ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:
3 HARD LAPS
• Tonight the Coyotes begin the fourth and final portion of their 14-game road stretch
• JJ Moser enters tonight on a career-high 5-game point streak. The last Coyotes d-man to have a 6-game run within the same season was Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Nov. of 2017
• Clayton Keller enters tonight with 18 road points (6-12-18) on the year to share the NHL lead with CAR’s Sebastian Aho
LAST GAME
Wild 4, Coyotes 3 – November 27, 2022 – Xcel Energy Center
ARI Goals: Schmaltz (3), Crouse (10), Moser (3)
MIN Goals: Kaprizov (13), Steel (4), Spurgeon (2), Boldy (9)
ARI Goalie: Ingram (L) – 24 svs on 28 shots
MIN Goalie: Fleury (W) – 20 svs on 23 shots
PP: 0-2 PK: 2-3
Notes: ARI suffered its lone regulation loss of the four-game road trip…Lawson Crouse and JJ Moser scored 1:30 apart late in the third period to narrow the deficit to one…Moser extended his career-best point streak to 5 games…Nick Schmaltz lit the lamp for the third consecutive game…Matias Maccelli registered two assists for his third multi-point game of the year…Shayne Gostisbehere picked up an assist to reach double digit helpers for the third straight season and seventh time in his career…Gostisbehere established a 3-game assist/point streak…Clayton Keller added a helper to extend his team-lead in points, now at 21 this season
MAN GAMES LOST (Name/Roster Status/Injury Type/Games Missed/Last Game Played)
Josh Brown…Day-to-Day…Upper-Body (3 / 11/21)
Total man games lost: 62 games
Jakob Chychrun (16), Nick Schmaltz (15), Zack Kassian (9), Connor Timmins (9), Andrew Ladd (6), Ben McCartney (3), Juuso Valimaki (1)
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
-11/23 – Activated F Zack Kassian off IR
-11/23 – Acquired F Curtis Douglas from Toronto in exchange for D Conor Timmins
-11/21 – Placed F Zack Kassian on IR (retroactive to 11/1)
-11/21 – Activated D Jakob Chychrun off IR
-11/21 – Activated F Nick Schmaltz off IR
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
DATE TIME
(AZ)
OPPONENT VENUE TV RADIO
Sat, Dec 3 8pm at VAN Rogers Arena Bally Sports Arizona 98.7 FM
Mon, Dec 5 7pm at CGY Scotiabank
Saddledome
Bally Sports Arizona
Extra
ESPN 620
Wed, Dec 7 7:30pm at EDM Rogers Place Bally Sports Arizona
Extra
KTAR 92.3
YOTES & KINGS
-Tonight is the first of three ARI-LAK matchups this season. They’ll play once at Mullett Arena on 12/23 and again at Crypto.com Arena on 2/18
-The Kings represent the opponent the Coyotes/Jets franchise have the most games played (244) and wins (120) against in the NHL
-Arizona won the last matchup in LA by a 2-1 score in overtime (11/21/22)
-Clayton Keller posted 4 pts (2-2-4) over the three meetings last season, while Travis Boyd was close behind him with 3 pts (1-2-3) in the head-to-head contests
-Jakob Chychrun leads all current Coyote skaters in career points (12) against the Kings and is tied in goals (5) and assists (7). The blueliner had a 6-game point streak versus LA from 3/3/21 – 5/5/21
-Coyotes franchise vs Kings:
• All-Time: 120-89-25-10
• Home: 65-43-11-5
• Road: 55-46-14-5
• L10: 4-6-0
• STRK: L2
SCORING NOTABLES AGAINST THE KINGS
Jakob Chychrun…5-7-12…23 career GP
Clayton Keller…4-7-11…22 career GP
Shayne Gostisbehere…1-5-6…12 career GP
Barrett Hayton…1-1-2…4 career GP
Career Leaders
Goals (Bjugstad/Crouse/Chychrun, 5)… Assists (Chychrun/Keller, 7)…Points (Chychrun, 12)
Career Leaders Among Defensemen
Goals (Chychrun, 5)…Assists (Chychrun, 7)…Points (Chychrun, 12)
KELLER INSTINCT
-Clayton Keller enters tonight leading Arizona in assists (14) and points (21) in 2022-23
-Keller’s 21 pts through his 20 GP are the most by a Coyote player through 20 personal games since Ladislav Nagy (10-11-21) in 2003-04
-Sunday was the third straight game Keller found the scoresheet. He has not gone consecutive games without a point in 2022-23, and has notched a point in all but two road games
