{"id":891190,"date":"2026-10-22T21:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T21:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/891190\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T21:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T21:00:08","slug":"10-22-preview-gametime-decision-for-quinton-byfield-potential-line-combinations-all-gus-no-breaks-el-lee-vation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/891190\/","title":{"rendered":"10\/22 Preview – “Gametime Decision” for Quinton Byfield + Potential Line Combinations, All Gus No Breaks, el-LEE-vation"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (1-4-2) @ New York Islanders (5-3-1)
WHAT: 2026-27 NHL Regular Season, Game 8\/84
WHEN: Thursday, October 22 @ 4:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: UBS Arena \u2013 Elmont, NY
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: ESPN+ \/ Hulu \u2013 AUDIO: 830 AM KLAA, ESPN LA App, LA Kings App \u2013 TWITTER: @dooleylak<\/a> & @lakings<\/a><\/p>\n

TODAY\u2019S MATCHUP: The LA Kings are on Long Island to begin a set of three straight games against teams from the Metropolitan Division, starting tonight against the New York Islanders. <\/p>\n

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Kings forward Adrian Kempe has scored six goals in his last ten games played versus the Islanders, while forward Trevor Moore is a point-per-game player with nine points (4-5-9) in his last nine played against New York. Forward Artemi Panarin has 50 career points (19-31-50) versus the Islanders, his most against any one NHL opponent. <\/p>\n

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held a full-team morning skate today, as they did in Tuesday\u2019s win over the Capitals. <\/p>\n

Looks like goaltender Darcy Kuemper will continue between the pipes tonight, following a strong performance in Tuesday\u2019s victory. Kuemper, who was the first goaltender off this morning, has a lifetime record of 10-6-2 against New York, with a .913 save percentage and a 2.54 goals-against average, including a pair of victories in the matchup last season. <\/p>\n

Based on morning skate today here is what we saw from the group in terms of line rushes \u2013<\/p>\n

Panarin \u2013 Laferriere \u2013 Kempe
Lee \u2013 Haula \u2013 Zuccarello
Moore \u2013 Laughton \u2013 Armia
Wright \u2013 Helenius \u2013 Perry
Ward<\/p>\n

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

Kuemper
Forsberg<\/p>\n

Forward Quinton Byfield is a game-time decision tonight with an upper-body injury. Byfield did not skate today, but could play tonight depending on how he\u2019s feeling. He\u2019s in a day-to-day boat, per Peter Laviolette. Should Byfield not play, I\u2019d expect the above configuration, with 12 forwards and six defensemen. If Byfield can play, I think he slots in with Zuccarello and Lee and then everything shuffles down accordingly. <\/p>\n

ISLANDERS VITALS: New York is off to a strong start to the season, bringing a record of 5-3-1 into tonight\u2019s meeting with the Kings. <\/p>\n

Per Stefen Rosner of NHL.com, here\u2019s how the hosts lined up last time out, in a 3-2 win over Anaheim on Tuesday evening \u2013 <\/p>\n

#Isles warmup lines vs. #FlyTogether @Bullsmithsli: Holmstrom-Horvat-Palmieri Heineman-Schenn-Eklund Palat-Pageau-Duclair MacLean-Cizikas-Chaffee Stanley-Schaefer Pelech-Pulock Kessel-DeAngelo Sorokin Varlamov<\/p>\n

\u2014 Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) October 20, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Islanders forward Bo Horvat leads the team in goals (5) and points (10) so far this season. Horvat also led all New York skaters with two goals and three points against the Kings during the 2025-26 campaign. Defenseman Matthew Schaefer has a team-high eight assists, tied for the sixth-most in the NHL among all blueliners. <\/p>\n

Storyline Of The Day \u2013 All Gus, No Brakes
Last time out, the secondary scoring came from defenseman Erik Gustafsson.<\/p>\n

ALL GUS, NO BRAKES https:\/\/t.co\/SQvsdkxuaV<\/p>\n

\u2014 LA Kings (@LAKings) October 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

A third-period power play was, frankly, not going all that well. In a 2-2 game, the Kings had a chance to pull ahead and the top unit didn\u2019t get much of anything done. On came the second unit. Gustafsson pulled what Peter Laviolette termed an \u201cold-school\u201d play. He called his own number and weaved his way into a breakaway with what looked to be relative ease. The finish wasn\u2019t perfectly clean, but despite Washington netminder Logan Thompson getting a piece, the puck found its way across the line, giving the Kings an ever-so-important go-ahead goal.<\/p>\n

How did he see it?<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of blacked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

I get that. <\/p>\n

What Gustafsson added, though, was that a pre-scout read of the Washington kill said that they would likely place the first player behind him, meaning preventing the drop pass in the neutral zone, so he read that and kept skating. Normally, the play available would likely be a dump and recover, but in that moment, he saw the gap and went for it.<\/p>\n

Certainly paid off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think when I took up past the blue line, the forward kind of came behind me and then I saw the their three guys in front of me, kind of flat-footed,\u201d he detailed. \u201cI was going to dump it in, but then I saw it a little open and then try for it, and obviously it worked. So, it was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

