With the wind at their backs from a rousing performance in their season opener, the Kings are set to take on a foe Saturday at Staples Center with whom they familiarized themselves during last season’s realigned campaign.
Last season, the Kings faced the Minnesota Wild eight times as a divisional opponent, losing six of those games, including three in overtime. This season, the Wild, who were something of a surprise success story last season, moved back to the Central Division, and it’s the Kings looking to be this campaign’s up-and-comer in the Pacific.
The Kings got off to a phenomenal start, shelling the Vegas Golden Knights 6-2 in a game that saw them bounce back from an early goal against, go two-for-two on the power play, be perfect on the penalty kill, get enormous contributions from their leadership group and integrate new players into the mix seamlessly.
Captain Anze Kopitar levitated with a hat trick and two assists. Three newly acquired forwards – Phillip Danault, Viktor Arvidsson and Vladimir Tkachev – produced four points, while the core three skaters from the glory years poured in a combined 11 points. Defenseman Alex Edler contributed to a sound night on the other side of the puck.
“I think that the belief is at a higher level right now than it was, certainly, at the end of last year, that’s just the way it is,” said Kings Coach Todd McLellan, whose system flourished Thursday. “The addition of four players, getting guys healthy, having training camp to work on the game, we should feel good about ourselves.”
While Arvidsson’s assist was a direct play and Danault’s goal was a deflection off a defender’s skate, Tkachev made some plays that jumped off the screen, especially on the top power-play unit where he registered two assists. On his first helper, he lifted a pass from the left-wing wall to the right point through a tight seam to set up a man-advantage goal. He also contributed to several series of passes that were so slick that they made the Kings nearly unrecognizable from the group that struggled in the second half of last season.
“He’s a very unique player for our team. He has a brain that not many guys on our team have and he’s crafty. It’s great to see a guy like that on our team this year,” defenseman Drew Doughty said.
Tkachev managed to fly under the radar over the summer for the most part. But now the 25-year-old Russian import’s performance has created buzz and more frequent comparisons with a pair of his countrymen who rode late entries into the NHL to stardom: the New York Rangers’ Artermi Panarin and Minnesota’s own Kirill Kaprizov.
Kaprizov, 24, had his own stunning debut last year when he had two assists in regulation and a game-winning goal in overtime. He scored nine points in eight meetings with the Kings, the most he posted against any team last season other than the Arizona Coyotes. But the Kings and Coyotes were far from alone in their struggles to contain Kaprizov, as he racked up nearly a point-per-game en route to the Calder Trophy awarded to the NHL’s rookie of the year.
The Wild had not yet opened their season Friday afternoon, as they were set to take on the Ducks in Anaheim, making Saturday’s match the second half of a back-to-back set for them.
Impeding Kaprizov, newly extended center Joel Eriksson-Ek and play-driving defenseman Jared Spurgeon will be veteran Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. He had started 12 consecutive season openers, but gave way to Cal Petersen on Thursday.
Minnesota at Kings
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Staples Center
TV/Radio: Bally Sports West/iHeartRadio