-18 of Keller’s 21 points have come on the road. That figure is tied with Sebastian Aho for the most road points in the NHL, while his 12 road assists rank tied for third
-2022-23 is already Keller’s sixth season of 20+ points. Only Dale Hawerchuk (7) has had more 20+ point seasons in Coyotes/Jets franchise history before turning 25
-The winger also enters tonight averaging over a point-per-game this season (7-14-21 in 20 GP), a mark he’s been well clear of overall since 11/18/21… Keller has registered 32-46-78 in 71 GP since then, with his 1.10 points per game in that span ranking 6th among RW (Min. 50 GP)
IN THE NICK OF TIME
-Nick Schmaltz comes into tonight on a 3-game goal streak, the fifth time in his career he’s done that and is tied for the longest by a Coyote this season
-His longest goal streak is 4 games, done 1/3/18 – 1/9/18 w/CHI
-The forward’s season has begun with 4 pts (3-1-4) in his first 5 games. He registered his first multi-point game of the season on Friday with a goal and an assist
-In his last 82 games (since 4/5/21), Schmaltz has recorded 27-44-71…He’s also tallied 62 pts (26-36-62) in his last 62 games dating back to 12/10/21
-Since his Coyotes debut on 11/27/18, Schmaltz has recorded 52-102-154 in 207 GP. His 0.74 PPG paces the Coyotes since then (min. 50 GP) and his point total trails just Keller in that span
-The forward enjoyed career-bests in both goals (23) and assists (36) last season for a career-best 59 points
-58 of those points came in his final 57 games played after returning from injury…He finished 2022-23 with a point in each of his last 4 regular-season games
LAYING DOWN THE LAW
-Lawson Crouse inked his fourth career 10+ goal season with a marker on Sunday. The forward scored his 10th goal in his 20th game of 2022-23, the fewest he’s needed to reach double digits (2022-23: 20 GP; 2021-22: 37 GP; 2019-20: 41 GP; 2018-19: 61 GP)
-Crouse 10 goals in 20 games puts him on a 41-goal pace for an 82-game season
-The last time a Coyote tallied 10+ goals within the team’s first 20 games of a season was Clayton Keller in 2017-18…Nine Coyotes (11 instances) have done it since 1996-97
-Crouse has registered 29 goals (44 pts) in his last 82 games (since 10/21/21)
EAT YOUR VEGGIES
-Karel Vejmelka stopped 33-of-36 shots on Friday in the shootout loss. The performance came on the heels of his second shutout of the season on 11/23
-The netminder finished November with a 5-2-1 record, .936 SV% and a 2.15 GAA. Among goalies to play at least 5 gms, Vejmelka ranked second in SV% and fourth in GAA during the calendar month
-His performance in the last 30 days boosts his career November figures to a 7-6-1 record with a .927 SV% and 2.48 GAA in 16 career November games. All 3 of his career SO have come in that month
-Vejmelka holds a .916 SV% on the season, good for a share of 11 th in the NHL (min. 10 GP)
-Vejmelka is one of six goalies to have multiple shutouts in 2022-23: Ville Husso (3), Connor Hellebuyck (3), Logan Thompson, Ilya Sorokin and Darcy Kuemper
-His 36 saves in Wednesday’s shutout marks the fifth-highest sv total in a shutout by an NHLer on the campaign (Sorokin, 49; Sorokin, 41; Knight, 40; Hellelbuyck, 40)
-The two shutouts in November of 2022 makes Vejmelka the first Coyote netminder to notch multiple shutouts in a calendar month since Darcy Kuemper (2) in Nov. of 2019
-Vejmelka is one of 15 goaltenders to register 3+ career shutouts with the Coyotes/Jets franchise
ROOKIES MAKING THEIR MARK
-Coyotes rookies Dylan Guenther (1st rd, 9th overall in 2021) and Matias Maccelli (4th rd, 98th overall in 2019) come into tonight among NHL rookie leaders in multiple statistical categories Macceli (1-12-13 in 18 GP)
- Ranks among NHL rookie leaders in assists (1st), points (3rd), points per game (2nd, 0.72; [min 10 GP]) power-play assists (6, 2nd) and power-play points (7, 2nd)
