11/13 Preview – Goals Like The Kings + Malott’s Homecoming, Kuzmenko Out, Kopitar Quest in Toronto

TODAY’S MATCHUP:HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Phillip Danault has led the Kings in scoring against the Maple Leafs since he signed with the team in 2021. Danault has six points (3-3-6) in that span, including three goals and four points from the four games he has played in Toronto. The Kings have three Toronto alums on their roster, with Cody Ceci, Joel Edmundson and Trevor Moore all playing for the Maple Leafs earlier in their careers.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings had a day off yesterday in Toronto and held a full-team morning skate today at Scotiabank Arena.

The Kings are expected to turn back to goaltender Darcy Kuemper between the pipes this evening against the Maple Leafs. Kuemper has won both games he’s played thus far on the trip. He brings with him a lifetime record of 3-5-0 against Toronto, with a .887 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average.

Below is how the Kings lined up this morning, with a projection of how they’ll align this evening against the Maple Leafs –

Armia – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Malott – Turcotte – Perry

Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci

Kuemper / Forsberg

The Kings have shuffled their lines around a few times in-game against Pittsburgh and Montreal and we’ll see a couple of those changes in place tonight. Look for Warren Foegele to be back with his line tonight, alongside Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore. Andrei Kuzmenko will likely be a healthy scratch, with Jeff Malott checking back in.

MAPLE LEAFS VITALS: Toronto enters tonight’s game on a three-game losing streak, extended with a 5-3 defeat in Boston on Tuesday evening.

Per David Alter of the Hockey News, here’s how tonight’s opponent lined up last time out against the Bruins –

#Leafs lines during morning skate Nov. 13/25

Knies-Tavares-Nylander
Robertson-Domi-McMann
Joshua-Roy-Maccelli
Blais-Lorentz-Jarnkrok

Rielly-Carlo
Benoit-McCabe
Mermis-OEL
Myers

Hildeby
Akhtyamov@BodogCA pic.twitter.com/uVtp1yLhEa

— David Alter (@dalter) November 13, 2025

Toronto forward Auston Matthews (lower-body injury) and goaltender Anthony Stolarz (upper-body injury) left the game in Boston early and did not return. Matthews is tied for the team lead with nine goals, while Stolarz has played 13 of his team’s 17 games this season. Matthews led all Toronto skaters with five points (2-3-5) from the two head-to-head matchups with the Kings. Neither player is expected to play tonight. Look for Toronto to load up their top line, with John Tavares between William Nylander and Matthew Knies, while Dennis Hildeby willis expected to get the start in net, in what will be his tenth career NHL appearance.

Storyline Of The Day – Get After ‘Em
Here’s what I liked most about Montreal.

Quinton Byfield’s goal, the game winner, came on a 6-on-5 sequence in which the Kings probably should’ve lost possession like four different times, which would’ve seen the play whistled down, but they took advantage of tired Montreal defenders, continually recovered pucks after shot attempts and eventually got the goal, a Byfield rebound off a Kempe shot from up top.

Kevin Fiala’s goal, which came just 65 seconds later, was made by Fiala’s tenacity in winning a puck battle in the offensive zone, using his speed and skill to create space and reset the play, before he shook loose and drove the net to capitalize on a miscue from Montreal goaltender Samuel Montembeault.

They were LA Kings plays.

The delayed penalty sequence was over a minute long.

16:46 – Delayed Penalty
16:16 – Byfield SOG, Fiala Recovery
16:05 – Clarke Shot Attempt, Fiala Dummy, Kempe Recovery
15:56 – Fiala/Kopitar Missed Connection, Kempe Recovery
15:43 – Kempe Shot, Byfield Goal

Three times, the Kings had either a shot attempt, a shot on goal or tried to make a play towards the net that did not connect. Three times they recovered the puck and reset. The fourth they made no mistake, as Byfield scored to snap his goal drought.

