{"id":261518,"date":"2025-10-30T21:08:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T21:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/261518\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T21:08:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T21:08:07","slug":"10-30-preview-foegele-still-out-kopitar-talks-return-analyzing-energy-levels-clarkes-minutes-mclellan-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/261518\/","title":{"rendered":"10\/30 Preview – Foegele Still Out + Kopitar Talks Return, Analyzing Energy Levels, Clarke’s Minutes, McLellan Returns"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (5-3-3) vs. Detroit Red Wings (7-3-0)
WHAT: 2025 Regular-Season Game 12\/82
WHEN: Thursday, October 30 @ 7:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena \u2013 Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network \u2013 AUDIO \u2013 ESPN LA 710, ESPN LA App & LA Kings App \u2013 TWITTER: @dooleylak<\/a> & @lakings<\/a><\/p>\n

TONIGHT\u2019S MATCHUP: The Kings are back in Los Angeles to begin a four-game homestand tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. <\/p>\n

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Adrian Kempe was the only Kings player with multiple goals against the Red Wings last season, as he found the back of the net twice in two games versus Detroit. Over the last four seasons, Kempe has seven goals from eight games played against Detroit and leads the team in both goals and points versus the Red Wings in that timespan. <\/p>\n

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held a full-team morning skate today in El Segundo, following yesterday\u2019s team day off.<\/p>\n

Coming off his most active performance of the season, as he made 38 saves in San Jose, look for goaltender Darcy Kuemper to be in net tonight against the Red Wings to begin the homestand. Kuemper has a lifetime record of 3-5-1 against Detroit, with a .901 save percentage and a 2.81 goals-against average. <\/p>\n

There don\u2019t appear to be any lineup changes for the Kings tonight, based on morning skate, so sharing last game\u2019s lineup below \u2013<\/p>\n

Tonight’s @LAKings<\/a> Line Rushes \u2013<\/p>\n

Kuzmenko \u2013 Kopitar \u2013 Kempe
Fiala \u2013 Byfield \u2013 Laferriere
Moore \u2013 Danault \u2013 Armia
Malott \u2013 Turcotte \u2013 Perry<\/p>\n

Dumoulin \u2013 Doughty
Edmundson \u2013 Clarke
Anderson \u2013 Ceci<\/p>\n

Kuemper
Forsberg<\/p>\n

\u2014 Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) October 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Forward Warren Foegele remains out of action with an upper-body injury, sustained during the win over Chicago on Sunday. In terms of an update, there isn\u2019t a ton to add. Foegele is slated to miss some time here, won\u2019t play tonight, but isn\u2019t yet ruled out for the entirety of the homestand at this time. <\/p>\n

Not expecting any changes, at least at the start, from the group that played in San Jose on Tuesday. Should they look for a move, forward Samuel Helenius and defenseman Jacob Moverare are options to check into the lineup. <\/p>\n

RED WINGS VITALS: Coming off a home-and-home sweep over the St. Louis Blues, Detroit heads to Los Angeles to begin a stretch of four straight games against Pacific Division opposition. <\/p>\n

Per the Detroit team account, here\u2019s how the team lined up on Tuesday against the Blues \u2013<\/p>\n

Tonight in STL. #LGRW<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/CWbKncJTg0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Detroit is now led by former Kings Head Coach Todd McLellan and Assistant Coach Trent Yawney, who have the team off to the 7-3 start to the season. Forward Dylan Larkin has led the way for the Red Wings this season, as he currently ranks tied for fourth in the NHL in points (16) and fifth in goals (8). <\/p>\n

Storyline Of The Day \u2013 Gauging The Gas Tank
Energy levels for tonight.<\/p>\n

The game in San Jose, the Kings were gassed at the end of a long trip and it showed in the team\u2019s play in that game. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have it [in San Jose], let\u2019s be honest, we just did not have it for whatever reasons, whatever you want to call it, we just did not have our game,\u201d Hiller said. Positive part about that is despite not having it \u2013 and there\u2019s no question the goaltender stole us the game \u2013 we found a way, Clarkie great goal at the end and we leave with two points\u2026\u2026now, we\u2019ve just got to march forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is one day enough to fully recharge the batteries for tonight\u2019s game against Detroit? <\/p>\n

Well, it needs to be. Sometimes, the schedule doesn\u2019t give you that extra day you need. Other times, you get one too many. Always events out in the long run, but this is one of the more congested stretches the Kings will encounter. <\/p>\n

Perhaps mentally as much as physically, yesterday was a good day to be home. Lots of players went to Game 5 of the World Series. Everyone got to sleep a couple nights in their own bed, eat a homecooked meal, get that mental reset as well. <\/p>\n