-Registered his third multi-point game of the season with two assists on Sunday, giving him 12 helpers total
-Ranks second on the Coyotes in assists and tied for third in points Guenther (3-6-9 in 17 GP)
-Ranks among NHL rookie leaders in power-play goals (3, T-1st), power-play points (5, T-4th) and goals (T-10th)
-Guenther is the fifth player in Coyotes/Jets history to score his first 3 career goals on the power play. He joins Craig Norwich (first 6 goals), Bill Thomas (first 4 goals), Boris Mironov (first 4 goals) and Luciano Borsato (first 3 goals)
-Among players to debut with the Coyotes/Jets franchise history, only four players have recorded 3+ PPGs within his first 13 career games (Teemu Selanne [9 PPG] in 1992-93, Craig Norwich in 1979-80, Luciano Borsato in 1990-91 and Michael Bunting in 2020-21)
-In that criteria, Selanne is the only player in franchise history to record 4+ PPGs within his first 18 career games
-With Jack McBain (Trade w/MIN) contributing 2-2-4 in 20 GP, Coyotes rookies have compiled 26 points for a share of the second-most cumulative pts by rookies in the NHL
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Coyotes are completing a stretch of 14 consecutive road games for the purposes of the Mullett Arena annex construction being completed (on schedule). This stretch from 11/5 – 12/7 is tied for the longest a team has had in NHL history
Rank Team Consecutive Road Games Dates Record
T1 Vancouver 14 straight road games 1/30/10 – 3/10/10 8-5-1
T1 Arizona 14 straight road games 11/5/22 – 12/7/22 TBD
3 NY Islanders 13 straight road games 10/14/21 – 11/16/21 5-6-2
4 San Jose 12 straight road games 1/14/21 – 2/11/21 5-6-1
T5 Philadelphia 11 straight road games 12/23/05 – 1/12/06 8-2-1
T5 Calgary 11 straight road games 2/3/88 – 2/28/88 5-5-1
Note: The Coyotes’ stretch includes 4 different road trips (11/5 – 11/13; 11/17; 11/21–11/27; 12/1–12/7)
Last Team Challenge: (W) March 27, 2022 – Original Call Overturned; ARI requested a Coach’s Challenge for a missed stoppage of play. The Situation Room determined that the puck hit the protective netting behind ARI’s net prior to WPG’s Adam Lowry’s goal and, therefore, was out of play
Last Situation Room-Initiated Challenge: (Overturned) Oct. 17, 2022 – Original Call Overturned; The situation room called to review if Morgan Rielly batted the puck with his hand inside the attacking zone before Mitch Marner subsequently gained possession and control. It was deemed that Marner was the first player to gain possession and control of the puck after Rielly batted it with his hand and, therefore, no goal
2022-23 OVERTIME RESULTS: (0-1-2)
Last overtime win: 4/27/22 at DAL (W, 4-3, GWG – T. Boyd)
Last overtime loss: 10/28/22 vs WPG (L, 3-2, GWG – B. Wheeler)
Last overtime that led to shootout: 11/25/22 at DET
2022-23 SHOOTOUT RESULTS: (0-2)
Last shootout win: 2/1/22 at COL (W, 3-2, SDG – A. Galchenyuk)
Last shootout loss: 11/25/22 at DET (L, 4-3, SDG – D. Larkin)
CAREER OT POINT CHARTD
PLAYER NAME GOALS ASSISTS POINTS
Shayne Gostisbehere 7 9 16
Clayton Keller 4 6 10
Nick Schmaltz 1 6 7
Jakob Chychrun 2 3 5
Christian Fischer 2 1 3
Travis Boyd 1 1 2
Nick Bjugstad 0 1 1
Troy Stecher 0 1 1
Barrett Hayton 0 1 1
Juuso Valimaki 0 1 1
Matias Maccelli 0 1 1
2022-23 COYOTES RECORD ON…
1-Day Rest: 5-6-1
2-Days Rest: 2-1-1
3+ Days Rest: 0-2-1
Back-to-Backs
Coyotes record on…
First Game of Back-to-Back: 0-1-0
Second Game of Back-to-Back: 0-1-0
When ARI and opponent is completing a back-to-back: 0-1-0
When completing a back-to-back where opponent is not: 0-0-0
When ARI is not completing a back-to-back but opponent is: 0-1-1
LOS ANGELES KINGS NOTES:
DEC. 1 vs. ARIZONA COYOTES – 7:30 PM PT // Venue: Crypto.com Arena // TV: Bally Sports West // Radio: iHeartRadio
-The LA Kings host the Arizona Coyotes for the first of three meetings between the clubs (Dec. 23; Feb. 18).
