WHO: Los Angeles Kings (1-0) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (0-1)
WHAT: 2025 Preseason Game 2
WHEN: Tuesday, September 23 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: NHL Network – AUDIO – ESPN LA App & LA Kings App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings continue their 2025 exhibition slate tonight as they hit the road for the first time with a trip to Nevada to take on the Vegas Golden Knights.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings and Golden Knights will meet just once in the 2025 exhibition season. The teams will play four times during the upcoming regular season, including Game 2 for the Kings, opening night for the Golden Knights, on October 8.
KINGS VITALS: Similar to Sunday’s preseason opener, the Kings will have a squad tonight mixed of NHL regulars and younger players looking to make their mark in the preseason.
Here is the expected game group for this afternoon’s tilt –
Forwards (13) – Trevor Moore, Alex Turcotte, Phillip Danault, Warren Foegele, Jeff Malott, Andre Lee, Taylor Ward, Jared Wright, Liam Greentree, Francesco Pinelli, Samuel Helenius, Cole Guttman, Kaleb Lawrence
Defensemen (7) – Brian Dumoulin, Cody Ceci, Kyle Burroughs, Jacob Moverare, Jakub Dvorak, Henry Brzustewicz, Kirill Kirsanov
Goaltenders (3) – Pheonix Copley, Anton Forsberg, Isaiah Saville
Based on today’s morning skate, here are the expected line combinations and defensive pairings for tonight –
Morning Skate @LAKings Line Rushes:
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Greentree – Turcotte – Malott
Lee – Helenius – Ward
Wright – Pinelli – Guttman
Dumoulin – Ceci
Kirsanov – Burroughs
Moverare – Brzustewicz
Forsberg / Copley https://t.co/tQAEGdYOdi
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) September 23, 2025
The group was naturally one too many at each position, so there are players here who will travel and go through the game-day routine but ultimately will not play. Included in the group above who also played on Sunday in Ontario are five forwards – Turcotte, Malott, Lee, Greentree and Helenius – in addition to four defensemen in Burroughs, Moverare, Dvorak and Brzustewicz. So, there will be some changes, in addition to some players going again after good showings against Anaheim.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS VITALS: Vegas opened its preseason schedule on Sunday with a 3-0 defeat against San Jose. The Golden Knights will likely dress more veterans tonight in their home opener.
Per Jesse Granger of The Athletic, here’s how the hosts are expected to line up this evening –
Golden Knights line rushes at morning skate:
Smith—Karlsson—Stone
Saad—Hertl—Dorofeyev
Demek—Uchacz—Lavoie
Cataford—Laczynski—Bowman
Hanifin—Whitecloud
Sedoff—Coghlan
Hutton—Kmec
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) September 23, 2025
At home, it is unsurprising that the Golden Knights will be more veteran-heavy. Names like Stone, Karlsson, Hertl and Hanafin make this a stronger lineup that the Golden Knights iced in their preseason opener against San Jose. Good test for the Kings facing a strong lineup this evening.
Storyline Of The Day – Turc-ey Time
Let’s talk about opportunity.
Alex Turcotte has one here. He is included in a group of players who played well on Sunday in Ontario and is now running it back for a second preseason game here tonight in Vegas. Turcotte is entering camp in a little bit of a different position than he did a season ago. Last year, while he was expected to make the NHL club, he was not coming in with a full season of NHL experience under his belt. Now he is, after he played 68 games with the Kings during the 2024-25 season.
“It’s a little bit different but I have the same mindset,” he said. “I just want to do my best, play my game, keep showing why I belong and keep building the coach’s trust,” Turcotte said. “Everything is just building on top of what I’ve done previously you don’t want to be content, I’m not content, I want more obviously. That was my mindset and I have that confidence going into the season.”
The word that stuck out to me is content. Turcotte emphasized that he is not content with what he had and that’s what you want at the bottom of your lineup. Players who are in a certain role but are hungry and pushing for more. That’s how you create internal growth.
