{"id":289994,"date":"2025-11-13T23:04:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T23:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/289994\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T23:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T23:04:10","slug":"11-13-preview-goals-like-the-kings-malotts-homecoming-kuzmenko-out-kopitar-quest-in-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/289994\/","title":{"rendered":"11\/13 Preview – Goals Like The Kings + Malott’s Homecoming, Kuzmenko Out, Kopitar Quest in Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (8-5-4) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (8-8-1)
WHAT: 2025 Regular-Season Game 18\/82
WHEN: Thursday, November 13 @ 4:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Scotiabank Arena \u2013 Toronto, ONT
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FanDuel Sports Network \u2013 AUDIO \u2013 ESPN LA App & LA Kings App \u2013 TWITTER: @dooleylak<\/a> & @lakings<\/a><\/p>\n

TODAY\u2019S MATCHUP:HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Phillip Danault has led the Kings in scoring against the Maple Leafs since he signed with the team in 2021. Danault has six points (3-3-6) in that span, including three goals and four points from the four games he has played in Toronto. The Kings have three Toronto alums on their roster, with Cody Ceci, Joel Edmundson and Trevor Moore all playing for the Maple Leafs earlier in their careers. <\/p>\n

KINGS VITALS: The Kings had a day off yesterday in Toronto and held a full-team morning skate today at Scotiabank Arena. <\/p>\n

The Kings are expected to turn back to goaltender Darcy Kuemper between the pipes this evening against the Maple Leafs. Kuemper has won both games he\u2019s played thus far on the trip. He brings with him a lifetime record of 3-5-0 against Toronto, with a .887 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average. <\/p>\n

Below is how the Kings lined up this morning, with a projection of how they\u2019ll align this evening against the Maple Leafs \u2013 <\/p>\n

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

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

Kuemper \/ Forsberg<\/p>\n

The Kings have shuffled their lines around a few times in-game against Pittsburgh and Montreal and we\u2019ll see a couple of those changes in place tonight. Look for Warren Foegele to be back with his line tonight, alongside Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore. Andrei Kuzmenko will likely be a healthy scratch, with Jeff Malott checking back in.<\/p>\n

MAPLE LEAFS VITALS: Toronto enters tonight\u2019s game on a three-game losing streak, extended with a 5-3 defeat in Boston on Tuesday evening. <\/p>\n

Per David Alter of the Hockey News, here\u2019s how tonight\u2019s opponent lined up last time out against the Bruins \u2013 <\/p>\n

#Leafs<\/a> lines during morning skate Nov. 13\/25<\/p>\n

Knies-Tavares-Nylander
Robertson-Domi-McMann
Joshua-Roy-Maccelli
Blais-Lorentz-Jarnkrok<\/p>\n

Rielly-Carlo
Benoit-McCabe
Mermis-OEL
Myers<\/p>\n

Hildeby
Akhtyamov@BodogCA<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/uVtp1yLhEa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 David Alter (@dalter) November 13, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Toronto forward Auston Matthews (lower-body injury) and goaltender Anthony Stolarz (upper-body injury) left the game in Boston early and did not return. Matthews is tied for the team lead with nine goals, while Stolarz has played 13 of his team\u2019s 17 games this season. Matthews led all Toronto skaters with five points (2-3-5) from the two head-to-head matchups with the Kings. Neither player is expected to play tonight. Look for Toronto to load up their top line, with John Tavares between William Nylander and Matthew Knies, while Dennis Hildeby willis expected to get the start in net, in what will be his tenth career NHL appearance. <\/p>\n

Storyline Of The Day \u2013 Get After \u2018Em
Here\u2019s what I liked most about Montreal.<\/p>\n

Quinton Byfield\u2019s goal, the game winner, came on a 6-on-5 sequence in which the Kings probably should\u2019ve lost possession like four different times, which would\u2019ve seen the play whistled down, but they took advantage of tired Montreal defenders, continually recovered pucks after shot attempts and eventually got the goal, a Byfield rebound off a Kempe shot from up top.<\/p>\n

Kevin Fiala\u2019s goal, which came just 65 seconds later, was made by Fiala\u2019s tenacity in winning a puck battle in the offensive zone, using his speed and skill to create space and reset the play, before he shook loose and drove the net to capitalize on a miscue from Montreal goaltender Samuel Montembeault. <\/p>\n

They were LA Kings plays.<\/p>\n

The delayed penalty sequence was over a minute long. <\/p>\n

16:46 \u2013 Delayed Penalty
16:16 \u2013 Byfield SOG, Fiala Recovery
16:05 \u2013 Clarke Shot Attempt, Fiala Dummy, Kempe Recovery
15:56 \u2013 Fiala\/Kopitar Missed Connection, Kempe Recovery
15:43 \u2013 Kempe Shot, Byfield Goal<\/p>\n