-The Kings look to win their third consecutive game over the Coyotes and their fifth in their last six contests.
-Tonight’s game marks the third game of the Kings’ four-game homestand at Crypto.com Arena (3-2 OTL, Nov. 27 vs. OTT; 9-8 OTL, Nov. 29 vs. SEA; Dec. 3 vs. CAR).
WARM-UPS
1) The Kings are one win away from their 100th victory against the Coyotes in franchise history.
2) No team has scored more power-play goals (5) or has a better power-play percentage (62.5%, 5-for-8) in the last seven days than the Kings.
3) Only San Jose’s Nick Bonino (35) has more blocks in the league among forwards than Anze Kopitar’s 33.
4) With his point Tuesday night against Seattle, defenseman Matt Roy (3-7=10) eclipsed the 10-point mark for his fourth straight season.
5) Tuesday marked the fifth 9-8 game in NHL history – the other instances came on Oct. 27, 2011 (WPG 9, PHI 8), Feb. 27, 1982 (PHI 9, CGY 8), Dec. 2, 1981 (QUE 9, EDM 8) and Oct. 10, 1981 (TOR 9, CHI 8). The last time the Kings were involved in a 17-goal game was on Nov. 13, 1987 against Calgary (LAK – 7, CGY – 10).
VS. ARIZONA ALL-TIME:
All-Time Record: 99-108-25-12
Home: 51-51-14-4
Away: 48-57-11-8
OT: 12-16 (24 ties)
Shootout: 5-5
2021-22: 2-0-1
2022-23: 0-0-0
Franchise Leaders vs. ARIZONA^:
Luc Robitaille – 87 GP, 87 PTS (42-45=87)
Anze Kopitar* – 85 GP, 87 PTS (22-65=87)
Wayne Gretzky – 44 GP, 81 PTS (22-59=81)
Dave Taylor – 85 GP, 75 PTS (28-47=75)
Marcel Dionne – 49 GP, 75 PTS (34-41=75)
Bernie Nicholls – 58 GP, 64 PTS (28-36=64)
*-denotes active roster player
^-against Arizona franchise (dating back to WPG)
LAST MEETING vs. ARIZONA: Feb. 23, 2022 – LAK 3 vs. ARI 2
Venue: Gila River Arena
LAK Goals: Lizotte (7), Arvidsson (14, 15)
ARI Goals: Keller (21), Hayton (3)
Goalies: LAK: Petersen (W, 17 saves, 19 shots) ARI: Wedgewood (L, 32 saves, 35 shots)
LAK PP: 0-for-2
LAK PK: 2-for-2
THE NEXT THREE:
Sat., Dec. 3 | vs. Carolina | 7:30 p.m. PT | Bally Sports West | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
o The LA Kings had an 11-3-2 record versus Metro Division teams last season.
Tues., Dec. 6 | at Ottawa Senators | 7:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. PT) | Bally Sports West | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
o Anze Kopitar has 17 points (5-12=17) in 22 career games against the Senators, the most points versus Ottawa by any skater in Kings history.
Thurs., Dec. 8 | at Toronto Maple Leafs | 7:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. PT) | Bally Sports West | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
o The Kings have won three of their last four games against the Maple Leafs dating back to March 5, 2020.
INJURY & MGL REPORT
Player, Games Missed, Date(s), Status
F Alex Iafallo, 21 games, Oct. 18 – Pres. (lower-body)
F Brendan Lemieux, 8 games, Nov. 14 – Pres. (lower-body)
F Quinton Byfield, 6 games, Oct. 27 – Nov. 5 (illness)
F Viktor Arvidsson, 2 games, Oct. 13 (illness); Oct. 25 (illness)
D Sean Durzi, 2 games, Nov. 19 – Nov. 22. (lower-body)
F Gabriel Vilardi, 1 game, Nov. 27 (lower-body)
2022-23 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 40
RECENT TRANSACTIONS (as of 12/1/22)
Nov. 26 – Lias Andersson (F) and Jacob Moverare (D) loaned to Ontario (AHL).
