10/29 Preview – Akil Thomas Debuts + Optional Skate, Earn Points, Quick Start

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP: The Kings are back on the road for a quick trip to San Jose, where they will visit the Sharks for the teams' second meeting in six days.

HEAD TO HEAD: The Kings and Sharks faced off on Thursday, with Los Angeles earning a 3-2 win on home ice.

Forward Warren Foegele led the Kings to victory with two goals. Over the course of his NHL career, Foegele has 12 points (5-7-12) in 16 games played against San Jose, his most against any opponent. Forward Alex Laferriere assisted on both of Foegele's goals, giving him four points (1-3-4) in five career games against the Sharks.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings are currently playing five consecutive games in the state of California, including four on home ice surrounding today's road game.

Look for the Kings to have goaltender David Rittich in today's game against the Sharks, as the Czech goaltender was not on the ice for today's optional morning skate. Rittich secured the win in Thursday's home opener when he stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced against the Sharks. Rittich has a lifetime record of 6-2-3 against San Jose, with a save percentage of .902 and a goals-against average of 2.58.

This is how the Kings lined up at yesterday's practice –

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala-Danault-Moore
Foegele – Turcotte – Laferrière
Lee – Thomas – Jeannot – Lewis

Anderson-Gavrikov
Edmundson-Clarke
Jones-Spence
Englund-Burroughs

Rittich / Kümper

A line-up change is expected tonight – striker Akil Thomas will make his season debut. Forward Trevor Lewis was late after morning skating, expecting Thomas to check in for him. More on Thomas below as he returns tonight after playing the first nine games of this season.

Akil Thomas will make his season debut tonight in San Jose.

Looks like David Rittich on the internet @LAKings as well as.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) October 29, 2024

The Kings made some changes to the blueline in this game, including introducing Caleb Jones in place of Kyle Burroughs. Jones posted a 14-17 record in his third game of the season as he played an overall flawless game alongside Jordan Spence and earned some praise from head coach Jim Hiller after the game.

SAN JOSE VITALS: The Sharks complete a back-to-back here tonight and picked up their first win of the season, a thrilling 5-4 overtime win yesterday in Utah.

Per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Here's the Sharks' lineup from their last game against Utah –

#TheFutureIsTeal Lines in their first game in Utah:

Eklund-Granlund-Toffoli
Gushchin-Wienberg-Zetterlund
Goodrow-Kunin basic current
G. Smith-Sturm-Kostin

Walman Ceci
Ferraro Rutta
Thrun Benning

Blackwood

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 29, 2024

Look for goaltender Vitek Vanacek to be in the starting lineup for San Jose today as the Sharks play back-to-back games. Vanacek faced the Kings just twice in his NHL career, compiling a 1-1-0 record with an .870 save percentage and 3.00 goals-against average.

Forward Mikael Granlund scored both goals for San Jose when these teams met on Thursday. Granlund leads the Sharks with 13 points so far this season (5-8-13) and is just one point outside the top 10 in the NHL this season.

Former King Tyler Toffoli is tied for the lead with Granlund with five goals, including last night's game-winning goal in Utah. Former King Carl Grundstrom is also expected to play against his former club this evening.

Plot of the Day – The Real Deal Akil
Akil Thomas will make his season debut tonight at San Jose.

“He's been patient, he hasn't played yet and we need to make sure we get him in, so he's going to go tonight,” Jim Hiller said this morning.

Hiller said he spoke with Thomas yesterday and that Thomas felt like he was ready despite not playing in the first nine games of the season.

It was certainly a challenge for a player who went into the season expecting to be an everyday player.

When you looked at what this team looked like over the summer, Thomas was in the lineup. The emergence of Andre Lee during training camp made Thomas an underdog early in the season, as Lee played in each of the first nine games, bringing a different element to the team. Lee will keep his spot tonight, with Thomas checking in at center, seemingly replacing veteran Trevor Lewis.