You like that the goal came from right around the net, as Jim Hiller pointed out after the game. You also like that the Kings showed some tenacity in the offensive zone to continually reset, wear down a tired group of defenders

Fiala’s goal was more direct and more of a Fiala-driven play. He went in and won the puck back. He dished it off, circled the zone and was on hand to capitalize when the situation called for it.

It’s not anything crazy, right? But I love this play from Fiala. If he didn’t make the play, no one would’ve thought twice about it. But he hounded the puck, won a battle and then won another battle/race to the net. Small, small plays that paid real dividends with a big goal. Good on Fiala for the commitment in that area.

Think there’s just something in the way the Kings played there that is hopefully what we’ll continue to see on a more consistent basis.

3 To Watch For –
– Andrei Kuzmenko will not play tonight against the Maple Leafs.

“It’s a difficult conversation with every play, everyone wants to play,” Jim Hiller said. “I think one of the things Ken did this summer was add some depth up front, somebody’s got to sit out and it’s always a tough conversation.”

Kuzmenko once again saw his icetime reduced in Montreal, as he’s struggled to replicate last season’s form so far this year.

His production, compared to the Kings as a whole, hasn’t been all that far off, with seven points (3-4-7) from 17 games played, but his impact hasn’t been what it was when he joined the team last year.

It’s a tricky balance, because when Kuzmenko is on, he’s an important part of what the Kings are doing. His impact on the power play last year was season-defining and he was a great fit with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, in a spot that the team spent all season filling. The best version of Kuzmenko should be in that spot, so it’s important to get him going and the Kings had given him some runway to do so. However, the Kings are also in a place where they need to win each night, and they have to balance letting a creative and skilled player work through some things against what they feel gives them the best chance today. I’m a big Kuzmenko fan, but he hasn’t brought the same level he did last season thus far.

For tonight, Kuzmenko will be a scratch in Toronto. Hopefully this is a reset opportunity rather than a benching that winds up losing. Maybe that is what’s best for tonight. Maybe you let him sit and then get him another run with his usual linemates in Ottawa? That’s how I’d like to see it approached, but we’ll see what ultimately ends up happening going forward.

– The flip side of that?

Jeff Malott will get to play a special game tonight in Toronto. Malott is a Burlington, ONT native who grew up coming to this arena to watch the Maple Leafs.

Jeff Malott on playing his first NHL game in Toronto –

“Means a lot, especially to have some family show up for it as well. This is the rink I went to growing up, I watched my first NHL hockey game here. Pretty cool.”

First time his brother Mike will see him play in the NHL! https://t.co/InHdZxHTAR

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 13, 2025

Malott said his brother Mike, a professional UFC fighter, will be in the building tonight, the first time he’s seen him play an NHL game. He was in Ontario to watch a Reign game last season and he’s seen him play in the AHL with Manitoba but tonight will be the first time he’s gotten the opportunity to see him play in person at the highest level.

Growing up, this was the building that Malott watched his first ever NHL game in as a fan. He said he and his family got out once or twice a year to watch a Maple Leafs game. Tonight, he’ll get the chance to play here for the first time on the ice, with “a lot” of friends and family expected to attend, as he said this morning.

Special night ahead for sure.

– Lastly, tonight will be Anze Kopitar’s final career game in Toronto.

You can say that about, well, everywhere he’ll be this season, but he started the trip with his final career game in Pittsburgh, which was one of just three NHL cities he had never scored a goal in. He went out and got one to go on the power play, to narrow that list down to two. One of the remaining cities is Utah, where he has only played one game last season. The other? Toronto. Kopitar has played in this building 13 times and has six career assists, but he’s never found the back of the net.

This morning, he was asked if he had any memorable moments from his time in Toronto. The answer?

“Not particularly……I think this is the one rink I haven’t scored in, so we’ll see if we can change that tonight.”

One last opportunity for Kopitar to get it done, before games in Utah in December and April to round out his list of buildings.

Kings and Maple Leafs, tonight at 4 PM Pacific! Kings looking to make it 3-for-3 on the road as they aim to keep it rolling on this trip.