In terms of 5-on-5, while I think the path to more minutes is very open for the fourth line, Turcotte is also currently looking at a Top-9 of established players who all merit their spot in the lineup. So, while he’s likely to begin on the fourth line, perhaps it is penalty killing that could be his route to more minutes.
Turcotte was a part of the PK unit on Sunday in Ontario and I’d expect him to be again tonight in Vegas. He said that last season, he sat in on PK meetings and took notes. While he didn’t play much in that role in games, there was forward planning there. Now, the Kings are looking for guys to play that role and Turcotte feels he is up to speed and more prepared to play, should he earn that opportunity.
“I feel like it’s definitely something I can bring to the game with my speed and smarts,” he said. “I want to help the team any way I can and obviously get as much ice time as I can. So I think, yeah, I’ve just got to earn it and keep going I think that’s a good start.”
On paper, Turcotte has the tools to be a really good penalty killer. He’s quick and tenacious, hunts pucks and should be able to disrupt things in those situations. The Kings also need to get more contributions on special teams from their fourth line. Last season, it was almost exclusively the Top-9 playing on special teams. If Turcotte can kill penalties, it could spare a minute or two for say Anze Kopitar or Adrian Kempe, keeping them fresher in offensive situations later in games. Potential win/win there.
For his part, Jim Hiller said that he wants to add a couple of additional forwards into the mix on the penalty kill. Turcotte is one player he’s looking at to potentially fill that role. With one really good showing under his belt already, Turcotte has another chance tonight to make an impression, solidifying his place in the lineup……and more.
3 To Watch For –
– Look for defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci to play their first preseason games with the Kings tonight.
It’s been a bit of getting up to speed for those players thus far. Ceci pointed to the importance of these kinds of games for him as he gets rolling. He arrived in Los Angeles a couple of weeks before training camp, to get some knowledge on how the Kings play in advance of camp, but preseason games are there for a reason. He’s looking to use them to get as much routine as he can as he joins the Kings.
“We try and get here early and sort that out a little bit early, so we’re not doing that in-season,” Ceci said. “The exhibition games, they’re exhibition games, but you do want to sort those things out, get your pairs rolling and just get comfortable with each other.”
Hiller indicated that we might see some of the veterans signed over the summer more than you might normally expect to see players of that experience level in the preseason. It’s with that in mind. We saw Joel Armia on Saturday and he logged heavy minutes in the 3-1 win over Anaheim. Expecting to see the same with Dumoulin and Ceci in tonight’s game versus the Golden Knights.
“Those guys will probably end up playing a little more, typically you don’t have a veteran of as many years in opening games like this, but we want to get them up to speed with how we play as quick as possible,” Hiller said. “So might see them just play a little bit more in the exhibition [games] than normally.”
First crack for Ceci and Dumoulin tonight in Vegas.
– Tonight is looking like the NHL preseason debut for defenseman Kirill Kirsanov. Kirsanov signed his entry-level contract with the Kings over the summer and participated in both development camp and rookie camp, skating in both games played in Irvine last weekend at the Rookie Faceoff. Kisranov scored a goal in that event.
Kirsanov is very familiar to one member of the organization, as he played two seasons in Russia with Kings forward Andrei Kuzmenko and Kuzmenko was complementary of the young defenseman –
“I know his game, he’s a great guy and a great player,” Kuzmenko said of Kirsanov. “I played with him for two years with SKA St. Petersburg, he has a very good game.”
He’s got good size and seemed to move decently well. Kirsanov is likely slotted for the AHL this season but will likely get a look or two in the preseason with the Kings. There is certainly an opportunity for him with the Ontario Reign as he gets his North American professional career underway.
– Lastly, tonight’s game will be an NHL Network broadcast exclusively. So, for those interested in watching, that is your method. The game will also be available via a Kings radio broadcast on the LA Kings App and the ESPN LA App, with Josh Schaefer and Daryl Evans on the call!
Kings and Golden Knights! 7 PM Puck Drop in Vegas as the preseason slate rolls on.