The LA Kings hit the ice today for practice in El Segundo, before getting on the plane to Winnipeg to begin a two-game trip.

Full group on the ice today for the active roster. 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders, aligned identically to how the Kings looked in the games against Colorado and Vegas. Today’s lineup shown below –

Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Malott – Turcotte – Armia
Helenius

Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci
Moverare

Kuemper / Forsberg

Additionally, forward Corey Perry and defenseman Kyle Burroughs continue to skate separately from the group. The pair was on the ice earlier this morning, skating together, as they both gear back towards an eventual return. Both players remain on injured reserve and have not yet made the jump towards even a non-contact return to the full group. Neither are expected to travel to Winnipeg, so we’re still a bit off on that front for both players, as was previously reported. Will check back in next week when the Kings return home.

In terms of those who are in the lineup, I don’t see any reason at this stage in the season for the Kings to make drastic changes. Each line has scored, at least when you factor in special teams goals. If we’re looking at the fourth line, which would be where the bulk of the changes might occur, Turcotte’s major penalty aside, I think that line has played well and they got a deserved goal in Vegas. I wouldn’t make any changes there, personally, and today’s skate at least gives the impression the Kings won’t for tomorrow’s game. On the blueline, I don’t see the Kings taking out a veteran player based off two games. So, the group above is what I think we’ll see tomorrow.

Jim Hiller has said now a couple of times that as he and the staff rewatched the Colorado game, they were happier with the defensive performance than initially thought.

“We made a few mistakes, no question, but defensively, we were solid,” he said. “Since I’ve been in the league, that’s the least we’ve given up against Colorado. What we didn’t do is create.”

In looking back at the Vegas game, the Kings did create and they were happy with the offensive performance.

In asking a couple of the players what they felt was just downright better about the Vegas game compared to the Colorado game, they were inclined to agree.

Trevor Moore said that he felt the Kings skated better as forwards in the offensive zone. Think that was pretty apparent in the way the team played. His centerman, Phillip Danault, was inclined to agree.

“We got more offense out of it, instead of just defending or reading, we were more ready,” Danault said. “Our first period was better than the first one. The first game, it’s hard to get uncomfortable and then once you do it, then your game is back.”

I think that’s the part of the game that was unquestionably better. The Kings scored some really nice goals, combining work and tenacity with high-end skill. A stark improvement from the first game, when the Kings generated very little in the way of high-danger chances.

The flip side of that, though, was the defensive side of the puck. Scorings chances rose from 19 against to 30 against from Game 1 to Game 2, while high-danger chances went from nine to 14.

A lot of that came on the power play, with the extended, three-minute sequence really hurting the Kings, but the defending issues were more than just those three minutes.

Jim Hiller said that in rewatching the game, there were only three times in the third period that the Golden Knights worked completely through the Kings through the neutral zone by their count.

“They basically carried it, I think, three times through the neutral zone……only three times, but it felt like 30 times.”

It did feel like 30 times and that’s because, as Hiller continued on about, the Golden Knights scored on two of those three times and not only did they score but they scored in highlight-reel fashion, slicing and dicing through the Kings with ease, which is something Hiller called “concerning”.

It looked like the Kings worked on that a bit during practice today, defending against rushes through the neutral zone with speed as well as puck retrievals and clean breakouts against pressure coming out of the defensive zone. I think both of those areas of the game have been problematic early in the season. In both games, clean breakouts were hard to come by in moving pucks from the defensemen to the forwards with control and possession. The Vegas game emphasized the neutral zone more, but Colorado created their best looks off of those types of chances as well.

“We just felt we were a little loose, generally,” Hiller added. “Not as connected on our breakouts going the other way in the third period as we needed to be. That starts way up the ice. It starts with getting organized, so when you are in the position to break out, you come together and you get going the other way. We got a little disconnected there in the third period.”

With Winnipeg and Minnesota coming up, they aren’t quite as high-flying as Colorado and Vegas but there are still some really high-end offensive players on those two teams. For a group that has prided itself on being strong in those types of situations, it’s got to be an area of focus to clean up against the Jets and Wild. Correction, it will be an area of focus. But it has to be executed on the ice. Certainly one area of the game I’ll be watching for beginning tomorrow.

The Kings are just about to hit the sky, with Winnipeg, Manitoba on the horizon. Early puck drop tomorrow, 12:30 PM local and 10:30 AM Pacific. Quick in and out in the Great White North before heading to Minnesota for an evening off tomorrow, a practice day on Sunday and Monday evening’s game against the Wild. Couple of good tests await!