The Week That Was
The Kings put together their third straight above .500% week to start the season this past week. Going 2-1-0, the Kings opened the week wrapping up the season opening seven-game road trip before finally returning home and playing twice in front of you the fans. It was a 6-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights to start week, but the Kings returned home and took care of business with a pair of 3-2 wins to kick off their 2024-25 home record.
Game Recaps:
Notable News From The Week That Was:
- We had a three-way tie for the week's leading scorer as Warren Foegele (3-0=3), Joel Edmundson (2-1=3) and Brandt Clarke (2-1=3) each notched three points in the three games.
- Anze Kopitar currently leads the Kings in points with nine (3-6=9).
- Darcy Kuemper returned from Injured Reserve October 24th and made one start this past week, stopping 23 of 25 shots against the Utah Hockey Club to earn his second win of the season. Kuemper has yet to lose in regulation this season and is 2-0-2.
- The Kings power play went 1-for-9 in the three games and ranks 24th in the NHL (15.6%).
- The Kings penalty went 7-for-11 across the three games and also ranks 24th in the NHL (74.4%).
The Week That Is
Looking ahead, the Kings will kick off their week with a back-to-back. It’ll also be a pair of nationally televised games as the Kings will play in two rematches from last week. The week will begin when the Kings travel to San Jose for a Tuesday game on ESPN before returning home and hosting the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday on TNT. Following the midweek games, the calendar flip to November and the Kings will welcome the Chicago Blackhawks to LA for the first and only time this season. Currently, the Sharks and Blackhawks have the two worst records in the NHL, while the Golden Knights hold the Pacific Division’s best record.
The Kings of course defeated the Sharks last week after a strong first period that saw them jump out to a 3-0 lead in their home opener. Now, they'll visit “the tank” for the first of two times this season. The Sharks are currently the only winless team left in the NHL at 0-7-2 and are quickly approaching the 1943-44 New York Rangers NHL all-time record of 15 winless games to begin the season. The Sharks will still be without this summer's first overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini who remains out with a lower body injury. Celebrini has appeared in just one game this season and did record his first career goal and assist in the season and home opener back on October 10th. Another rookie that the Kings did not see last week in LA was the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft, Will Smith. Smith, a rookie has appeared in seven of the Sharks nine games but the Sharks have announced that Smith is going to be eased into the NHL season and will be rested from time to time. Smith’s appearance against the Kings on Tuesday is not a guarantee as the Sharks will be on the second half of a back-to-back.
One night later back in LA, the Kings will see the Pacific Division leading Golden Knights for the second time in eight days. This time at home, the Kings will look to continue the Golden Knights trend of struggling on the road. Through nine games this season, the Golden Knights are 6-0-0 at home and are 0-2-1 on the road. Averaging an impressive 5.66 goals for per game at home, the Golden Knights are averaging less than half of that on the road (2.66). The Golden Knights have also struggled defensively on the road, giving up 4.00 goals per game. Individually, the Golden Knights have multiple players off to great starts with seven skaters averaging at least a point-per-game. Most notably, captain Mark Stone leads the NHL in scoring with 17 points (4-13=17), while Jack Eichel is tied for second in the NHL in scoring with 15 points (3-12=15). One personnel update since the two teams faced off last week is longtime Golden Knight William Karlsson returned to the lineup on Saturday and notched two points (1-1=2) in his season debut. The Kings and Golden Knights will meet twice more later in the season in late February and early March.
Lastly, the Kings will host the 2-6-1 Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Currently sitting with a 1-3-1 road record, it’ll be game four of the Blackhawks five-game road trip when they come to town. The Blackhawks are led offensively by none other than 2023 first overall draft pick Connor Bedard. Bedard is currently the only Blackhawk averaging at least a point-per-game with nine points (3-6=9) in as many games. Closely trailing him is Tuevo Teravainen, who returns to the Blackhawks for the second time in his career. Teravainen, who lines up alongside Bedard has seven points (3-4=7). Another Blackhawk who joined the team this past offseason is Tyler Bertuzzi. Unlike Teravainen, Bertuzzi has not gotten off to the start he’s hoped for as the power forward has notched just two goals on the year and is a -5 on the season. Following Saturday’s game, the Kings will travel to Chicago twice this season.
Upcoming games and events this week:
- 10/29 @ San Jose Sharks @ 7:00 PM (ESPN)
All Kings games can be heard on the ESPN LA App.
