As the Kings hit the road, they also sought to strike a balance in their lineup, having recently shuffled their back end and now appearing to have made some significant tweaks up front.
They’ll open a six-game journey in Ottawa on Tuesday, on what will be their second-longest road trip of the season before another six-game trip in January that will span more days. Fans can expect to see the return of winger Alex Iafallo, perhaps as early as Tuesday. He has recovered from a lower-body injury he sustained on Oct. 17.
“We miss him in a lot of different situations, (both) with and without the puck. He’s a trusting player,” Coach Todd McLellan said as Iafallo neared a return.
In addition to reintegrating Iafallo, the Kings seemed poised to shake up their forward lines by moving sniper Arthur Kaliyev to the top trio and dropping Adrian Kempe to a third line that could feature Gabe Vilardi and Alex Iafallo. That would mean that either Kempe or Vilardi would move from wing to center, where both have prior experience.
Those adjustments to the attack mirrored the moving parts on defense that the Kings utilized during the back half of their homestand. Tobias Bjornfot made his season debut, drawing in for Sean Walker against Arizona. Bjornfot remained in the lineup against Carolina when Walker replaced Alex Edler, whom the Kings would like to rest occasionally.
Meanwhile, Brandt Clarke has been back practicing with the Kings after completing a conditioning stint in the minors. He appeared to be on track to be loaned to Team Canada for the World Junior Championships, but that plan was thrown into flux on Monday when Hockey Canada did not include Clarke among the group of 29 players invited to its selection camp.
“I think if we were lucky enough to be in the playoffs starting tomorrow, we would have a good idea of the six (defensemen) that we would want to start, and we would run them right into the ground, for lack of a better term, with a seventh and an eighth ready to go,” McLellan said. “We have a pretty good idea of that, but we’re only 27 games in and we’re to keep everybody on board because as we saw last year, you never know when you’ll need them.”
Even in goal, the Kings have lineup questions to answer. Cal Petersen was waived and re-assigned to the American Hockey League last week, where he has since allowed just three goals in two wins. That signified that recently promoted Pheonix Copley became the Kings’ current backup. Copley has 31 games of NHL experience, predominantly accrued during the 2018-19 season with the Washington Capitals. With heavy travel and one back-to-back set on the trip, he will likely make his Kings debut, though McLellan’s remarks suggested that, foreseeably, Copley would play sparingly during his time with the Kings.
“(Copley) is part of our team,” McLellan said. “We’ve got a really good goaltender in Jonathan Quick, who’s played over 700 games, so somebody to play minutes, good minutes, strong minutes, confident minutes is strong for us. That’s what we think of him, that’s how we’ll use him.”
The Kings effectively split their recent homestand, earning four of eight points despite losing three of four games. After rebounding from two straight overtime losses – the first one to these same Senators and the second of which saw them surrender nine goals to Seattle – with a victory over Arizona, the Kings were outplayed through much of their matchup with Carolina.
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“We have a lot better (game), and I think that just comes down to accountability. That’s something that we’ll look at and we’ll be better for,” defenseman Sean Durzi said after the loss to Carolina.
That accountability should start against the Senators, who recently turned blooper-reel defense from the Kings into a highlight for themselves. Tim Stutzle’s end-line-to-blue-line saucer pass sent a totally unmarked Claude Giroux in for a breath-taking breakaway that decided their 3-2 victory over the Kings on Nov. 27.
Forward Brady Tkachuk continues to pace Ottawa in scoring. He was involved in a bizarre incident last season in which he was bit by Kings winger Brendan Lemieux. Lemieux missed the game on Nov. 27 and, despite some progress, remained sidelined as the Kings departed for Canada’s capital.
KINGS AT OTTAWA
When: Tuesday, 4 p.m.
Where: Canadian Tire Centre
TV/Radio: Bally Sports West/IHeartRadio