Nov. 27 – Lias Andersson (F) and Brandt Clarke (D) recalled from Ontario (AHL)
Nov. 27 – Frederic Allard (D) recalled from Ontario (AHL).
Nov. 28 – Frederic Allard (D) loaned to Ontario (AHL).
Nov. 29 – Lias Andersson (F) loaded to Ontario (AHL). Samuel Fagemo (F) and Jordan Spence (D) recalled from Ontario.
Nov. 30 – Samuel Fagemo (F) loaned to Ontario (AHL).
LA KINGS TEAM NOTES:
KING(S) OF THE PACK
LA Kings captain Anze Kopitar has been no stranger to the scoring sheet against Arizona with 87 points (22-65=87) in 85 career games versus the Coyotes. No active skater has more points against the Coyotes franchise than Kopitar, while teammate Drew Doughty (14-31=45) sits sixth:
Most points against Arizona Coyotes franchise among active skaters
Player GP Points
Anze Kopitar 85 87 (22-65=87)
Joe Pavelski 75 61 (31-30=61)
Corey Perry 71 58 (29-29=58)
Patrick Kane 45 56 (17-39=47)
Jonathan Toews 44 47 (18-29=47)
Drew Doughty 66 45 (14-31=45)
With a point tonight, Kopitar can surpass Luc Robitaille (42-45=87) for the most points by an LA Kings skater against the Coyotes and tie Bernie Nicholls (34-54=88) for the 10th-most in NHL history among all skaters. Doughty, who leads all active defensemen in points against Arizona, can tie Rob Blake (19-27=46) for 12th-most among defensemen in league history with a point.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
Forward Kevin Fiala recorded his first four-point game (0-4=4) as an LA King on Tuesday night against Seattle, marking the fourth time in his career he has earned four or more points in a game and the second versus the Kraken (0-5=5, April. 22, 2022) with MIN. Fiala leads team scoring with 26 points (7-19=26) through 25 games this season. Of his 26 points, 19 have come at even-strength. Only Sidney Crosby (26), Jason Robertson (24), Erik Karlsson (24), Matthew Tkachuk (20) and Connor McDavid (19) have more even-strength points this season than Fiala. Since the beginning of last season, Fiala has notched 86 even-strength points, which is tied for seventh-most among all skaters in the league:
Most even-strength points since 2021-22
Player GP EVP
Johnny Gaudreau 103 107
Connor McDavid 103 100
Matthew Tkachuk 103 95
Auston Matthews 98 93
Kirill Kaprizov 102 91
Leon Draisaitl 103 87
Kevin Fiala 107 86
Mitchell Marner 97 86
Steven Stamkos 103 85
Fiala, who eclipsed the 20-point plateau for his fourth consecutive season and sixth overall, ranks tied for third in points this season among members from the 2014 NHL Draft class:
2022-23 point totals among 2014 NHL Draftees
Player GP PTS
Leon Draisaitl (EDM) 23 36 (15-21=36)
David Pastrnak (BOS) 22 32 (14-18=32)
Kevin Fiala (LAK) 25 26 (7-19=26)
William Nylander (TOR) 25 25 (13-12=25)
Dylan Larkin (DET) 22 25 (9-16=25)
Brayden Point (TBL) 22 24 (10-14=24)
Alex Tuch (BUF) 23 22 (10-12=22)
VILARDI PARTY
Gabriel Vilardi skates into tonight’s game with a team-leading 13 goals on the season following his second career multi-goal game (2-0=2) Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken. In 24 games played, Vilardi has registered 18 points (13-5=18), which is tied for third-most on the team with Phillip Danault (7-11=18) and Viktor Arvidsson (5-13=18). His 13 goals rank tied for eighth in the league and sits six behind Dallas’ Jason Robertson (19) for the league lead. Among skaters 23 years of age or younger, Vilardi’s goal total sits in third behind Robertson and Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov (14):
Most goals among players 23 years or younger
Player GP Goals
Jason Robertson (DAL) 23 19
Andrei Svechnikov (CAR) 23 14
Gabriel Vilardi (LAK) 24 13
Jack Hughes (NJD) 23 12
Nick Suzuki (MTL) 22 12
Cole Caufield (MTL) 22 12
Martin Necas (CAR) 23 11
With two more points, Vilardi can eclipse the 20-point mark for the second time in his career (23 PTS, 10-13=23 in 2020-21).
