WHO: Los Angeles Kings (11-6-7) vs. Vancouver Canucks (10-13-2)
WHAT: 2025 Regular-Season Game 25/82
WHEN: Friday, November 29 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network, KCAL, Prime Video, Pluto TV – AUDIO – ESPN LA App & LA Kings App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings
TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings begin a four-game homestand tonight against Vancouver, tied for their longest of the season to date.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: Since he joined the Kings in 2022, Kevin Fiala has eight points (4-4-8) from eight games played against the Canucks, which has him tied for the team lead in goals in that span. Forward Alex Turcotte, who scored his first goal of the 2025-26 season yesterday in Anaheim, had three points (1-2-3) from three games played against the Canucks last season.
KINGS VITALS: The Kings held a highly optional morning skate today, coming off of yesterday’s game in Anaheim.
After goaltender Darcy Kuemper got the nod yesterday in Anaheim, actually not positive who will start tonight. With the afternoon puck drop yesterday, it leaves the door open for Kuemper to go again. If he does, he has 14 career wins against Vancouver, his most against any opponent, along with a .922 career save percentage. Should goaltender Anton Forsberg get the start tonight against the Canucks, the Kings have collected at least a point in five of Forsberg’s seven starts so far this season, though he has yet to collect a win from five career appearances against the Canucks.
Here’s how the Kings lined up yesterday against the Ducks –
Today’s @LAKings Line Rushes –
Fiala – Byfield – Kempe
Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Moore
Armia – Danault – Laferriere
Malott – Turcotte – Perry
Anderson – Edmundson
Dumoulin – Clarke
Moverare – Ceci
Kuemper
Forsberg
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 28, 2025
From the above alignment, forwards Alex Laferriere and Andrei Kuzmenko swapped spots for the bulk of yesterday’s game, with Laferriere playing mostly with Anze Kopitar and Trevor Moore, while Kuzmenko went largely with Phillip Danault and Joel Armia. Per Hiller this morning, expecting the same personnel, but perhaps a change or two in terms of who is playing with who. Look to warmups for the formal confirmation on tonight’s lineup.
CANUCKS VITALS: Vancouver enters tonight’s game with just two wins from their last nine played and the Canucks sit at 1-1-0 on their current four-game roadtrip.
Per Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650, here’s how the Canucks aligned yesterday in San Jose –
Projected #Canucks lines vs. @SanJoseSharks
Kane. EP40. DeBrusk.
Boeser. Kämpf. Garland.
O’Connor. Sasson. Sherwood.
Bains. Reichel. Karlsson.
Hughes. Hronek.
EP25. Myers.
MP29. Willander.
Tolopilo
1pm on @Sportsnet650 https://t.co/J6DNM1E8Qt pic.twitter.com/m6ZkOagUYD
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) November 28, 2025
Since he entered the NHL in the 2016-17 season, no player around the league has scored more goals versus the Kings than forward Brock Boeser, who has buried 17 in 23 games played against Los Angeles. Eight of those goals have come on the power play, which is also tied for the league lead throughout his career to date.
Storyline Of The Day – Means Something
“I don’t want to overreact to the outcome, because I thought we played a pretty good hockey game.”
There was a lot of nuance in that quote from Jim Hiller this morning, especially when you put it in context around other things he said throughout the six minutes he spoke for. Hiller pointed to the first 10 minutes of the third period yesterday in Anaheim as being very positive.
“That’s us, when we’re playing well.”
2-2, however, became 4-2……and then 4-4. Then 5-4, as the Kings lost again in the shootout.
“You build in the fact that we gave up a two-goal lead late and it stings a little more.”
I think pretty well is the phrase to describe that game. The Kings, overall, played pretty well. It was a really fun hockey game to watch and both sides probably deserved a point. Seeing a two-goal lead evaporate in the third period is frustrating, but the Kings have been on the other side of that far, far more than they’ve seen leads overturned on them.
On four occasions this season, the Kings have trailed by multiple goals in the third period and came back to earn at least one point, five points in total. Yesterday’s game against the Ducks was the first time they’ve blown a multi-goal lead in the third period and lost as a result. So, while Game 4 of last year’s playoffs still likely rings fresh in the minds of many, this has not been a trend this season. The Kings really haven’t played all that much with a lead late, they’ve been more on the comeback hunt, and when they’ve had a lead, they’ve generally preserved it pretty well.
