12/12 Preview – Kings on “putting a few together” + Home Performance, Byfield shot mentality/faceoffs, Malott on coming back in

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings are back home for just the one game, as they host the Calgary Flames this evening in a Pacific Division matchup.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Throughout his career against Calgary, forward Anze Kopitar has scored 10 power-play goals, tied for his highest total against any one opponent. In total, Kopitar has scored 21 career goals versus the Flames, tied for his fifth-most against a team. He also leads the Kings with seven points (1-6-7) over the last two seasons in head-to-head matchups with Calgary.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held an optional morning skate today in El Segundo, following a full-team practice yesterday afternoon.

After goaltender Anton Forsberg got the nod on Wednesday in Seattle, look for goaltender Darcy Kuemper to be back in net tonight against the Flames, after he did not skate this morning. Kuemper has outstanding career splits versus Calgary, with an 8-3-1 record, a .950 save percentage and a 1.75 goals-against average.

Here’s how the Kings lined up in Seattle, with no lineup changes expected for tonight’s game –

Tonight’s @LAKings Line Rushes –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci

Forsberg
Kuemper

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) December 11, 2025

As noted, same group as the Kings had against Seattle on Wednesday. Should any changes be needed, forwards Andrei Kuzmenko and Samuel Helenius, along with defenseman Jacob Moverare, are options to check into the lineup.

FLAMES VITALS: After a slow start to the season, Calgary has posted a record of 7-3-1 over its last 11 games to climb back within five points of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Per Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960, here’s how the Flames lined up during practice yesterday –

#Flames at practice Friday:

Huberdeau-Frost-Coronato
Sharangovich-Kadri-Farabee
Zary-Backlund-Coleman
Lomberg-Beecher-Klapka
Hunt

Bahl-Andersson
Kuznetsov-Weegar
Hanley-Brzustewicz
Pachal

— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) December 12, 2025

Since he was acquired by Calgary in 2022, Huberdeau leads the Flames with five goals in 10 matchups against the Kings, while amassing eight points in total in that stretch. Throughout his entire career, Huberdeau is a point-per-game player against the Kings, with 25 points (9-16-25) from 25 games played.

Storyline Of The Day –
“Let’s see if we can put some together. We haven’t had that string at any point in the season, really, where we’ve really strung them together and felt good besides that one road trip. We haven’t used the home ice advantage to do that also, so we are looking for that, and I believe that’s going to happen at some point. I’d like it to happen sooner rather than later but I believe we’re going to rattle off five or six in a row.”

I thought Jim Hiller’s media availability yesterday had a lot of good hockey conversation in it. Some bigger-picture things, both Kings and NHL related, and this quote above was one that stuck out to me.

The response was to a question about whether the loss to Chicago last week, which was perhaps the worst game the Kings have played so far this season, could be similar to the loss the Kings had last year in San Jose, which was probably the worst game of last year. That loss was followed by six-straight wins for the Kings, which was the start of around six great weeks of hockey, when the Kings went 13-2-2.

The obvious part of the answer, which was discussed throughout a few questions, was that we just don’t know yet. He’d like it to be, certainly, but you don’t usually recognize it until after the fact.

“Let’s hope we’re talking about this in a week from now and then we’ll be happy,” Hiller added. “Three games after the San Jose game, we probably were talking about how we’d won two or three since then, that it was the turning point. It took some time to string three good weeks together, to say, now, if you look at it, maybe that was what we needed. It’s just too early right now to assess that.”

So far, the Kings are 2-0-1 since that loss. The wins over Chicago and Utah were good performances. The overtime loss to Seattle was one of those rare games that the Kings should have won, because they led 2-1 inside the final 30 seconds of regulation, but they also probably shouldn’t have been leading 2-1 in the first place. Still, it’s five of six points since that game, with Calgary coming up at home before three more on the road.

I’m not sure if that loss was as powerful as the one in San Jose. And, as noted, we won’t know until we look back. But there’s another part of Hiller’s answer that stood out to me. The Kings have to get it going at home.

4-6-3 at home has the Kings ranked 30th in the NHL in both winning percentage and total points at home. 2.15 goals per/game at home is 31st. 12 of their next 19 games are at home. It’s time to turn that record around.

Last time out at Crypto.com Arena, the Kings scored six goals. The six goals were a season-high for the Kings at home and the most they’ve scored in any game this season that’s ended in regulation, home or road. At home, though, they had yet to score more than three.

