LOS ANGELES KINGS NOTES:
DEC. 29 vs. COLORADO AVALANCHE – 7:00 PM MT (6:00 p.m. PT) // Venue: Ball Arena // TV: Bally Sports West // Radio: iHeartRadio
- The LA Kings visit the Colorado Avalanche for the first of three meetings between the clubs this season (March 9; April 8).
- The Kings look for their first win in Denver since Feb. 15, 2020 (3-1 W).
- With a win tonight, the Kings can extend their point streak to seven games (5-0-1).
WARM-UPS
1) Viktor Arvidsson (1-2=3) recorded his third three-point game of the year Tuesday night versus Vegas. In doing so, Arvidsson (10-17=27) reached the 10-goal and 25-point plateau for a seventh consecutive season. He enters tonight with five points (2-3=5) in his last four games.
2) Blake Lizotte has four points (1-3=4) in his last four games.
3) Trevor Moore returns to Colorado where he played collegiate hockey at the University of Denver. Moore recorded 120 points (47-73=120) in 121 career NCAA games.
4) Kevin Fiala leads all Kings skaters with 18 road points (4-14=18).
5) No skater has drawn more penalties on the Kings than Gabriel Vilardi (17).
vs. COLORADO ALL-TIME:
All-Time Record: 73-62-8-5
Home: 42-25-5-4
Away: 31-37-3-1
OT: 10-5 (4 ties)
Shootout: 3-4
2021-22: 0-3-0
2022-23: 0-0-0
FRANCHISE LEADERS vs. COLORADO:
Anze Kopitar* – 58 GP, 53 PTS (18-35=53)
Luc Robitaille – 40 GP, 52 PTS (32-20=52)
Marcel Dionne – 25 GP, 39 PTS (16-23=39)
Wayne Gretzky – 16 GP, 39 PTS (9-30=39)
Dustin Brown – 60 GP, 38 PTS (16-22=38)
*-denotes active roster player
LAST MEETING vs. COLORADO: April 13, 2022 – LAK 3 vs. COL 9
Venue: Ball Arena
LAK Goals: Kempe (33), Iafallo (16), Danault (23)
COL Goals: Aube-Kubel (10, 11), Nichushkin (20, 21), MacKinnon (27, 28, 29), Burakovsky (21), Makar (26)
Goalies: LAK: Quick (7 saves, 10 shots), Petersen (L, 19 saves, 25 shots) COL: Kuemper (W, 29 saves, 32 shots)
LAK PP: 0-for-2
LAK PK: 0-for-2
THE NEXT THREE:
Sat., Dec. 31 | vs. Philadelphia Flyers | 1:00 p.m. PT | Bally Sports West | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
o The LA Kings and Flyers met nearly one year from this date on Jan. 1, 2022. LA won, 6-3.
Tues., Jan. 3 | vs. Dallas Stars | 7:00 p.m. PT | ESPN | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
o Kevin Fiala (6-6=12) is riding an eight-game point streak against the Dallas Stars, dating back to Dec. 1, 2019.
Thurs., Jan. 5 | vs. Boston Bruins | 7:30 p.m. PT | Bally Sports West | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
The LA Kings look to sweep the season series against the Bruins after winning the first meeting between the two clubs, 3-2, in a shootout on Dec. 15 in Boston.
INJURY & MGL REPORT
Player, Games Missed, Date(s), Status
F Alex Iafallo, 23 games, Oct. 18 – Dec. 3 (lower-body)
F Brendan Lemieux, 18 games, Nov. 14 – Dec. 20 (lower-body)
F Quinton Byfield, 6 games, Oct. 27 – Nov. 5 (illness)
F Arthur Kaliyev, 3 games, Dec. 22 – Pres. (lower-body)
F Viktor Arvidsson, 2 games, Oct. 13 (illness); Oct. 25 (illness)
D Sean Durzi, 2 games, Nov. 19 – Nov. 22. (lower-body)
D Drew Doughty, 1 game, Dec. 11 (lower-body)
F Gabriel Vilardi, 1 game, Nov. 27 (lower-body)
2022-23 Total Regular-Season Man-Games List: 56
RECENT TRANSACTIONS (as of 12/29/22)
Dec. 19 – Rasmus Kupari (F) and Jordan Spence (D) recalled from Ontario (AHL).
Dec. 22 – Brendan Lemieux (F) activated from injured reserve.
Dec. 22 – Tobie Bisson (D) loaned to Hockey Canada for the Spengler Cup.
Dec. 23 – Rasmus Kupari (F) and Jordan Spence (D) loaned to Ontario (AHL).