Alex Turcotte said the Kings might’ve sat back a little bit, played it a little too safe and he might be right. With the game at 4-3, defenseman Mikey Anderson had the chance to get a clear and saw his pass intercepted, and the Kings had two battle situations on that sequence that could’ve either gotten a puck out or at least changed the course of what led to the game-tying goal. Didn’t happen and the Ducks took advantage of their opportunity, as defenseman Brian Dumoulin put it post-game. There are moments, plays, details the Kings want back and could’ve, should’ve done differently. But they shouldn’t overreact based on emotion or on plays that have regularly been executed this year not being executed yesterday.
Around the NHL this season, leads feel more precious. Games are going into overtime at a higher rate than in past seasons and as a result, the standings are tighter with teams collecting more loser points than they typically would. The Kings have benefitted more from the process of overcoming a multi-goal lead in the third period than giving them up. So, they’re not going to overreact to one game in Anaheim, a game in which both sides delivered a pretty entertaining contest overall.
It’s onto Vancouver, as the Kings return home with the chance to get back in the win column. An important one, because if you do accept that the Kings, largely, played pretty well yesterday, then you’ve got to go and play pretty well again and this time get a win. Or play better than pretty well and command the two points. It’s a game the Kings should find a way to win and it’s important they do. Otherwise, yesterday does become more magnified.
3 To Watch For –
– Yesterday’s loss in Anaheim saw the Kings fall to 1-5 in the season in games decided in the shootout.
The shootout is a skills competition, yet it’s how the NHL decides the second point in games that are tied after 65 minutes. I didn’t think the Kings were particularly sharp 3-on-3 yesterday and although they controlled the play, they didn’t generate enough of the game-ending chances you’d have liked, compounded by several self-inflicted turnovers that prevented those looks from developing. Ultimately, the shootout was probably what was deserved and the Kings, again, came up short.
“That’s how the league decides the winner of the games, so when you don’t get on the right side of it, you’re always frustrated when you lose,” Jim Hiller said of the team’s shootout showings this season.
Hiller said that in choosing his shooters, he relies on a combination of historical production matched up with who might be feeling good in a particular game. The Kings led with Kevin Fiala yesterday, who scored a really nice goal in the game, but has historically not scored a ton in shootout situations. Adrian Kempe went second, a historically strong shootout performer, with Trevor Moore likely on deck if the game extended, based on the same parameters of past performance.
It’s a tricky one. You can’t practice shootouts with the same pressure and importance of in game. You can do breakaways all you want, against your own goaltenders, but it doesn’t match the in-game situations against opposing netminders. That’s the same for all 32 teams though.
For a team like the Kings, a team that routinely plays so many one-goal games, the shootout will decide points throughout the season. Kings have to find a way to win more of their share than they have this season.
– Would like to highlight defenseman Brian Dumoulin here. Against the Ducks yesterday afternoon, Dumoulin logged more than 25 minutes and collected two secondary assists. Beyond that, just felt like he really impacted the game positively most times he was on the ice.
“I think what we’ve all come to appreciate is that he’s got poise with the puck, he has hockey sense,” Hiller said of Dumoulin. “He’s not going to race up and down the ice, but he’s going to hold it that extra moment, he’s going to find the open guys, he typically doesn’t rush his plays.”
Been well covered but Dumoulin was -5 in his first three games of the season and including yesterday’s showing, he’s been +3 in the 21 games since. He’s played with several different defensive partners – Cody Ceci, Drew Doughty, Mikey Anderson and now Brandt Clarke – and he’s been pretty reliable the entire time. The poise Hiller mentioned is starting to show up more and more as he gets more and more comfortable in the system. Thought he had a nice game yesterday against his former club and he’s really started to settle in overall as a member of the Kings.
– Lastly, no real updates on Warren Foegele and Drew Doughty.
On the @LAKings Injury Front –
Jim Hiller said Warren Foegele is “feeling better”, which is good to hear, but he’s still day-to-day with an upper-body injury and won’t go tonight against Vancouver.
Drew Doughty skated again this morning on his own but no real update just yet.
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 29, 2025
Foegele remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury, with Hiller indicating that Foegele is “feeling better” but won’t play tonight. Good sign, but not anything that really changes what we already knew. Doughty skated again this morning at Toyota Sports Performance Center, on his own, but doesn’t appear to be ready to return imminently.
So, I suppose that’s a half update. Nothing changed, but that’s the latest on those two players.
Kings and Canucks to close out Thanksgiving Weekend. A tie at the top of the division on the line for the Kings if they can find a way to get the job done on home ice.