LA Kings Maple Leafs

After a successful homestand, the LA Kings head to Canada to work their way across the country, starting first in Toronto.

The LA Kings don’t get to ease into this road trip. After some early struggles, the Toronto Maple Leafs seem to have righted the ship and currently sit second in the Atlantic Division. Toronto is currently on a five-game winning streak, where they’ve outscored opponents 19 to 9 over that span. Their most recent win was a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

High-scoring games have been the anomaly for the Leafs this season. Thinking of the Toronto Maple Leafs as a team struggling to score seems strange, but that’s the story on the season so far. Scoring is led by the usual suspects of Tavares, Nylander, and Matthews, but there’s very little depth scoring so far.

The LA Kings have a franchise record of 67-63-21-2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Yes, that’s 21 ties, from back in the day.) The teams haven’t played each other since March 5, 2020, shortly before the 2019-20 season was paused due to the pandemic. The LA Kings won that game 1-0 in the shootout. That season, the LA Kings split their series against Toronto with one win and one loss.

One-Timers

  • If former LA Kings goalie Jack Campbell gets the start tonight, it will be his first time facing his former team. Campbell is currently 6-2-1 with a .936 save percentage and 1.88 goals against average.
  • This will be just the second game that Jake Muzzin has played against the Kings. His only game against the LA Kings to date was a November 5, 2019 win at home in Toronto.
  • Petr Mrazek, brought in to back up Campbell, hasn’t been able to stay healthy. He’s played just two games to date and was just placed on the Injured Reserve list. Campbell is going to have to continue to shoulder the load until at least early December.

 

  • Aside from Mrazek, the only other Maple Leafs player out of the lineup is Ilya Mikheyev, who broke his thumb in mid-October.
  • In Sunday’s practice, the LA Kings elevated Adrian Kempe to the top line and Andreas Athanasiou to the second line. Lias Andersson (injured) and TJ Tynan skated as the extras.
  • Viktor Arvidsson and Gabe Vilardi remain off the roster due to COVID-19 protocols. The longer they’re out of commission, the longer the LA Kings have to decide who they’re going to have to send back to Ontario once those guys are healthy.

Puck Drop and Broadcast Info

  • Monday, November 8 at 4:30 p.m. P.T.
  • TV: NHL Network, Bally Sports West, TVAS, Sportsnet

Tale of the Tape

Powerplay
LA Kings: 20.5% (17th)
TOR: 22.9% (12th)

Penalty-Kill
LAK: 71.0% (28th)
TOR: 83.8% (13th)

Faceoffs
LAK: 52.6% (7th)
TOR: 55.5% (1st)

Goals Per Game
LAK: 2.64 (23rd)
TOR: 2.67 (21st)

Goals Against Per Game
LAK: 2.83 (16th)
TOR: 2.67 (10th)

Top Scorer
LAK: Anze Kopitar – 7 goals, 7 assists, 14 points
TOR: John Tavares — 6 goals, 6 assists, 12 points and Mitch Marner — 3 goals, 9 assists, 12 points

LA Kings: Cal Petersen enjoying friendly rivalry with Jonathan Quick

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