Having earned three of four points so far on their season-long homestand of five games, the Kings took a day off in preparation for their matchup with the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
The interconference clash with a last-place team will signify something of a temperature change from their hotly contested overtime loss to the division-leading Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. There should be plenty of warmth between the benches though, as Kings assistant coach D.J. Smith guided these same Sens for four seasons and 26 games of this campaign before he was let go.
“D.J., of course, was their head coach, so we know them quite well because of him,” Kings interim head coach Jim Hiller said. “They’re a dangerous team, they can score goals, that we know.”
While the Sens have jockeyed around the top 10 to 15 in goals per game, they ranked 30th of 32 teams in goals-against average entering Wednesday’s slate of games.
Ottawa and the Kings indirectly swapped goalies, with the Kings’ playoff starter Joonas Korpisalo signing with the Sens and Cam Talbot making the move to Southern California via free agency as well. Korpisalo has been dealing with an illness and Ottawa will also be playing the back half of a back-to-back after facing the Ducks on Wednesday, making it unclear if the Finn will face the Kings on Thursday.
Talbot has recaptured his top form, playing well enough early in the season to earn an All-Star nod and then shaking off some midseason malaise to perform effectively of late. Since Feb. 18, he’s gone 4-1-1 with a .951 save percentage that has been tops among goalies with at least four starts in that span.
Ottawa has been stuck in first gear in a rebuild that went from a motto of “the kids are alright” to a maxim with much less confidence and perhaps more profanity. They’ve failed to find consistency or gain traction in a competitive division and again find themselves well outside the playoff picture with Friday’s noon trade…
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