Kings vs Ducks Game 56: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

Friday night the Los Angeles Kings take the long trip down to Anaheim to take on their rivals, the Anaheim Ducks.

Puck drops at 6:00 PM.

In the first Freeway Faceoff of this season, the Kings dominated en route to a 4-1 victory. 

The Kings have come out of the All-Star break searing, beating the Pittsburg Penguins and Buffalo Sabres, giving up just two goals and scoring 11 in those games. 

They're led by a red-hot Adrian Kempe, who scored five goals and added one assists in the two games since returning from the break. This will be especially concerning for a Ducks team that Kempe has torched in recent seasons.

In his last 10 games against the Ducks, Kempe has only failed to register a point twice and has 11 points over that span. Given his current hot streak, I'd expect him to find the scoresheet tonight. 

With a very lightly attended morning skate, there's no indication of lineup chances. However, Gabe Vilardi could be ready for a return tonight.

Pheonix Copley didn't take morning skate, indicating he'll start in net. 

Expected LA Kings Lines:

Quinton Byfield-Anze Kopitar-Adrian Kempe

Trevor Moore-Phil Danault-Viktor Arvidsson

Kevin Fiala-Blake Lizotte-Alex Iafallo

Jaret Anderson-Dolan-Rasmus Kupari-Arthur Kaliyev

Gabe Vilardi

Defense:

Mikey Anderson-Drew Doughty

Sean Durzi-Matt Roy 

Alex Edler-Sean Walker

Goalies:

Pheonix Copley

Jonathan Quick

Expected Anaheim Ducks Lines:

Derek Grant-Trevor Zegras-Ryan Strome

Adam Henrique-Mason McTavish-Frank Vatrano

Max Jones-Isac Lundestrom-Jakob Silverberg

Brett Leason-Jayson Megna-Sam Carrick

Defense:

Cam Fowler-Dmitry Kulikov

Nathan Beaulieu-John Klingberg

Simon Benoit-Kevin Shattenkirk

Goalies:

John Gibson

Lukas Dostal

Special Teams:

Los Angeles Kings Power Play: 47 for 187, 25.13%, 4th in NHL

Los Angeles Kings Penalty Kill: 47 for 188, 75.00%, 26th in NHL

Anaheim Ducks Power Play: 25-158, 15.82%, 32nd in NHL

Anaheim Ducks Penalty Kill: 50-192, 73.96%, 28th in NHL

Los Angeles Kings Pregame Notes:

• Tonight is the first game of the Kings’ eighth set of back-to-backs this season. Prior to this weekend, the team is 7-4-3 in back-tobacks (5-2-0 in the first game, 2-2-3 in the second).
• No Kings skater has more multi-goal efforts since the 2016-17 season than Adrian Kempe (17).
• Viktor Arvidsson leads all Kings skaters with seven road power-play points this season.
• Only Nick Bonino (69), Austin Matthews (65) and Garnet Hathaway (65) have more blocked shots among forwards this year than Anze Kopitar (63).
• On Monday, Sean Walker and Matt Roy scored 33 seconds apart, marking the third-fastest two goals by the Kings this season behind a 10-second sequence Dec. 22, 2022 (Phillip Danault & Blake Lizotte) and a 19-second stretch on Dec. 10, 2022 (Anze Kopitar & Viktor Arvidsson).

How to Watch:

TV: ESPN; Radio: iHeartRadio