The Florida Panthers are heading into their first meeting with a remodeled Los Angeles Kings team while still sorting through some of their own early-season turbulence.
Florida arrives at Crypto Arena without Sasha Barkov, who is out with a knee injury, and Aaron Ekblad, who is away on maternity leave. Even so, the Panthers have managed four points through three games after back-to-back overtime losses, a solid start on paper even if the path has been bumpy.
At Monday’s practice in Los Angeles, Paul Maurice said some of the lineup shuffling has already forced players into unfamiliar roles. Sam Reinhart has been used in new spots, Dmitry Kulikov has moved into Ekblad’s place, and Brad Marchand is still trying to get his timing back after making his first appearance since March 6 on Sunday night.
“What I liked truly is our game hasn’t changed much,’’ Maurice said. “In getting down 3-0 in San Jose it wasn’t, in my mind, poor play for half a game and then we turned it on.
We were playing very well. We were a little tough on some in alones on the goalies.
They made some good saves. Our game hasn’t changed.”
The Kings, meanwhile, look very different from the group Florida saw in its two-game series against them last season. The biggest change is the absence of Anze Kopitar, the longtime star who retired after 20 seasons, two Stanley Cup championships, and a long list of honors. Los Angeles also brought in Artemi Panarin in a trade with the Rangers last season, and he has lived up to the billing by producing at better than a point-per-game pace.
Los Angeles has leaned early on a top line built around Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe and Panarin. Kempe has scored 35 and 36 goals over the past two seasons, while Byfield, the No. 2 overall pick in 2020, is now in his sixth season and has posted three straight 20-goal years.
There’s more scoring support behind them. Alex Laferriere had his first 20-goal season last year.
Kevin Fiala, who is injured, scored 18 goals in an injury-shortened season after putting up 35 the year before. The Kings also added 39-year-old Mats Zuccarello and 41-year-old Corey Perry, bringing in more finish and plenty of veteran edge.
On the back end, Drew Doughty is in his 19th season and still handling major minutes, while Brandt Clarke has developed into a young two-way presence and ranked among the league leaders in blocked shots last year. As a group, the Kings finished eighth in the NHL in defense last season with a 2.90 goals-against average, and Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg give them a dependable veteran tandem in net, even with Kuemper slowed by injury in the second half.
The problem has been at the other end. Los Angeles scored just 2.68 goals per game last season, a number that sat near the bottom of the league. And for all the talent on the roster, the results haven’t matched the ambition: five straight first-round playoff exits, including four in a row against the Oilers, have hung over the franchise.
Peter Laviolette is trying to change that quickly rather than through a rebuild. He’s a familiar face around the league, having coached six teams, including the 2006 Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes. He also reached the Final with Philadelphia in 2010 and Nashville in 2017.
The Kings are also the oldest team in the NHL, according to PuckPedia, with an average age of 31.3 years. Maurice took note of both the changes and the speed.
“This team looks like they’ve replaced him,’’ Maurice said. “They look fast.
Pete Laviolette does a real good job getting his teams to play at pace. They’re really, really, aggressive.
It looks like Nashville did when he was there. Certainly, they’re a strong team now.
Play fast.”
The game is set for Tuesday at 10 p.m. at Crypto Arena. Florida won the season series 2-0 last year, and the Panthers will see the Kings again this season on Jan. 24 in Florida. Their next stop after this trip is the home opener against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday at 6 p.m.
In Other News...
Panthers Suddenly Have Much Less Reason To Chase Dylan Larkin
Aleksander Barkovs lower-body injury changes the calculus in Florida, even if it does not appear to change the long-term outlook. The Panthers captain is expected to miss six to eight weeks, but he will not need surgery, which at least keeps the door open for a cleaner return later in the season. In the short term, though, it leaves the Panthers without their top center and naturally invites a little roster-watching from the outside.
That is where the Dylan Larkin chatter had started to build, with the Detroit center back in the lineup after an injury and a trade request, then taking his share of boos before helping the Red Wings win. For Florida, the Barkov timeline makes a major center pursuit look far less pressing, and maybe far less realistic. The speculation had some traction because of the Panthers need, but with Barkov set to come back in a matter of weeks rather than months, the urgency around chasing a headline-grabbing fix has taken a noticeable hit. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Suddenly Have Another Injury Concern Fans Feared
Floridas injury picture got a lot murkier against the Kings when Brad Marchand went down with a lower-body injury and had to be helped off the ice. It came in just his second game back after offseason surgery, a reminder that the Panthers were still easing him into the lineup and hoping to get another veteran presence back into the fold without issue.
The timing made the scene even more uneasy for a team already bracing for captain Aleksander Barkov to miss six-to-eight weeks with a lower-body injury. Marchands status now becomes another important storyline for a club trying to hold things together early in the season while key pieces are already on the shelf. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Suddenly Have A Pavel Zacha Question They Cant Ignore
The Bruins attention may be on Pavel Zachas uncertain contract situation and the trade talk swirling around him, but the ripple effects reach well beyond Boston. Around the league, the market is still moving in the same cautious way, with Patrik Laine remaining unsigned as a free agent and David Perron also searching for a new home, while teams continue to weigh cap space, roster fit and timing. For the Florida Panthers, that broader churn matters because every move around a rival can shift the outlook in the Atlantic and alter how quickly teams try to solve their own lineup questions.
Florida already has enough on its plate with Aleksander Barkov expected to miss 6-8 weeks, and now it is also waiting for more clarity on Brad Marchands lower-body injury. The Panthers have not given a diagnosis or a timeline, leaving one of their most important late-season additions in limbo at a time when their margin for error is already thin. Between the uncertainty in Boston and the questions in Sunrise, the divisions picture is changing by the day, and the next update could carry real weight for the Panthers. [Read more 🡒]