I’ve got the latest on the NHL action—the Los Angeles Kings are sitting atop the Pacific Division early in the season, but their performance has been consistently inconsistent over the past month.
The Kings started the campaign by dropping three of their first four games, but since then, they haven’t won or lost more than two in a row. If this up-and-down play continues, the Kings could be in line for a victory when they visit the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles is coming off a 3-1 loss against the Calgary Flames on Monday night to kick off a quick two-game road trip. The Kings and Avalanche will now meet for the first of three matchups this season, and for Darcy Kuemper, the Kings’ goaltender, it’s a reunion with his former team.
Kuemper, who backstopped Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup title, made 25 saves on Monday but came out on the losing end. Los Angeles wasn’t pleased with its play against the Flames, who scored twice in a span of 36 seconds in the second period to grab a 2-0 lead. The Kings couldn’t generate enough offense to pull even.
“It was just one of those games where we didn’t connect, we didn’t play well enough, we didn’t have the energy that you need,” Kings captain Anze Kopitar said. “We’re playing catch-up for the better part of half of the game, and yet we were still in it until the very end. Everything has to be better.”
Coming off a 3-2 overtime victory against the Nashville Predators on Monday, the Avalanche have won the first two games of a four-game homestand that wraps up on Friday night. By then, Colorado could nearly have its full complement of forwards.
Jonathan Drouin, who has been out since sustaining an upper-body injury in the Avalanche’s season opener back on Oct. 9, is close to returning, as is Miles Wood. Wood has missed the past six games with an upper-body injury, but both players were skating in regular jerseys during practice on Tuesday.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said that he would talk to team trainers before making a final decision on the duo. Colorado assigned forwards T.J. Tynan and Nikita Prishchepov to the AHL, which could indicate that Wood and Drouin will be in the lineup on Wednesday.
After serving a suspension since this past spring, Valeri Nichushkin is eligible to return on Friday and should be in the lineup. Last season’s playoffs placed him in Stage 3 of the Player Assistance Program. That leaves Ross Colton (foot) and captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee) as the only top-six forwards on the shelf for the Avalanche.
The Avalanche have stayed above water despite all the injuries, largely due to the performances of stars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who are among the NHL’s point leaders. Makar’s defensive partner, Devon Toews, has struggled a bit, but Bednar said he has not felt fully healthy all season.
As the Kings and Avalanche prepare to face off, all eyes will be on Kuemper’s return to Colorado. The former Cup-winning goaltender will look to lead the Kings to victory against his old teammates, while the Avalanche aim to continue their winning ways despite their injury concerns. It’s sure to be an exciting matchup between two of the Western Conference’s top teams.