The Kings finally have a light schedule ahead, and at just the right moment for a group that finds itself five players short due to injuries entering Saturday’s showdown with the Detroit Red Wings.
They’ll play just three games in the span of 11 days with no back-to-back sets until Nov. 29, and they’ll host seven of their next nine matches. They’ve already played back-to-back three times and 12 of their 18 games have been on the road, leaving little time for repetitions, refinements or wrinkles. That’s been reflected in their points percentage, which is .750 at home but a more modest .500 on the road following losses in Calgary and Colorado this week on what winger Adrian Kempe described as a “tough road trip.”
“We have a lot of home games coming up in the next several weeks. We’ve got to keep the momentum at home going,” Kempe said.
That winless road trip hinged on a pair of pivotal seconds periods – in Calgary, the middle frame meant two goals against in 36 seconds, and in Colorado it signified 20 minutes without a shot on goal – and brought two more placements on injured reserve. Goalie Darcy Kuemper and defenseman Caleb Jones, both former Avs, left Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to Colorado and did not return.
Kempe said he felt the Kings played well enough to win at least one of the two games, saying of the shot-less second period in Denver that “obviously we had shots, obviously just not on net,” pointing to Kevin Fiala pinging the post on a breakaway.
“It’s bouncing a little bit the wrong way right now for us. I think the chances are there,” Kempe said.
The Kings have lost consecutive games just four times under Jim Hiller since his promotion in February, and have dropped three straight just twice.
They’ll have to right the ship with an undermanned crew, however, with Jones and Kuemper leaving in successive periods Wednesday and both landing on IR on Friday. They join Drew Doughty (broken ankle), Arthur Kaliyev (broken collarbone) and Alex Turcotte (upper body) among the unavailable Kings.
On the plus side, winger Tanner Jeannot finished serving his three-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Vancouver forward Brock Boeser, who has not played or practiced since taking the hit.
David Rittich will man the Kings’ net in Kuemper’s stead and backing him will be Erik Portillo, who could make his NHL debut during this emergency recall (Jacob Moverare got the call to step in for Jones). Veteran Pheonix Copley was recalled the last time Kuemper sustained an injury, following an 8-7 loss in Ottawa during the season-opening away swing.
“It’s every hockey player’s dream to get that call. Now it’s all about taking advantage of the opportunity here,” Portillo told reporters.
Detroit’s cage will be guarded by a familiar protector, Cam Talbot, who formed a tandem with Copley initially and then Rittich for the Kings last season. Talbot expressed unequivocal interest in returning to the Kings as well as a preference for a two-year contract, which he got from Detroit in the offseason.
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Thus far, Talbot has posted a 5-2-1 record with a 2.34 goals-against average and .927 save percentage behind a top defensive pairing that includes two recent lottery picks out of Europe, German Moritz Seider and Swede Simon Edvinsson.
Seider and leading scorer Lucas Raymond joined captain Dylan Larkin over the summer as the only Red Wings earning more than $8 million against the salary cap annually after both signed long-term extensions.
Detroit at Kings
When: 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: FDSNW