Down two goalies, Kings hit road to Colorado
While the Kings may have injuries in a key position with both goalies out, they’ll travel to Colorado to face an Avalanche squad that seems to be perpetually banged up despite boasting a deep, talented roster.
The teams will square off Friday and Sunday at Ball Arena in Denver, with the Avs leading the Kings by two points for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division. With a clean sweep, the Kings could turn the tables on Colorado and assume a two-point lead of their own.
Today: Kings at Avalanche, 6 p.m., FSW
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They split a pair of earlyseason meetings at Staples Center, both of which were de facto one-goal games: a 3-2 Kings loss and a 4-2 victory aided by an empty-net goal. Colorado has stayed afloat despite flirting with double digits in terms of injured players, going 5-4-1 in their past 10 games. They out-shot the Arizona Coyotes 46-14 on Wednesday, but needed overtime to seal the deal in a 2-1 win.
The Kings are coming off a sound performance against the Ducks in a 5-1 victory and two multi-goal comebacks in their two previous games, one to force overtime and another to steal a game in OT. Overall, though, they have won two of their past seven games.
“It doesn’t matter how many games they’ve won or lost (lately), they’re still a good hockey team,” Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer said. “They can score. The games there were all won by one goal. It’s going to be another tight game. If we play the way we played yesterday, we have a good chance of setting ourselves up for a win.”
The Kings will be missing goalies Jonathan Quick (upper-body injury) and Cal Petersen (COVID protocol-related absence). Petersen remained isolated, though The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman reported that his absence is believed to be a contact tracing issue rather than a positive case. Quick did not practice Thursday, and neither goalie traveled to Denver.
That will likely mean more of Troy Grosenick, a 31-year-old goalie who has played three NHL games in his career. The good news for the Kings is two of those three outings were sterling performances, including a 33-save showing against the Ducks on Wednesday, his first NHL appearance in more than six years.
Forward Adrian Kempe also extended his goal streak to three games, during which he has racked up six tallies.
Injured forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan did travel and practiced in a red, noncontact jersey. Defenseman Tobias Bjornfot practiced with the team Thursday.
The Avalanche, on the other hand, will be without a goalie (Pavel Francouz), five defensemen (including 2020 Calder Trophy winner Cale Makar) and at least one forward (J.T. Compher). Their perennial Hart Trophy contender, center Nathan MacKinnon, returned against Arizona for his first game in a week.
Avalanche Coach Jared Bednar said he did not expect any returns to the lineup against the Kings on Friday, but that rookie defenseman Bowen Byram might be the next player to come back.
MacKinnon and right wing Mikko Rantanen have paced the Avalanche offensively, each accumulating more than a point per game. In sum, only four Avs have suited up for all 24 of their games. By contrast, seven Kings have been in the lineup for all 25 of their games, despite several positions on the roster remaining flexible to accommodate player development.