TODAY’S GAME: The Kings reached the climax of their seven-game road trip when they face the Pittsburgh Penguins in a matchup on Tuesday night.

HEAD TO HEAD: The Kings went 1-0-1 against the Penguins last season, including a 2-1 win here in Pennsylvania.

Striker Adrian Kempe scored a goal in both games and thus scored a total of three goals in the entire direct comparison series last season. Kempe has scored seven goals in six games over the past three seasons, tied for the most goals in the NHL among Western Conference players.

KINGS VITALS: Following yesterday’s training with the entire team, the visitors held an optional morning run today in Pittsburgh.

There is no Darcy Kuemper on the ice for the morning skate today, so I would consider him the likely starting goaltender in Pittsburgh tonight. Kuemper has played against the Penguins nine times during his career, compiling a 4-4-1 record, a .910 save percentage and a 3.08 goals-against average.

There is no reason to believe that the 11/7 tournament will not continue today as the Kings won in convincing fashion in this lineup. An expected lineup, see below –

Turcotte – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Byfield – Jeannot
Fiala – Danault – Laferrière
Thomas-Helenius

Anderson-Gavrikov
Edmundson-Clarke
Moverare – Spence
Burroughs

Kümper
Rittich

The Kings have a 4-1-0 record in the 11/7 lineup this season and a 17-3-1 record over the last two seasons under Jim Hiller. As long as it continues to win and the current schedule is favorable for it, there is no reason to believe it won’t continue.

Should the Kings look to make a move, forward Andre Lee and defenseman Andreas Englund are available, although the two are late starters after this morning’s skate. Forward Trevor Moore is not expected to play due to an upper body injury.

VITALITY OF THE PENGUINS: After a slow start to the season, Pittsburgh is just one point out of the wild card position after a record of 6-2-1 in their last nine games.

According to the Pittsburgh team report, the Penguins lined up as follows against Ottawa on Saturday:

Today’s lineup in Ottawa ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/1t4oF0c8fW

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 14, 2024

Pittsburgh will make at least one roster move in this group, with defenseman Marcus Pettersson out Saturday with a lower-body injury.

Striker Blake Lizotte will face his former team for the first time. Lizotte played the first 320 games of his NHL career with the Kings before signing with Pittsburgh as a free agent this summer. He started the season strongly with seven goals and 11 points from 16 games played.

Action of the Day – Next player
With forward Trevor Moore currently out of contention, the Kings will be hoping others step up. Not a new blueprint, however. We only saw it on Saturday.

Alex Turcotte took Moore’s spot against the Rangers. Actually, he wasn’t the recipient. He was the deserving option. Turcotte played a career-best 17:07 on Saturday against the Rangers. As part of the team’s 11/7 alignment, he scored a goal and an assist on Kopitar’s line. Turcotte has had runs there before and has been successful at times. He was playing in that position when he was injured in November and was moved back there upon his return.

After the Kings’ 7-2 loss in San Jose, he was the underdog and was relegated to the fourth line, despite playing better than the fourth line. Maybe he would have viewed that as a demotion last season or even early this season and it might have changed his approach. But right now? He knows his worth.

“I know I belong,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing, confidence.”

Now an injury to Moore has freed up that spot and Turcotte was the obvious solution. His game seems to complement what Kopitar and Kempe bring and he just tries to play his game and do what he knows he can do.

“I got a lot of experience with them this year and I feel really good about the state of my game and confident that I just tried to play my game,” Turcotte said. “I try to do that with everyone I play with, that’s my attitude and I think it worked for me.”

Good stuff.

Turcotte moved up and then secured a place in the fourth row, where he had played with Samuel Helenius. Striker Akil Thomas stepped in and Jim Hiller complemented him after the game for his performance on his debut.

Hiller went a step further in Pittsburgh, praising Thomas for his team-oriented attitude and approach. After his injury break, Thomas was not immediately included in the team. It took three games for Moore’s injury to clear the spot for Thomas. He definitely delivered on the first night.

“Akil Thomas came in the last game, a guy who sat out and it’s no fun. He works alone with DJ for three weeks and then he comes in and gives us the game,” Hiller said. For me it’s the team. He came with a great attitude and had a positive impact on the game.”

Often times players coming into the lineup try to do one thing: keep it simple.

Thomas’ game is generally not particularly complex, but he also has playmaking talent. This was seen in New York on Saturday.

He called his attitude a “good frustration.”

Frustrated with not playing in the last three games despite being healthy, but good in the way he channeled it. He emphasized that the measures he took day after day were aimed at improving and staying ready when his number was called. When the time came, he delivered.

“Watching games is frustrating, you want to play, so I just feel like I’ve got a lot of good frustration built up inside of me,” he said. “I just wanted to help as much as I could and I think I did a good job at that. So, pretty happy with the game the other night.”

The Kings finished the game with three goals in a span of 2:18 early in the second period, with Thomas providing the scoring touch that ultimately chased New York starting goaltender Igor Shesterkin out of the game. Thomas initially moved up the ice to assist with the zone entry by switching from his right wing position to the left and receiving a pass from Phillip Danault to reach the blue line with possession. He then sent a powerful backhand assist to find the open man in the slot, defenseman Brandt Clarke, who eventually worked back to Danault, who scored the goal that essentially decided the game.

Thomas said he actually didn’t see Clarke until the last minute. He originally wanted to throw the puck in, but saw the defender’s stick blade kicking up ice and decided to make a play. A reaction in a split second and it led directly to a goal.

All in all, just a really strong performance from Thomas. He’ll play again tonight against the Penguins and look to continue to build momentum.

3 to watch out for –
– Tonight in Pittsburgh the two best players of the 2005 NHL Draft meet. It will be one of the last times we see them on the ice together.

Sidney Crosby and Anze Kopitar, the numbers one and two in games played, goals, assists and points in this draft class, will be on opposite sides of the ice tonight. We’ll most likely see a lot of them on the ice against each other too.

Over the past three seasons, Crosby has been the Pittsburgh forward against whom Kopitar has spent the most time on the ice, averaging 28:07 in 5-on-5 situations. Also a good portion of Evgeni Malkin in the 25 minute range, another legend of the game in his own right. Still, it’s always a pleasure when 11 and 87, two of the all-time greats, are on the ice, each playing their own brand of hockey.

“To have two of the best players in the league at the age they are is unreal,” Hiller said. “Kudos to these two players.”

– On the current stretch of seven wins from eight games played, defenseman Joel Edmundson is +11.

On the ice for 12 goals, compared to only one goal conceded.

“I guess I just hit more than I let on,” he said with a laugh.

Not one to give himself credit, Edmundson praises the team’s defensive approach and attitude for simply being a team that doesn’t allow much defensively. It’s a long season, as he was quick to point out, and there will be ups and downs. Right now, the puck stays out of the net and he’s a big part of it whether he admits it or not.

“Normally it just comes in waves over the course of the season, it’s a long season,” he added. “I think, especially defensively, we don’t allow too much, and when we do, our goalkeepers are there to save us.”

– I last stopped by Kings of the Podcast last night. I enjoyed my time on the show, I’d appreciate a listen HERE if you don’t have anything better to offer!

Kings and Penguins, a puck drop at 4pm Pacific Time as the Kings embark on this long journey!