There were two road games in between, but does that mean the feeling of the win over Chicago disappears? In some ways, I think it’s still there and perhaps something to try and keep going.

“No reason for us to be down, we should feel good,” Hiller added. “Let’s see if we can carry that momentum back onto home ice.”

Chance to keep that home momentum rolling here tonight.

Sure, there’s a chance they go to Dallas, Florida and Tampa Bay and rattle off three wins. But it’s condensed trip against three good teams, with a back-to-back. That’s a tough, tough trip. But coming out of it, the Kings play seven of eight at home, with some winnable games in there. Tonight’s game isn’t included in that mix, but it’s a chance to start to get some home momentum rolling.

3 To Watch For –
– Two notes here on Quinton Byfield.

First, sharing this quote from Jim Hiller from earlier today.

“Him and I talked yesterday, I think a shot mentality, let’s start with that. Getting around the net is a part of it too, but I think the shot mentality, yesterday in practice, he scored goals, it was good to see, he forced the goalie to make some saves when typically he might look for Kevin, that one more play. In practice, he didn’t do that yesterday. I think you’re going to see him shoot more. Sometimes, it takes the player to get to the point where, enough. I think he’s there. I think you’re going to see him more direct.”

I’d like to see that mentality in dangerous areas with the shot and down the wing, using his unique combination of size and speed to get to the net. Glad to see that being discussed.

Secondly, I noticed Byfield on the ice well after yesterday’s practice ended, working on faceoffs specifically.

He’s not the only player in that boat – Alex Turcotte and Alex Laferriere routinely do the same thing, with Laferriere involved yesterday as well. But for Byfield, it was an extended session with Jarret Stoll, who is the organization’s typical coach when it comes to that specific area of the game.

Byfield pointed to a few things that are important in that area as for what he was working on.

“It’s repetition, trying to get as many reps you can,” he said. “Going against a lot of different guys, different techniques, linesmen, how they drop it, sometimes getting kicked out. It’s not just as simple as drop the puck, do this. There’s a lot that goes into it, so I’m trying to keep getting better at that.”

He referred to Stoll as a big resource for him. Stoll was over 55 percent in his NHL career, one of the best marks in NHL history. Good guy to learn from. Phillip Danault talked in the past about what Yanic Perreault did for his career and he’s been a plus faceoff guy every year with the Kings. Stoll has long worked with centers in the organization to improve in that area and with Byfield currently at 41 percent, there’s room to work on his game in that area.

Good to see him putting in the work in a few ways to get to where he’s capable of being.

– An interesting quirk of the schedule this season has been a lack of practice time.

For a player like Jeff Malott, who has been in and out of the lineup, with that comes the added challenge of staying ready to go without a ton of competitive situations, even in practices, with which to do so.

“It’s been an adjustment for sure,” Malott said. “I think back to what we’ve been talking about, the more simple you can keep it, the more predictable you can be, the easier it is to get back into the groove of the game. Once you’ve kind of got your legs under you in the game, then you start to see what’s there. Just staying ready and trying to keep it simple out of the gate and build some momentum early is definitely what helps the most.”

Malott is a player who plays within himself. He’s got a like-mindset to Turcotte, even with different skills. Skates decently for his size, plays with physicality and likes to get in on the forecheck.

That line, with him, Turcotte and Corey Perry seems to be effective most times they’re together and they deliver the kind of game you’d really want from a fourth line, which is playing in the offensive end, providing energy and a spark.

“I think early on this year, we saw that’s what was working for us and giving us some sustained time in the o-zone,” he said of that line’s forechecking abilities. “It’s way more fun to be playing down there. I think just a matter of seeing it work early and trying to do as much as we can.”

– Lastly, expecting a difficult matchup tonight against Calgary.

The Kings lost all three games against the Flames last season and have lost five of six and nine of 14 in total against Calgary. The only game in Los Angeles was a throwaway game in April, a 5-1 Flames victory as the Kings rested several regulars. The games in Calgary, though, were low-scoring defeats. Always proven to be a tough game against a hardworking team, especially one that is playing substantially better hockey as of late.

“It’s not necessarily who you play, but when you play them and Calgary is really playing quite well right now,” Hiller said. “They struggled a little bit earlier in the season, for whatever reasons, but got things going and now we’re seeing them play some good hockey.”

Kings will have to deliver a good performance to get the two points.

Kings and Flames, a short stint here at home before the team returns to the road for a three-game trip. A good opportunity to bank a couple points for the plane!