Three times, the Kings had either a shot attempt, a shot on goal or tried to make a play towards the net that did not connect. Three times they recovered the puck and reset. The fourth they made no mistake, as Byfield scored to snap his goal drought. <\/p>\n

You like that the goal came from right around the net, as Jim Hiller pointed out after the game. You also like that the Kings showed some tenacity in the offensive zone to continually reset, wear down a tired group of defenders <\/p>\n

Fiala\u2019s goal was more direct and more of a Fiala-driven play. He went in and won the puck back. He dished it off, circled the zone and was on hand to capitalize when the situation called for it. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not anything crazy, right? But I love this play from Fiala. If he didn\u2019t make the play, no one would\u2019ve thought twice about it. But he hounded the puck, won a battle and then won another battle\/race to the net. Small, small plays that paid real dividends with a big goal. Good on Fiala for the commitment in that area.<\/p>\n

Think there\u2019s just something in the way the Kings played there that is hopefully what we\u2019ll continue to see on a more consistent basis. <\/p>\n

3 To Watch For \u2013
\u2013 Andrei Kuzmenko will not play tonight against the Maple Leafs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a difficult conversation with every play, everyone wants to play,\u201d Jim Hiller said. \u201cI think one of the things Ken did this summer was add some depth up front, somebody\u2019s got to sit out and it\u2019s always a tough conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuzmenko once again saw his icetime reduced in Montreal, as he\u2019s struggled to replicate last season\u2019s form so far this year.<\/p>\n

His production, compared to the Kings as a whole, hasn\u2019t been all that far off, with seven points (3-4-7) from 17 games played, but his impact hasn\u2019t been what it was when he joined the team last year. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tricky balance, because when Kuzmenko is on, he\u2019s an important part of what the Kings are doing. His impact on the power play last year was season-defining and he was a great fit with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, in a spot that the team spent all season filling. The best version of Kuzmenko should be in that spot, so it\u2019s important to get him going and the Kings had given him some runway to do so. However, the Kings are also in a place where they need to win each night, and they have to balance letting a creative and skilled player work through some things against what they feel gives them the best chance today. I\u2019m a big Kuzmenko fan, but he hasn\u2019t brought the same level he did last season thus far. <\/p>\n

For tonight, Kuzmenko will be a scratch in Toronto. Hopefully this is a reset opportunity rather than a benching that winds up losing. Maybe that is what\u2019s best for tonight. Maybe you let him sit and then get him another run with his usual linemates in Ottawa? That\u2019s how I\u2019d like to see it approached, but we\u2019ll see what ultimately ends up happening going forward. <\/p>\n

\u2013 The flip side of that?<\/p>\n

Jeff Malott will get to play a special game tonight in Toronto. Malott is a Burlington, ONT native who grew up coming to this arena to watch the Maple Leafs. <\/p>\n

Jeff Malott on playing his first NHL game in Toronto \u2013<\/p>\n

“Means a lot, especially to have some family show up for it as well. This is the rink I went to growing up, I watched my first NHL hockey game here. Pretty cool.”<\/p>\n

First time his brother Mike will see him play in the NHL! https:\/\/t.co\/InHdZxHTAR<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 13, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Malott said his brother Mike, a professional UFC fighter, will be in the building tonight, the first time he\u2019s seen him play an NHL game. He was in Ontario to watch a Reign game last season and he\u2019s seen him play in the AHL with Manitoba but tonight will be the first time he\u2019s gotten the opportunity to see him play in person at the highest level.<\/p>\n

Growing up, this was the building that Malott watched his first ever NHL game in as a fan. He said he and his family got out once or twice a year to watch a Maple Leafs game. Tonight, he\u2019ll get the chance to play here for the first time on the ice, with \u201ca lot\u201d of friends and family expected to attend, as he said this morning.<\/p>\n

Special night ahead for sure. <\/p>\n

\u2013 Lastly, tonight will be Anze Kopitar\u2019s final career game in Toronto. <\/p>\n

You can say that about, well, everywhere he\u2019ll be this season, but he started the trip with his final career game in Pittsburgh, which was one of just three NHL cities he had never scored a goal in. He went out and got one to go on the power play, to narrow that list down to two. One of the remaining cities is Utah, where he has only played one game last season. The other? Toronto. Kopitar has played in this building 13 times and has six career assists, but he\u2019s never found the back of the net. <\/p>\n

This morning, he was asked if he had any memorable moments from his time in Toronto. The answer?<\/p>\n

\u201cNot particularly\u2026\u2026I think this is the one rink I haven\u2019t scored in, so we\u2019ll see if we can change that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

One last opportunity for Kopitar to get it done, before games in Utah in December and April to round out his list of buildings. <\/p>\n

Kings and Maple Leafs, tonight at 4 PM Pacific! Kings looking to make it 3-for-3 on the road as they aim to keep it rolling on this trip. <\/p>\n