The LA Kings and Red Wings will get underway from Little Caesar’s Arena at 4:00 pm PT. Here’s a look at how the two teams stack up and a focus on the Kings’ power play versus the Detroit penalty kill, which has yet to yield a goal through two games.
Powerplay
LAK: 21.4%
DET: 0.0%
Penalty Kill
LAK: 70.6%
DET: 100.0%
Faceoff
LAK: 53.3%
DET: 43.3%
GF/GP
LAK: 3.67
DET: 4.00
GA/GP
LAK: 4.67
DET: 1.00
Projected Lineups
LA Kings
Here’s how the Kings lined up last time out against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
With Cal Petersen struggling in his first game, I’m curious to see if Todd McLellan goes back to Jonathan Quick in Game 2 of this road trip.
Detroit Red Wings
Here’s a look at how Detroit lined up on Saturday in New Jersey:
LA Kings PP vs. Red Wings PK
After failing to convert on three powerplay opportunities in their opener, Todd McLellan’s squad went 1-for-5 against Seattle and 2-for-6 against Minnesota on Saturday night.
“We saw that for sure, the PP is supposed to score goals, and obviously, it doesn’t always work, but tonight we moved the puck quickly, and everything was fast,” Fiala said of the team’s powerplay against the Wild. “We shot it, we retrieved it, we passed it, everything was quick, and I think that’s why we were successful.”
With Jim Hiller running the powerplay in Los Angeles now, the Kings have looked quicker on their passes and thrown the puck toward the front of the net more often compared to last year, where shots came primarily from the perimeter.
Detroit has killed off all six penalties through their first two games this year. While it’s a small sample size, the Kings could have their work cut out for them, especially with the Red Wings’ goaltending tandem.
Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic have split the first two, and both played extremely well. Husso logged a shutout, stopping all 29 shots faced, while the latter allowed two goals on 39 shots against the Devils.
The Kings chased Wild netminder Marc-Andre Fleury after tallying four goals in the first period on Saturday, including a powerplay goal from Drew Doughty.
“We saw more from our power play tonight than we did in the first two games,” Adrian Kempe added. “We had a lot of changes, we’ve got new people in new places, we’ve got some new thoughts and ideas of how it wants to work. It’s going to be a work in progress, but you can see little snippets of things that are starting to happen, and that’s a positive sign.”
The Kings will look to continue taking positive strides on the man advantage while tightening up their defensive structure. Los Angeles is tied for last with a league-leading 14 goals allowed through the first three games.
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