CLIMBING THE APPLE TREE
Defenseman Drew Doughty registered his 109th career multi-point game with his 66th career three-assist outing on Tuesday for five assists in his last five games. Doughty moved within two multi-point outings away from tying Rob Blake (111) for the most by a defenseman in LA Kings history. At 449 career assists, Doughty can tie Kevin Hatcher (450) for the 47th -most assists by a defenseman in league history.
Doughty is one of ten defensemen in league history to have 100 or more multi-point games all with a single franchise:
Defensemen with 100+ multi-point games with a single team in history
Player Team GP # of multi-point games
Denis Potvin NYI 1,060 281
Nicklas Lindstrom DET 1,564 264
Kris Letang* PIT 962 151
Ron Greschner NYR 981 142
Victor Hedman* TBL 918 139
John Carlson WSH 905 138
Roman Josi* NSH 781 133
Andrei Markov MTL 990 110
Drew Doughty LAK 1,039 109
*-denotes active player
FAST STARTS
The Kings opened up scoring Tuesday night against the Kraken 16 seconds into the first period courtesy of Anze Kopitar, marking his 11th career opening-minute goal and the Kings’ third opening-minute goal this season (Fiala – 35 second, 11/22/22 vs. NYR; Grundstrom – nine seconds, 11/12/22 vs. DET). Per NHL PR, the only players in NHL history with more opening-minute goals in their career are Sidney Crosby (14), Mark Messier (13), Dave Taylor (12), Phil Esposito (12) and Gordie Howe (12). Kopitar joined Crosby (101-150=251), Alex Ovechkin (135-103=238), Patrick Kane (73-136=209), and Patric Bergeron (87-117=204) as the only active players in NHL history to factor on the first goal of a game at least 200 times in their careers.
SECOND LINE MAGIC
The Kings’ second line of Trevor Moore-Phillip Danault-Viktor Arvidsson have showed consistent chemistry since the beginning of the season. The trio finished the month of November with a combined 33 points (11-22=33), accounting for 35% of the Kings’ 93 points scored among forwards during last month. Entering tonight, no line has more unblocked shot attempts this season than the Moore-Danault-Arvidsson line:
Unblocked shot attempts among offensive lines
Line Minutes Unblocked Shot Attempts
Moore-Danault-Arvidsson (LAK) 258.4 195
Lehkonen-Mackinnon-Rantanen (COL) 229.7 190
Robertson-Pavelski-Hintz (DAL) 228.9 189
Hagel-Point-Kucherov (TBL) 230.8 188
Eichel-Stephenson-Stone (VGK) 224.2 185
QUICK VS. THE WEST
Jonathan Quick sits three wins behind Tom Barrasso for the third-most wins by a U.S.-born goaltender in league history:
Most Wins by a U.S.-born Goaltender
Player Wins
Ryan Miller 391
John Vanbiesbrouck 374
Tom Barrasso 369
Jonathan Quick 366
Craig Anderson 313
Quick is two wins shy of tying Roberto Luongo for the fourth-most wins against Eastern Conference teams among Western Conference goaltenders all-time:
Most wins against Western Conference teams all-time
Player GP Wins
Pekka Rinne 489 264
Miikka Kiprusoff 507 261
Chris Osgood 497 259
Robert Luongo 521 246
Jonathan Quick 510 244
FORWARD SCORING
LA Kings skaters wrapped up November with a combined for 236 points (84-152=236) points in 25 games so far this season, the most by any team in the league thus far. The team’s 84 goals are tied for fifth in the league, while their 138 assists leads all teams:
Team skater point totals
Team GP G A PTS
LA Kings 25 84 152 236
Boston Bruins 22 87 143 230
Buffalo Sabres 23 85 143 228
Seattle Kraken 22 84 142 226
Dallas Stars 23 88 137 225
The Kings forward core has accounted for 180 points (74-106=180) of LA’s 236 points this season, tied with Boston and Dallas for most among team forwards in the league. With an points-per-game average of 7.2 by forwards, LA’s top-12 skaters are on pace to surpass last year’s forward points total of 466 (214-252=466) through 82 games:
Scoring by forwards this season
Team GP G A PTS