Thomas waited patiently for his chance, and Hiller praised his approach, even if he found it difficult at times. Thomas said he tried to make sure he got something out of each day by talking about his training and his skates, which put him in even better shape physically than he was at the start of training camp.

“First time being healthy (scratched for so long), having to watch so much at home, so I guess it's a little harder because I'm healthy and able to play, so it was tough,” Thomas said of being a healthy scratch in the Opposed to us being hurt. “I just took advantage of it to get a lot of good practices in and put on good skates, and I feel better physically than I did at the start of camp, so I definitely feel like I got something out of it.”

Playing his first game of the season in Montreal, defenseman Andreas Englund spoke of how Kings assistant coach Derik Johnston's training sessions had him ready for the decision when his number was finally announced. Thomas repeated similar things today.

It's impossible to truly replicate the feeling of playing games every other day, but part of the job is being ready and stepping in when the opportunity arises. Thomas

“We love the skates, obviously it sucks to get scratched, but we're having fun out there and working on really good stuff. We all get something out of it every day,” Thomas said. “I think whether we play or not, we will get better and be ready to play at any time.”

As for Game 1, Thomas knows this is an opportunity for him to show that he should stay in the lineup for tomorrow's game against Vegas and beyond.

It's a tough situation for a player trying to make an impact on the game while also playing within himself, keeping things simple in a fourth-line role and hopefully playing his game the best way he can is.

“I have the opportunity to play tonight and work as hard as I can and hopefully prove myself a little bit more.”

3 to watch out for –
– A win tonight in San Jose would equal the first 10 games of last season.

The Kings start with a record of 5-2-2 and began last season with a record of 6-2-2. Six wins from ten games and two defeats in extra time is a great record from ten games. The points in October are just as important as in April.

“It's hard to compare the seasons, we play a little differently, have a different team, but you always want to start well to get points everywhere,” said defender Vladislav Gavrikov. “Long season, every single point (is important) and we have to be better at the end, it will be difficult to get them. We have to concentrate on that now, get as many points as possible and try to build on that.”

The Kings began last season with a 16-4-4 record in 24 games, but that mark was finally wiped out by a long losing streak in January. So we know how quickly things can change. However, think about where the team would have been without that start. Now keep racking up points on the bench as the team continues to fine-tune systems and playstyles and hopefully grow upwards from there.

– Start quickly tonight, friends.

The Sharks played at Utah last night. Late in the third period, San Jose trailed 4-1 despite controlling most of the second half.

Then the Sharks scored. Then they scored again. And again. After forcing the game into overtime, San Jose secured its first win of the season. In total, the Sharks scored four goals in less than six minutes of play, turning a score of 4-1 into 5-4. Pretty good stuff.

It was definitely an emotional win and you would expect this team to come out hard on their home ice tonight, even if there isn't much left. A strong start for the Kings is a big challenge.

“It's always important, and as you know I really prefer to focus on us than anyone else, but we watched the end of the game, it was an emotional win for them,” Hiller said this morning. “They played well. They played well, really well against us, so it doesn't surprise me that they are in games and winning. It's going to be a tough, tough game tonight. I'm sure things make them feel better. We just have to make sure we’re ready for it.”

– After not playing in the final half on Saturday, forward Kevin Fiala is expected to return to his regular spot in the lineup tonight against San Jose.

“Kevin and I had a good conversation, made everything clear, we'll move on and that's it,” Hiller said.

Hiller said after Thursday's win over San Jose that repeat offenders with minor penalties could have their ice time reduced. Fiala took two penalties in that game and two more against Utah on Saturday. After the second penalty, he no longer saw the ice the rest of the way.

It is now a thing of the past. Fiala was back with Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore at yesterday's training and, as Hiller said, came clean. Against San Jose, Fiala is a forward the Kings will rely on to create offense. He's arguably the team's most dynamic creator with the puck on his stick, and that's what the Kings will expect from him on Shark Tank tonight.

Kings and sharks, out of the tank. 7:00 p.m. Puck Drop with national coverage on ESPN.