Dec. 27 – Quinton Byfield (F), Rasmus Kupari (F) and Jordan Spence (D) recalled from Ontario (AHL).
Dec. 27 – Arthur Kaliyev (F) placed on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 20.
LA KINGS TEAM NOTES:
WE’RE GOING STREAKIN’
The Kings enter tonight having secured points in their last six consecutive games (5-0-1), dating back to Dec. 15. During that time, the Kings’ five wins are tied for second in the league while their 11 points and .917 winning percentage both sit second. Forward Phillip Danault, who has led the Kings in scoring since their team point streak started, registered his sixth multi-point (1-2=3) effort of the season on Tuesday night versus the Golden Knights to extend his point streak into a fifth game (3-4=7). With a point tonight, Danault can extend his point streak to six games, one shy of his career-long of seven games set from April 7 to April 21, 2022 (5-3=8). Danault can also join Sean Durzi (Nov. 25 – Dec. 6, 2022, 6 GP, 1-8=9) as the only other Kings skater to record a regular point streak of at least six games this season.
KOPI VS. THE AVS
Kings captain Anze Kopitar leads all active skaters in assists against Colorado while his 53 points (18-35=53) sits third:
Most points against Colorado all-time among active skaters
Player GP Points
Blake Wheeler 40 57 (23-34=57)
Patrick Kane 57 54 (20-34=54)
Anze Kopitar 58 53 (18-35=53)
Jonathan Toews 53 52 (24-28=52)
Brent Burns 72 48 (17-31=48)
COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:
UPCOMING GAMES
Date Opponent Time (MT) TV Radio
Thu, Dec. 29 LOS ANGELES 7 p.m. Altitude 92.5
Sat, Dec. 31 TORONTO 5 p.m. Altitude 92.5
Mon, Jan. 2 LAS VEGAS 7 p.m. Altitude 2 950 AM
LAST GAME – Dec. 27 (Arizona 6, Colorado 3)
The Coyotes snapped the Avalanche’s four-game winning streak with a 6-3 victory at Mullett Arena … Cale Makar had a goal and an assist for the Avs, Evan Rodrigues notched a power-play goal and Mikko Rantanen also scored … J.T. Compher added two assists while Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves.
SF: 29 SA: 33 PP: 1-1 PK: 2-3
• Rantanen’s goal was his 24th of the season (fourth in the NHL) and league-leading 20th even-strength goal … It was his 11th goal in December, the second most of his career in a single month (13 in March 2021) and the most by an Avalanche player in the month of December since the franchise relocated … Mikko has a three-game goal streak and a four-game ROAD goal streak
• Makar’s goal was the 56th of his career, tying Adam Foote for the sixth most by a defenseman in franchise history
• Rodrigues’ goal was his fifth power-play marker of 2022-23, tied for the club lead
TONIGHT’S GAME
COLORADO vs. LOS ANGELES
7:08 p.m.
Altitude / 92.5
Altitude: Marc Moser (play-by-play), Mark Rycroft (analyst), Katie Gaus (reporter) / Radio: Conor McGahey
The Colorado Avalanche opens a three-game homestand tonight against the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena … Colorado will play Toronto on Saturday before closing out the home stay on Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights … The Avs had their four-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday in Arizona but are still 6-2-0 in their last eight contests … Colorado has won three straight on home ice and is 4-1-0 in its last five at Ball Arena.
AVALANCHE & KINGS
Tonight is the first of three games between the Avalanche and Kings in 2022-23 … The Avs have won the last nine meetings against Los Angeles, the longest win streak by either team in this series and Colorado’s longest active win streak versus any opponent … In fact, if the Avalanche can stretch that winning streak to 10 games tonight, it would match their longest streak against an opponent in franchise history … Colorado won 10 consecutive games against Buffalo from March 7, 2007 – Jan. 20, 2016, against Columbus from Oct. 14, 2000 – Jan. 23, 2003 and the Nordiques won 10 in a row against Pittsburgh from Oct. 21, 1982 – Oct. 19, 1985 … The Avs out-scored the Kings 16-4 in last year’s three-game season series sweep.
SCHEDULE vs. KINGS
Dec. 29 vs. LAK
Mar. 9 vs. LAK
Apr. 8 @ LAK
RECORD VS. KINGS
THIS SEASON 2021-22 ALL-TIME SINCE 1995-96 PLAYOFFS
Overall: — Overall: 3-0-0 Overall: 67-66-15 Overall: 49-44-11 Series: 2 (2-0)
Home: — Home: 1-0-0 Home: 38-29-5 Home: 28-20-2 W-L Record: 8-6
Road: — Road: 2-0-0 Road: 29-37-10 Road: 21-24-9