LA Kings 25 74 106 180
Boston Bruins 22 76 104 180
Dallas Stars 23 78 102 180
New Jersey Devils 23 73 106 179
Buffalo Sabres 23 74 101 175
Toronto Maple Leafs 25 70 104 174
MULTI-POINT MANIA
The LA Kings have had contributions on the scoring sheet from 22 different skaters this season, including 12 in Tuesday night’s 17-goal thriller against the Kraken, marking the highest-scoring regular-season game this season and just the 12th game in the past 35 years to feature as many tallies. Tuesday’s game was the second instance this season seven different Kings skaters had multi-point games. LA is the only team in the league this season to have at least two games with seven or more multi-point performances from its players. Of the 22 skaters, 15 of them have had multi-point games with the most courtesy of Kevin Fiala (7). Since last Nov. 17, 11 different skaters have found the score sheet more than once in a game. The Kings have had 51 multi-point performances from their players this season, tied for the third-most in the league:
Most multi-point games from players
Team # of multi-point performances
Tampa Bay Lightning 59
Dallas Stars 52
LA Kings 51
Boston Bruins 46
Vancouver Canucks 45
RAINING PPGs
Forward Arthur Kaliyev recorded his first career multi power-play goal game Sunday night against Ottawa, both of which came in the second period. Per NHL PR, Kaliyev matched the Kings’ record for power-play goals in a single period. Only four other Kings skaters have achieved such feat in the last 10 years (Jeff Carter, 2 PPG in P2, Nov. 20, 2016; Mike Richards, 2 PPG in P3, Feb. 17, 2013; Justin Williams, 2 PPG in P3, April 5, 2012; Dustin Brown, 2 PPG in P1, Feb. 25, 2012). Kaliyev’s six power-play goals leads all Kings skaters this season and sits two behind Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (8) and Connor McDavid (8) for the lead league. Since his NHL debut on Feb. 2, 2021, no Kings skater has scored more on the man advantage than Kaliyev (12):
Most PPGs by Kings skaters since Feb. 2, 2021
Player PPGs
Arthur Kaliyev 12
Adrian Kempe 10
Drew Doughty 9
Anze Kopitar 9
Gabriel Vilardi 8
Kaliyev is one power-play goal from establishing a new career-high, surpassing his total of six set last season through 80 games, which placed second among all rookies behind Anaheim’s Trevor Zegras (9).
THROWING THE BODY
Carl Grundstrom currently leads the team in hits with 66 through his 24 games played this season, putting him on pace to surpass his previous career high of 202 set in the 2021-22 season with a shots-per-game pace of 3.23, the highest of his career:
Carl Grundstrom’s hits-per-game throughout career
Season GP Shots Shots/GP
2022-23 24 66 2.75
2018-19 15 38 2.53
2021-22 54 134 2.48
2019-20 13 29 2.23
2020-21 47 104 2.21
Grundstrom never been shy of laying the body since his NHL debut. In his rookie season (2018-19), Grundstrom recorded 38 hits in 15 games. Grundstrom has led all Kings skaters in hits the past two seasons (104 in 2020-21; 134 in 2021-22). Grundstrom’s 66 hits are second-most among all Pacific Division forwards and tied for fourth with Arizona’s Liam O’Brien among western conference forwards:
Most hits among Western Conference forwards
Player GP Hits
Tanner Jeannot (NSH) 21 76
Noel Acciari (STL) 22 72
Keegan Kolesar (VGK) 22 71
Carl Grundstrom (LAK) 23 66
Liam O’Brien (ARI) 20 66
William Carrier (VGK) 23 63
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Defenseman Drew Doughty skates into tonight’s game one goal shy of tying Rob Blake (29) for the most game-winning goals by a defenseman in franchise history. In doing so, Doughty would also tie Blake, Mike Murphy and Butch Goring for the seventh most GWGs in LA Kings history:
Most GWGs by an LA Kings defenseman
Player GWG
Rob Blake 29
Drew Doughty 28
Steve Duchesne 13
Alec Martinez 12
L’ubomir Visnovsky 10