The hope is that it can translate to a more energetic showing tonight at home. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone gets to come back see family, I think we had a fair amount of guys go to the baseball game yesterday, so guys kind of get a reset mentally, maybe not spend a day thinking about hockey, which is good.\u201d defenseman Mikey Anderson said. \u201cI think guys are ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hiller added that sometimes there is a \u201cbuzz\u201d around a morning skate and he felt that today. Doesn\u2019t always translate to the games, though, adding you just never know if it will carry over onto the ice when the puck drops tonight.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s gone both ways before, whether or not that buzz in the morning carries over. To start a four-game homestand, it\u2019ll obviously need to be better than it was on Tuesday to get a result against the Red Wings. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we haven\u2019t played a full 60, we\u2019ve had some lapses, but we\u2019ve at least gotten some wins, helps the confidence and I think we know we can do better,\u201d forward Alex Turcotte added. \u201cSo it\u2019s a little bit of excitement to see what happens when we can take that next step in our game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kings know San Jose wasn\u2019t good enough, but it\u2019s a lot better to recognize that when you get the two points. Anderson and Turcotte both said as much, as Hiller did above. Anderson summed it up pretty well, noting that there was some really good, some really bad and everywhere in between on the trip that saw the Kings go 4-0-1. <\/p>\n

Back at home, let\u2019s see what tonight brings. <\/p>\n

3 To Watch For \u2013
\u2013 Injuries come in a variety of ways. <\/p>\n

For Anze Kopitar, it was one of the stranger ones. Curling and heading back up ice, Kopitar was struck by some friendly fire, off an attempted cross-ice pass by Adrian Kempe. Just one of those plays, but a play that cost him four games of action. <\/p>\n

First things first, the hard question. Has Kempe bought him a steak dinner yet?<\/p>\n

\u201cNot yet but maybe add some lobster on that too, by the way,\u201d said with that patented Kopitar smile. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been nice to see Kopitar back over the last couple of games. He looked shot out of a cannon against Nashville, skating really well. Going again the next night with a back-to-back right off the rip was \u201cnot ideal\u201d as Kopitar put it, but he got through it and wound up playing the final three games on the trip and came through it just fine.<\/p>\n

Is he feeling perfect? No. He\u2019s out of an early-season rhythm, missing four games in October, but all-in-all, it\u2019s coming back for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel okay,\u201d Kopitar said. \u201cYou start the season, you\u2019re trying to find the rhythm and everything and then you miss four. These weren\u2019t the easiest [games to play], but starting to get back into it. Might take a little bit, but everything\u2019s going in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he progresses here, yeah, there\u2019s going to be things he\u2019ll need to do to maintain. He understands that. Nothing crazy, but perhaps just a little bit above and beyond the usual preparation. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to essentially do the stuff that is going make you feel good, or as good as it can, and then just go, try not to think about it too much, and just play,\u201d Kopitar said of his management.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s good to go, though, and reaffirmed that. He\u2019ll be back with Adrian Kempe and Andrei Kuzmenko tonight and away we go. Little bit better each day and should be back closer to full go as he moves forward. <\/p>\n

\u2013 On defenseman Brandt Clarke, Hiller said this morning that the Kings need to find ways to get him more minutes. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to look for some more opportunities for him,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cHe\u2019s played really well. He\u2019s had a couple [down] games, like everybody has, but for the most part, and I\u2019ve talked about him before, coming through the summer, he had a good preseason, he\u2019s really, really doing a nice job. We have to find some more icetime for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hiller agreed that the number of penalties overall has limited Clarke\u2019s minutes, to some extent, but that didn\u2019t seem to be the entire problem.<\/p>\n

In San Jose, Clarke played 13:36 in total and the other five blueliners were over 20 minutes. Zoning in on 5-on-5 minutes, the totals were closer, but Clarke was still a distant sixth among defensemen in time on ice about 90 seconds behind Joel Edmundson and at least a couple of minutes behind each of the other four defensemen. <\/p>\n

As he continues to impact games the way that he has, it\u2019s good to hear that additional icetime is being thought of. He has earned more of a role. Proof will be in the pudding, though, so we\u2019ll see how things shake out starting with these four games at home. <\/p>\n

\u2013 Lastly, first game back in Los Angeles for Detroit Head Coach Todd McLellan.<\/p>\n

McLellan coached the Kings from 2019-24 and led the organization to the Stanley Cup Playoffs twice. His 164 career victories with the Kings are the fourth-most by a coach in franchise history. Since joining the Red Wings midway through last season, McLellan has posted a 33-21-4 record with Detroit.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a terrific person, you always start there, treating the staff, the players, I thought, first class, it starts there,\u201d Hiller said of McLellan \u201cThen just a really good hockey mind, just somebody with a lot of experience, obviously been doing it for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kings and Wings to kick off a four-game homestand tonight at Crypto.com Arena. Nice to be back, Insiders. See you there!<\/p>\n