^{After a rough road trip, Utah returns home to protect the Delta Center from the Kings}

The prodigal sons return; after 19 road games – nearly 2/3rds of the season, the Mammoth return home to the Delta Center. This week, Utah hosts 3 opponents before traveling again. Naturally, the upcoming trip next week has a back-to-back on the schedule. Because, reasons.

Let’s not look ahead to get ourselves (well, myself) angry about the schedule. Instead, why don’t we start by looking at the first meeting between the Kings and Mammoth this year.

Last time the Kings were at the Delta Center was in pre-season, when they were frustrated by Vitek Vanecek in route to a 2-1 meaningless win. This time, however, the stakes are quite a bit higher. Utah returns from a 6 game road trip with 4 total points, 2 shutouts, and new faces in the lineup. Los Angeles comes into town holding third place in a suddenly competitive Pacific Division, 2 points above both the Oilers and surprising Sharks. A win for Utah helps get them in a position to get back on track. A win for Los Angeles helps widen those slim margins and bolster their playoff hopes.

The LA Kings kicked off the season well, but below their recent standards. Their first games saw them collect a 4-3-3 record. This was good enough for 3rd in the division. Their last 10 games? A 4-3-3 record, which sees them in the 3rd spot for the division. The more things change…

Early on, LA had a really strong road record to start off. Playing 7 of their first 10 on the road, all 4 wins came away, as well as 2 additional OT points. Since then, 8 more road games has the Kings with an impressive 9-2-4 (22 pts) for a whopping .733% points percentage away from the Crypto.com Arena.

Why is LA so good on the road this year?

The Kings are extremely well balanced on both offense and defense up and down their roster. While they sport a tight goal differential (+1 for the year), on the road they’re actually +10. They’re scoring on average 3.15 goals a game while giving up just under 2.5. They aren’t overly dominant on their power play – just 14.6% on the road – and their PK isn’t great at just 78.4% – but they’re exceptionally strong even strength, scoring about half a goal, on average, more than their opponents 5v5 (and a few OT winners at 3v3).

They also have 3 goals for in 6 on 5 situations in 15 road games. So far, Utah’s had 0 of those in 111 total games. Perhaps we can learn something from them?

Who’s producing for LA? Well, frankly it’s everyone. No single player has more than 10 goals in their 15 road games. In fact, their #1 goal scorer has 6 goals, total, of 47 scored as a team. Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala share the lead at 6 goals each, with 8 and 6 assists respectively. They lead the team with 14 and 12 points. Quinton Byfield at 12 (4g / 8a) rounds out their “Big 3” – and they account for just 30% of the total point production for the team.

17 players have scored a goal for LA this year. Phillip Danault is the only forward without a goal. Brian Dumoulin is the only defenseman without a goal. Anyone who has played more than 5 games for LA has at least 2 points. LA is a 4 headed hydra – if you shut down one line, another takes its place.

The Kings goaltending on the road? Just as good than their scoring. Between Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg, they boast a .905 save percentage, and less than 2.5 goals a game. Both pose formidable in foreign lands, and facing either won’t be easy.

Where are the Kings weak?
11 of the 37 goals against came from the power play, with 2 coming from 5v3 advantages against them. Only 25 goals have come 5v5. Other than that? Not many places. Like I said, LA is a well rounded team, and will be a challenge tonight.

Bad news on the injury front (added 3 PM)
Logan Cooley will be “out indefinitely” after being injured in Vancouver when Quinn Hughes decided to pull him down, causing his already damaged knee to go hard into the goal post. No timeline given, and as a result Barrett Hayton stays up to help center depth.

We will see how long Cooley is out of action, but this is a massive blow to the team.

Key points to secure a victory today:
X’s and O’s are important in almost every game. It’s normal to be able to plan against for a top line or two. Playing at home gives you a decisive advantage on how to line up against the visitors. Normally, this is a massive advantage when used right. You can use mis-matches to create favorable situations at any faceoff aside from icing. As a home coach, you should be able to use this benefit to tilt the ice. It’s one of many reasons why teams have better home records than away, but arguably is the most directly influenced by coaches.

Now, Tourigny has had some difficulty this year already – and the way the Kings play, he’s going to have to account for 4 solid lines. You can’t counter a top-heavy team like Toronto’s top line with the 3rd and call it a day. Each shift, each line needs to be strategically matched up as best as possible. This is a huge task tonight, and one Bear needs to step up to in order to give the Mammoth a chance.

Logos look great on uniforms, but make terrible targets to aim for. Two of Utah’s road games saw the Mammoth lay an egg. Part of that was good goaltending in Calgary, and a large part was not picking spots when allowed – or not getting off one-timers faster. Letting the goalie set and hitting him square in the chest is not a great recipe to score goals.

Depending on the Kings’ starter today, Utah may have the ability to break past the logo shots. Darcy Kuemper struggles a bit against rush chances – breakaways and 2 on 1’s, Kuemper is very aggressive, and smart forwards are able to use that against him. Additionally, due to the way the Kings defense plays, Kuemper tends to be susceptible to traffic and long-range shots. His save percentage from shots past the dots is still in the .950 range, however this is slightly lower than the average goalie. So, Utah needs to figure out a way to mix shot types with traffic – or get some odd-man rush chances for the best possible chances to succeed.

Jokers Trump Kings There is a wild cards in play for the Mammoth tonight, and that card’s name is Karel Vejmelka. His last two outings were massive improvements over his previous ones. The Mammoth may need to call on the Carolina Hurricanes version of Vejmelka to try and steal this game.

Projected Lineups:
Updated lineups without Cooley available.

TUSKS UP!