Raymond's Mental Toughness, Lyon Keeps the Net, and Scouting a Stingy LA Team: Red Wings-Kings Game Day Notebook & Where to Watch
Everything you need to know ahead of tonight's Red Wings-Kings game in Los Angeles
Tonight at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles, the Detroit Red Wings will take on the Kings in the second leg of their California road trip. Here's what you need to know ahead of the evening's action.
Raymond Embodies Detroit's Post-Minnesota Turn Around
The Red Wings' first game out of a three-day holiday break was far from convincing. Detroit dropped a 6-3 decision in Minnesota to the surging Wild. What was concerning wasn't so much the outcome as the ease with which the Wild pounced on Red Wing turnover after turnover for easy transition effort.
At the center of that middling effort was Lucas Raymond, who finished the night at -4 in 14:17 with one shot and no points to show for his minutes. As Derek Lalonde put it to reporters yesterday after practice in Los Angeles, it's not just that Raymond was -4, it's that he "earned the -4" and "could've been a -6 that night" with his performance.
However, in the three games since, Lalonde has been impressed with the "mental toughness to bounce back" from that poor effort, describing the young Swede as "arguably our best player" against Nashville, Boston, and San Jose, a span in which he has notched a goal and four assists (including the OT winner against the Predators). "There's some mental fortitude, and he's really growing as a player," Lalonde said.
When asked what he believes has gone right for Detroit in taking two of its last three games, Raymond himself said, "Playing with the puck, retrieving in the O zone a lot. I feel like that's where we create a lot of chances." He has played a central role in those offensive zone retrievals, hustling and winning battles to recover pucks and extend his team's stays in the final third of the rink.
Lalonde praised Raymond's line with David Perron and Dylan Larkin for the way they "tilted the ice" each shift against the Sharks Tuesday. With that said, Raymond emphasized after yesterday's practice that he believes the team still needs to improve in its own zone, saying that is "a big part that we've been talking about...we want to be stronger in front of our net, especially breaking pucks out."
Joe Veleno offered a similar perspective, saying that during the Red Wings' difficult month of December, "We weren't defending as well, our D zone coverage wasn't dialed. Neutral zone, we were giving up a lot of odd-man rushes...We were trying to make plays that weren't always there, and it led to other teams capitalizing."
Detroit will look to continue to improve its play in the defensive zone tonight in LA.
Copp Questionable; Lyon Starts; Still No Timetable for Husso
Andrew Copp did not practice yesterday, and Lalonde described him as questionable to appear in tonight's game. If he cannot go, the Red Wings could turn to Zach Aston-Reese or use seven defensemen and only 11 forwards.
Meanwhile, Alex Lyon—the Red Wings de facto number one goalie, at least for the time being—will get the start in net. In 10 games this season, Lyon is now 6-4-0 with a .917 save percentage and 2.53 goals against average.
Lalonde also noted after yesterday's practice that there is not yet a timeline for Ville Husso's return to game action, while mentioning that there is some optimism he will be back on the ice in the not too distant future.
Scouting the Kings
At 20-9-5, the Los Angeles Kings enter tonight's game placed third in the Pacific Division, though they have suffered three straight losses (at Vegas, then at home to Edmonton and Toronto).
LA's big swing this offseason was a trade with the Winnipeg Jets, in which the Kings exchanged Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a 2024 second-round pick for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Thus far, the trade looks a lot better for the Jets than it does for LA, with Vilardi having outscored Dubois (15 points to 14) this season. Despite that, the Kings look like a credible Cup contender.
The three-headed monster of Anze Kopitzar (14 goals, 20 assists), Adrian Kempe (12 goals, 21 assists) and Kevin Fiala (eight goals and 23 assists) has carried the offensive freight, even as Dubois has not quite lived up to his billing.
However, it's been LA's defense—for which Dubois deserves at least some credit—that has carried the Kings thus far. They are giving up 2.35 goals-per-game and 2.70 expected goals against-per-60 (according to MoneyPuck), and those marks are both tops in the NHL. At an 87.0% kill rate, Los Angeles also boasts the top penalty kill in the league.
Behind that defense, Cam Talbot has been excellent in net, earning a 14-8-3 record on the strength of a .925 SV% and 2.10 GAA.
Thanks to their hosts' stingy defending, it won't be an easy night out on the town for the Red Wings in Los Angeles.
Where to Watch
Tonight's game (a 10:30 PM Eastern start) will be on its familiar home of Bally Sports Detroit (both on television and the BSD+ app). For out-of-market fans,
Also from THN Detroit