First things first, that\u2019s a credit to the coaching staff who identified that element of the Washington penalty kill. There\u2019s also the decision to keep Gustafsson in the lineup, exactly for moments like this, even when playing 12\/6. We might not have always seen that kind of a move but it paid off against the Capitals. <\/p>\n

Then it\u2019s a credit to Gustafsson for delivering. It\u2019s one thing to know what to expect. It\u2019s another to make the read and in the moment, realize the scoring opportunity. For the Kings, perhaps the biggest \u201canother\u201d was actually scoring. <\/p>\n

It was the first goal of the season for the second power-play unit. It was the only goal against a goaltender that didn\u2019t come from the forward line of Panarin, Laferriere and Kempe. That\u2019s big. Gustafsson has those kinds of traits in his game. He\u2019s a skater and a puck mover, both with his legs and via the pass. As far as defensemen who have never really had that solidified, top-of-the-lineup role go, Gustafsson has been a point producer as well. You could certainly see why on that sequence. <\/p>\n

Panarin joked that he hopes Gustafsson\u2019s goal doesn\u2019t demote his power-play unit to second. Long-time teammates, in Chicago and New York before Los Angeles and Panarin loves what Gustafsson adds to this group.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an unbelievable goal, a really important goal, especially how he scored it, that was special,\u201d Panarin said of Gustafsson. \u201cWe all know how skilled he is. I think everyone in the NHL knows. Great defenseman\u2026\u2026almost a forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

A huge goal for the Kings when they needed one most. Good on Gustafsson for getting it done.<\/p>\n

3 To Watch For \u2013
\u2013 It\u2019s that kind of secondary scoring that the Kings will need. Against every opponent, really, but against New York, I think it goes double.<\/p>\n

What stands out about the early-season numbers for the Islanders are mostly defensive. New York ranks second-best in the NHL in goals against per\/60 (2.11) and fifth-best in the league on the penalty kill (87.5 percent). The Kings got what they needed from the top line against Washington, but they\u2019ll need to find a bit more elsewhere too. Wrote about that yesterday and think it<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need that in general, we need production throughout the lineup and it was nice to see that line produce, but there\u2019s room, I think, for more to gain more opportunity out there offensively,\u201d Laviolette said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that we\u2019ve been talking about. It was nice to see that happen last game, but it\u2019s not the same people every night that produce. You\u2019ve got to get it from the back end, you\u2019ve got to get it chipped in from all different lines and the power play can help as well. There\u2019s different things that you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The top line drove the bus last time out and it still feels like a lot of it relies on those players getting on the board for multiple goals. Can\u2019t just be there though and against a stingy group, among the league\u2019s best defensive clubs, I think that depth scoring will be that much more important. It was Gustafsson on Tuesday and it\u2019ll need to be someone else \u2013 or multiple someone elses \u2013 getting the job done today. <\/p>\n

\u2013 Good to see Andre Lee upping his level.<\/p>\n

When Byfield went down, Lee was the recipient of some additional icetime. Second straight game he\u2019s seen an increased role with 11 forwards, as he did against Boston on Saturday, when the Kings went with 11 by choice. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been really good, even the game before we moved him up the lineup a little bit,\u201d Laviolette said of Lee. \u201cHe\u2019s big, he\u2019s strong, he takes it to the net every game. He seems to generate a couple of really good chances. He\u2019s physical and he\u2019s pretty responsible too. He\u2019s been a good addition. With guys out of the lineup, opportunity comes to other people and I think he\u2019s done a really good job with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee sees similar opportunities. <\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t his first time around the block now and he certainly feels more comfortable than he has in years past when he\u2019s been up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last two years, I\u2019ve had some games up here, so I do feel a little bit more comfortable and I have a little bit more confidence,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI think I\u2019m playing my game, being physical, strong on pucks, getting some chances too. I\u2019ve got to keep doing that and I feel like the coaching staff trusts me more and more. Just got to keep doing those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

With players out, someone needs to step in and fill those minutes. Obviously dependent in some ways on Byfield\u2019s status, but looks like Lee might begin things on the second line tonight. Kings need players to step up and he\u2019s one who might get a little bit more opportunity to do so. <\/p>\n

\u2013 Lastly, speaking of Byfield, he was not on the ice for morning skate today, which Peter Laviolette spoke to afterwords today, but he isn\u2019t ruled out from playing tonight.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wasn\u2019t out there this morning and he\u2019ll be a game-time decision,\u201d Laviolette said. <\/p>\n

Byfield is \u201cday-to-day\u201d as Laviolette said yesterday. If Byfield plays, I think we\u2019ll see him back with Mats Zuccarello. It was interesting to see the lines shuffled up a bit this morning, but it\u2019s hard to know how much of that is dependent on Byfield\u2019s availability. Erik Haula is the natural option to move up onto a second line, but he could also be there anyways, in theory, with those two players on his line. <\/p>\n

We\u2019ll wait until warmups to see if Byfield is on the ice or not. Byfield was at the rink this morning, which is a positive sign, and there do not seem to be any long-term concerns here. See what warmups entail and go from there. <\/p>\n

Kings and Islanders, Game 2 of 5 on the current trip. Little bit of momentum in the right direction and the Kings will hope to build on what was positive from the win over the Capitals. See if they can keep that train moving. <\/p>\n