The Week That Was
The Kings have kicked off the season and their seven-game road trip with points in their first two games. With a 1-0-1 record after the first weekend of the 2024-25 season, the Kings have earned three of a possible four points. The first win of the season came in game one thanks to an excellent individual night by Anze Kopitar. Kopitar recorded all three goals against the Sabres in a 3-1 victory; all coming in the third period. A day and a half later, the Kings dropped the puck in Boston at 10 AM PST. Unbothered by the early start, the Kings scored the game’s first goal. After surrendering a game-tying goal in the second half of the second period, the game went to overtime and the Bruins took the extra point when David Pastrnak buried his third goal of the season.
Game Recaps:
Notable News From The Week That Was:
- Forward Andre Lee made his NHL debut in the season opener against the Buffalo Sabres. Lee, 24, was a seventh-round pick in the 2019 draft. Lee has played in both games thus far and has logged 14:29 time on ice combined in the two games.
- The Kings power play went 1-for-10 this past week.
- The Kings more aggressive penalty is off to a perfect 10-for-10 start through the first two games.
- There is no injury news to report on.
- Anze Kopitar’s three goals ranks tied for fifth in the NHL.
- Darcy Kuemper started both games this past week, stopping 55 of 58 shots.
The Week That Is
The Kings will look to extend their point streak to three games and beyond this week. With four games on the schedule this week, the Kings have a three-game trip north of the border before heading back to Southern California for a date with the Anaheim Ducks.
The week’s games begin bright and early on Monday as another 10 AM PST game awaits the Kings. This time in Ottawa, the Kings and Senators are set to face off for the first of two times this season. The Senators are out to a 1-1-0 start this year and have a belief that the playoffs are a legitimate possibility this season. The Senators haven’t seen postseason play in eight years, but with a younger roster getting more mature and a new elite goalie between the pipes, Senators nation is optimistic. The Senators acquired Linus Ullmark during the offseason from the Boston Bruins and just recently signed their starter to a four-year, $33M ($8.25M AAV) contract extension. Ullmark has started both games for the Senators so far, defeating the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on their opening night, followed by a 4-1 defeat against the Montreal Canadiens. The Senators one win came on home ice, while their lone loss came on the road. Tim Stutzle leads the way offensively for the Senators with three of the team’s four goals this season. Following Monday’s game, the Kings and Senators will close out their season series in LA late November.
The Kings will then head west to Toronto for what will be the first half of a back-to-back and the first of 13 back-to-back’s this season. Three games into their season, the Maple Leafs are 2-1-0 and will go into their game against the Kings coming off of back-to-back 4-2 victories. New bench boss Craig Berube has brought his grit and Stanley Cup champion pedigree to the Maple Leafs after being fired by the St. Louis Blues midway through last season. The Maple Leafs have to be happy with their 2-1-0 start given the newly appointed captain Auston Matthews is still in search of his first points of the season. On the other end of the spectrum, Max Domi leads the Maple Leafs in points and assists with three of each. The Kings and Maple Leafs will meet again in LA in late March.
Following their game against the Maple Leafs, the Kings will have to travel back east to Montreal to close out the three-game Canadian portion of the road trip. Also 2-1-0, the Canadiens like the Kings previous two opponents are also undefeated on home ice. Also supplying a young core, the Canadiens defense is highlighted by 20-year-old Lane Hutson. The elusive second-round pick from the 2022 draft currently leads all NHL rookies in points with four (0-4=4). Also off to a hot start this season is Canadiens hometown goaltender Sam Montembault. Montembault, a Quebec native has both of the Canadiens wins this season, including a season-opening 48-save shutout against the rivaled Maple Leafs. Not to be forgotten, Cole Caufield is tied with Hutson for the team’s leading scorer. With an inverse stat line compared to Hutson, all four of Caufield’s points have come from goals. Caufield currently trails only Utah’s Dylan Guenther (5) for the NHL lead in goals. The Kings and Canadiens will meet again in early February to close out the season series.
The Kings will travel back Southern California following Thursday’s game against the Canadiens and will look to adapt their internal clocks after what will be 17 days in the eastern time zone. With a few days to adapt, the Kings will travel to Anaheim for a Sunday night showdown with the Ducks. Entering the week, the Ducks are 1-1-0 with a season-opening road shutout win over the San Jose Sunday and road loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. With a combined three Ducks goals in two games to start the season, Trevor Zegras, who is looking for a bounce back season has already found the back of the net. Zegras enters the 2024-25 season having notched just 15 points (6-9=15) in 31 games last season. With an injured John Gibson sidelined for 3-6 weeks (abdomen), Lukas Dostal has taken reigns of the Ducks net and made his case to be the starter even when Gibson does return. Dostal currently holds a 1-0-0 record after blanking the Sharks on Saturday with 30-save performance. The Kings will face the Ducks four times this season with the first two games taking place in Anaheim in 2024, followed by the ladder two at home in 2025.
Upcoming games and events this week:
- 10/14 @ Ottawa Senators @ 10:00 AM (Bally Sports West)
- 10/16 @ Toronto Maple Leafs @ 4:30 PM (Bally Sports West)
- 10/17 @ Montreal Canadiens @ 4:00 PM (Bally Sports West)
- 10/20 @ Anaheim Ducks @ 5:00 PM (Bally Sports West and NHL Network)
All Kings games can be heard on the ESPN LA App.
