11/8 Preview – Foegele Talks Injury, Lineup Return Today + Kopitar/Crosby/Malkin, SH Goals Against, 5-Game Trip Begins

TODAY’S MATCHUP: After a middling 1-2-1 homestand, the Kings begin a stretch of six straight games on the road, beginning today in Pittsburgh with the first swing to the East Coast this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forwards Kevin Fiala and Warren Foegele scored when these teams met in Los Angeles back in October, a 4-2 Pittsburgh victory. Forward Adrian Kempe was held off the scoresheet in that game but has scored nine goals in his last nine games played versus the Penguins, including goals in each of his last two trips to PPG Paints Arena. Kempe’s ten career goals against the Penguins are his most against any team from the Eastern Conference and tied for his third most versus any one NHL opponent.

KINGS VITALS: Considering the afternoon puck drop, the Kings did not hold a morning skate in advance of today’s game.

No confirmation here without a morning skate but would expect to see goaltender Darcy Kuemper between the pipes to begin this trip, after he got a night off on Thursday versus Florida. Kuemper has a lifetime record of 4-4-2 against the Penguins, with a .910 save percentage and a 3.06 goals-against average.

For reference, here’s how the Kings lined up during yesterday’s practice day in Pittsburgh –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci

Kuemper / Forsberg

Naturally, we won’t know about today’s exact lineup until the team takes the ice in a few hours for warmups in Pittsburgh, but can confirm that forward Warren Foegele is expected to return to action this afternoon against the Penguins. Foegele has missed the last five games with an upper-body injury sustained in Chicago last month. He’ll start with Alex Turcotte and Corey Perry and go from there. Foegele takes the place of Jeff Malott, who didn’t do anything to lose his spot, but falls victim to the numbers game. More on Foegele below.

PENGUINS VITALS: The Penguins complete the second half of a back-to-back this evening, following yesterday’s 2-1 shootout defeat on the road against the New Jersey Devils.

Per Michelle Crechiolo of Pens Inside Scoop, here’s how the Penguins took line rushes during their most recent practice before today’s game –

#LetsGoPens lines and D-pairs from today’s practice before flying to New Jersey:

Rust-Crosby-Kindel
Novak-Malkin-Mantha
Koppanen-Hayes-Koivunen (Tomasino rotating in)
Dewar-Lizotte-Heinen

Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Shea-Letang
Graves-Clifton
Dumba-Brunicke

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) November 7, 2025

Third in the NHL in goals entering today’s game? Pittsburgh forward Sidney Crosby. Crosby scored twice on Thursday against Washington, bringing his season total to 11. Crosby trails only Nathan MacKinnon and Cole Caufield for the league lead in goals, while his 19 points are tied for the 15th most in the NHL thus far this season. Among skaters with at least 30 shots on goal, Crosby leads the league in shooting percentage (31.4%).

Storyline Of The Day – Warren Peace
Warren Foegele knew he dodged a bullet.

Yeah, missing five games was not ideal, but it could have been a lot worse and he knew it.

“You never like to get hurt and in the moment, you’re in a little bit of panic, but I was fortunate, I really dodged a big bullet there,” Foegele said of his injury.

The bullet dodged, considering the awkward collision with Chicago’s Nick Foligno, was probably a broken wrist, which was thankfully not the result for Foegele.

Ultimately, he wasn’t off the ice for all that long, working his way back with the group this week. Foegele began in a non-contact capacity and progressed into full-contact participation yesterday. Hasn’t really been that long and Foegele’s injury was upper-body, which helps with conditioning, but he’s still put a lot into coming back, which makes it exciting to play today.

“I’ve felt good, I’ve been skating pretty hard the past week and I’m feeling really good,” Foegele said. “The staff’s been really great with me and I’m looking forward to getting back to play. I thought I’ve been playing pretty well in practice and [Saturday] was great, get some bumps and bruises and just go from there.”

Foegele was very complimentary of the Kings training and strength and conditioning teams for getting him back and ready as soon as possible. He’s ready to go and today’s the day he’ll get back to it.

Awaiting Foegele is a Kings team that has struggled to establish any sort of consistency early in the season. Foegele skated yesterday in practice with Alex Turcotte and Corey Perry on a line that doesn’t look all that much like a fourth line.

Foegele and Turcotte had good chemistry when playing together in a short spurt last season. In just over 100 minutes together, the Kings controlled more than 60 percent of shots on goal, scoring chances and high-danger chances with Foegele and Turcotte on the ice. From their time together in Edmonton, Foegele and Perry have just over 70 minutes together and have posted similar splits, with more than 60 percent of scoring chances and high-danger chances in their favor. Don’t mind that.

Jim Hiller said he believes the Turcotte/Perry pairing should be a “good line for him” as it pertains to Foegele. Foegele was an instrumental player for the Kings last season, leading the team in 5-on-5 goals and high-danger chances. Sounds like two things they desperately need. It hasn’t gone the same way offensively early for Foegele in 2025-26, but Hiller believes Foegele’s best games were the ones right before his injury.

“I think Foegs would probably tell you he didn’t have the best start to the season but right before he went out, he started looking more like Foegs,” Hiller said. “He sat out and watched and he commented to me how effective Turc’s line was. I think that maybe was a good reset for him, just to sit back and go, as much as you want to do all this other stuff, it’s not there that often. That straight line approach works and it works for his style.”

Foegele will start in that spot and we’ll see how things go. If he plays well, I could see him shuffling up in the lineup. An effective Warren Foegele is the type of guy who can help turn things around a bit for the Kings.

3 To Watch For –
– Yeah, last one was on me.

you dumbass https://t.co/j6eZ0Z0cZb

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) October 17, 2025

Thought it was going to be a hit……

But today should be the day……only in Pittsburgh. As the Kings and Penguins take the ice this afternoon, Anze Kopitar, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are all slated to play today, marking what will be the final regular-season game with all three players in action together. With Kopitar announcing his pending retirement at the end of the season, and the teams already playing in October when Kopitar was out with a foot injury, tonight marks the end of an era.

Three future Hall of Fame centers all who approached the game and played the game differently, all at an elite level. 1, 3 and 4 among active players in assists, 1, 3 and 5 among active players in points. Three of the best to play the game through the middle of the ice and it’ll be a treat to witness them together one last time here this afternoon in Pennsylvania.

– One narrative currently going that I don’t quite understand is that the five-forward power-play unit is conceding shorthanded goals.

It’s true that the Kings have given up an NHL-leading four shorthanded goals. What’s not true is that it’s been a result of the five-forward power play. Of the four goals, one was a 4-on-6 empty-net goal against New Jersey and the other three came with at least one defenseman on the ice. Two came with two defensemen on the ice, against the second power-play unit, and the one on Thursday against Florida came with one.

The power play has goals in two straight games, a small step forward, but still ranks 22nd in the NHL at 17 percent. That’s the part of the five-forward unit that should be questioned, is the goals scored. The shorthanded goals against, while concerning, has had nothing to do with the personnel deployment of that unit.

– Lastly, while there’s really no rhyme or reason to it, the Kings have just been flat out better on the road this season than at home.

Thus far, the Kings have been one of the NHL’s best road teams. The Kings have picked up 12 of their 16 points away from home this season and rank second in the league in road winning percentage (.750) and tied for fourth in road points (12). No better time, or perhaps no more necessary time, to expand on those numbers than the current trip.

Five-game trip here, six straight in total on the road for the Kings. Big one to start things off with today against the Penguins in a Sunday-afternoon matinee.