued this morning. In a total of 18 minutes, this line produced solid splits, including three goals for and no goals conceded. See how it potentially fits into a full game here tonight.

The advancement of Foegele also impacts the other lines, with the configuration above showing four new units, with Akil Thomas the only forward who is on the ice late to do extra work. The defensive pairings looked the same, with Andreas Englund and Kyle Burroughs coming in late for extra work after skating today. Somehow it feels like you can move lines 2, 3 and 4 around at will, with a more balanced approach. More on the forward lines below.

JETS VITALS: The Jets are currently in the middle of a six-game road trip and come to Los Angeles with a record of 2-1-0 with wins over Minnesota and Pittsburgh followed by a loss in Nashville.

Per Mitchell Clinton of WinnipegJets.com, here’s how the visitors lined up in Minnesota on Monday –

Last time out, Kings forward Gabriel Vilardi was on the front line, while forwards Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari were on the team’s fourth line. Iafallo scored two goals in Minnesota on Monday, with Kupari assisting on one. Should he play tomorrow, it would be Kupari’s first game back, while Iafallo and Vilardi would return to Los Angeles for the second time.

Plot of the Day – Wartime Peace
Could certainly use some peace and quiet here in the Kingdom.

Maybe Warren Foegele can help find it.

The revolving door of wingers in the LW1 gap continues, with Foegele now getting his chance alongside Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. The reason why this is the case seems pretty simple. Because it was productive.

Foegele was on the ice with the Kopitar/Kempe pairing during Kopitar’s goal in San Jose. There was Kempe’s breakaway goal against Detroit, assisted by Foegele. There was even a goal in the 6-3 win against Vegas in October, with Kopitar once again the goalscorer. At 11 and 9, Foegele’s style of play seems to mesh, and he’ll be on display here in more detail tonight.

“For me it’s just about using my speed to create space for them,” Foegele said. “They are two highly skilled players and for me it’s just about creating space and getting to the net.”

Foegele added that when you bring together two players who have played together so regularly, the focus is on complementing their work. Kopitar and Kempe are undoubtedly the Kings’ most productive duo offensively, and Foegele recognizes that. His game, a straight forward game with good speed and strong foresight instincts, should fit together well there.

Their longest stint of the season was Monday’s game, and in a total of 5:27 of 5-on-5 time, that line controlled nearly all shots, including a 7-0 advantage in high-danger chances. How many of them came into the game with saved shots before Kopitar’s goal? I’m not sure about that. But 9-2 scoring chances throughout the game tell at least part of the story.

“He’s a forward-thinker, gets to the net, has enough skill to make a play that complements Kopi and Juice, and he shoots really well too,” Hiller said of Foegele. “That’s one thing we know about Foegs: He can really shoot the puck. It should fit well there.”

Hiller added that Foegele and Turcotte played a similar game and that the plays were not a violation of Turcotte’s game. After five unanswered goals in the third period on Monday, I’m not sure any semblance of change can really be looked down upon.

Overall, Hiller felt like the Kings didn’t have the foresight they were capable of. That’s something they realized in San Jose, but in Hiller’s mind it goes back even further: Maybe Detroit will win a team. This was an important reason for the changes to the lines above. At best, the Kings are very strong on the forecheck. They will need that element of their game there tonight against a strong Winnipeg team.

“One thing we talked about that I think has been one of our strengths in the past has been our forecheck,” Hiller said. “We just didn’t anticipate enough this year. Firstly, we couldn’t always make the right decision

But at some point it has to stay. By my count, Foegele is the ninth winger to be used on this line for at least part of a game, and we’re not even in December yet. And it’s not like Kopitar and Kempe didn’t produce. They have been the two most consistent point producers on the team so far this season, although Kopitar has expressed a desire to find a winger who will stay in the position longer than anyone else.

At some point, the Kings need to find lines that work, or at least lines that they can give a longer streak to in order to make it work. Seems like several players could play at 11 and 9, and perhaps Foegele could be the one. If this line can be implemented, you can have the rest of the group work on it.

3 to watch out for –
– Something that obviously reared its ugly head in San Jose was the start of the third period.

The Kings drew and had a strong second period. Then 2:2 became 7:2. It’s not even about the fact that 7-2 was the final score, but about how quickly a draw seemed out of reach. Based on the coach’s challenge on the fourth goal, it seemed like that was the point and that shouldn’t happen.

The players commented, as did Jim Hiller, but weren’t sure there was a clear answer. I’m not sure it really matters until we see it. But there is an awareness of it.

Overall, the Kings have not had a comeback win with more than one goal this season. They went down 1-0 four times – in Buffalo, Montreal and Minnesota, as well as at home against Columbus – and won those games, but they never overcame more than a 1-0 deficit, and that was just the Buffalo game on Opening night, a third-period comeback powered by Koptiar’s hat trick. There’s no plan to ever go down by multiple goals, but if that happens tonight or in the future, the Kings will be looking for a more calming influence in those moments and a better response moving forward.

– The Kings welcomed Darcy Kuemper back for her morning skate today. He won’t play today and it doesn’t look like he’s an option for the weekend, but he was actually on the ice.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a goalkeeper in a red jersey before.

Kuemper has been out of action since Nov. 13 when he suffered a lower-body injury in the third period at Colorado. We haven’t seen Kuemper back on the ice at this point, but he was back with the Kings this morning, shooting alongside tonight’s scheduled starters David Rittich and Erik Portillo.

“It’s good to see him out there,” Hiller said of Kuemper. “He’s obviously making progress when you see him out there. There’s still a long way to go, but I think it’s always important, if possible, to get an injured guy out with the group just to be back with his teammates so the guys can see him. He was able to get some shots, but more importantly, he was close.”

According to this update, there’s no indication as to whether or not Kuemper might be there this weekend, but it certainly won’t be tonight, and the “far away” label makes it seem like it could be even later. If Kuemper isn’t ready by the weekend, look for Portillo to make his first NHL career start against Anaheim or Ottawa.

– Also, defenseman Caleb Jones was on the ice with the main group for the first time today.

Jones skated before practice with Arthur Kaliyev, both in non-contact red jerseys. Jones moved up to the main group today as he joined the team towards the end of practice and stayed out late, along with those expected to be axed this evening.

There are certainly positive signs for Kuemper and Jones, but it doesn’t sound like a return is imminent for either player.

Kings and Jets, 7:00 p.m., the puck drops here tonight as the Kings return home to Los Angeles for a quick hit.

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