The Los Angeles Kings begin a five-game road trip against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
LA are coming off a two-game homestand where they went 1-1-0, losing 5-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins and winning 2-1 versus the Florida Panthers.
Columbus just completed a four-game road trip, finishing with a 1-2-1 record and featuring one of the best tilts we’ve seen all season.
This is the second and final meeting of the 2024-25 NHL regular season between these two clubs. LA picked up a 5-2 victory at home on November 9, 2024.
SPIKE THE CANNON
In twelve career games against the Blue Jackets, Kings Forward Kevin Fiala has thirteen points (4G, 9A) and a +8 rating. He’s registered at least a point in all but two of those matchups – one of which was earlier this season on November 9, 2024.
Since joining the Kings, Fiala has only registered four SOG in four games played against the Blue Jackets.
By comparison, here’s a look at Fiala’s numbers over the years:
With Los Angeles Kings vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
4GP – 1G – 4 SOG – 25% Shooting Percentage
With Minnesota Wild vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
4GP – 2G – 18 SOG – 11% Shooting Percentage
With Nashville Predators vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
4GP – 1G – 10 SOG – 10% Shooting Percentage
Fiala has currently has a 11.5% shooting percentage this season – consistent with his averages playing for the Kings (11.9%).
Fiala’s shooting percentage with the Kings ranks second behind his time with the Wild (12.3%), ahead of the Predators (10.1%).
MARCH-ING ON
Selected 49th-overall at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Blue Jackets Forward Kirill Marchenko has blossomed into a consistent twenty-goal scorer in the NHL, scoring twenty-one goals in 2022-23, and twenty-three goals last season.
He’s already nearing the twenty-goal mark this season, with eighteen in forty-eight games played.
This past summer, Marchenko signed a three-year extension with the Blue Jackets worth $3.85M/year AAV.
For the title of this key… I was going to say something about a marching band. But apparently, Marchenko doesn’t listen to music. So, that’s something.
I guess he marches to the beat of his own drummer. THERE IT IS!
BLUE-COLLARS
The Blue Jackets have their work cut out for them going against the defensive-minded Kings who rank sixth in the league in PK% (82.1%) and second in GA/G (2.44).
Individually, Captain Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault have 56.0% and 53.7% faceoff win percentages (respectively) and Tanner Jeannot ranks sixteenth in the league in hits (135).
Puck drop is slated for 4:05 PM PST. You can watch the game on television via the FanDuel Sports Network or listen live with the ESPN LA app.
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