The Kings and Ducks close out their 2026 preseason schedules this afternoon with another edition of the Freeway Faceoff, and there’s a little more at stake here than your usual exhibition finale. For Los Angeles, the roster picture is tightening. For Anaheim, there are still plenty of moving parts after a rough 10-0 loss to San Jose in the last outing.
LA already handled Anaheim 2-1 on Wednesday at Honda Center, but that result came with all the usual preseason caveats. The lineup was constantly changing, so it was hard to draw sweeping conclusions. Still, Anton Forsberg stood out with 24 saves on 25 shots, and with him battling Darcy Kuemper for the starting job, this game carries real weight for that competition.
The Kings also got goals from Joel Armia and Alex Laferriere in that win. For Armia, it was a welcome start after dealing with an injury at the end of last season.
He put it plainly after scoring in one of his two preseason appearances: “Yeah, it’s important,” said Armia. “Coming into camp, I felt good; body feels good, and I’m ready to go.
I got to [my offseason] training pretty quickly. I took good care of my body and [dealt] with the injury.
I had a good offseason.”
Roster moves are also shaping the picture. The Kings are assigning two more players to the Reign, which gets them very close to an opening night roster. That leaves this afternoon as something close to a final tryout for Andre Lee, Taylor Ward, and Erik Gustafsson.
Up front, with Perry still away from the team, there’s an opening for either Lee or Ward. The question is whether the team views this as one last chance for the player who’s on the bubble, or one more look before the final roster call on Monday. Either way, the decision will tell you a lot.
On the blue line, Gustafsson looks like the presumed seventh defenseman, and Scott Perunovich is expected to be placed on waivers tomorrow. There’s another wrinkle here too: all six regular defensemen have played only one preseason game, so they’re set to form the starting six today.
But Friday’s practice hinted at some possible power-play chemistry, with Haula, Turcotte, Laferriere, Doughty and Gustafsson on the second unit. If and when Gustafsson gets into the lineup, the pairing combinations will be worth watching.
That won’t happen today, though, since Gustafsson has already played in his two preseason games.
The projected Kings lineup has Panarin centering Byfield and Kempe on the top line, with Zuccarello, Turcotte and Laferriere next. Moore, Haula and Laughton make up the third line, while Lee, Helenius and Armia are listed on the fourth.
The defense pairs are Anderson with Clarke, Edmundson with Doughty, and Dumoulin with Ceci. Kuemper and Forsberg are the goaltenders, with Ward, Gustafsson, Perunovich and Portillo listed as likely scratches.
Perry remains non-roster, and Fiala is on injured reserve.
Anaheim still has a crowded camp picture even after Friday’s cuts, with 35 players left on the roster: 20 forwards, 12 defensemen and three goaltenders. That means there are still a lot of possible combinations for this afternoon, and the Ducks’ practice alignment on Friday only added to that sense of churn.
Their groups were Killorn, Carlsson and Gauthier; Sennecke, Granlund and Klepov; Myatovic, Poehling and Vatrano; Malott, Washe and Caulfield; and Nesterenko, McQueen and Colangelo. On defense, the pairs were LaCombe and Jensen, Mintyukov and Luneau, Solberg and Hinds, and Mitchell and Warren, with Dostál, Husso and Brossoit listed in goal.
Puck drop is set for 1:00 pm Pacific Time, with the game available on ABTV locally and on select cable or satellite systems for national viewers.
In Other News...
Kings Face One Last Roster Squeeze With Tough Waiver Risk
The Kings have kept trimming the camp roster as the NHL deadline approaches, sending prospects Kenny Connors and Jared Wright to AHL Ontario while continuing to sort through a crowded forward group. Mats Zuccarello appears ready to play, which only tightens the picture up front and leaves the staff with fewer easy answers as the final roster takes shape.
One more squeeze still looms, and it is the kind that can shape an opening-night group beyond just the names on the final list. Los Angeles is weighing whether to carry three goalies, a choice that would create a difficult waiver decision somewhere else on the roster and leave the club balancing immediate depth against the risk of losing a player for nothing. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Fans Got An Encouraging Look At Reign Depth In OT Win
The Ontario Reign gave the Kings another useful snapshot of their depth in a 4-3 overtime win over the San Diego Gulls at Toyota Arena, with both clubs trading momentum throughout a lively preseason-style battle. The game featured a steady back-and-forth scoring progression, plenty of shots on goal and a look at how the goaltenders handled pressure as the Reign leaned on the kind of lineup depth that matters when the season starts to tighten up.
Aatu Jmsen ended it in overtime, giving Ontario the kind of finish that keeps a coaching staff interested in what it saw from the group. For Kings fans, the value here was less about the final score than the broader reminder that the organization has some options bubbling beneath the NHL roster, and one more chance to sort through them is still ahead before the preseason wraps up. [Read more 🡒]
Kings TV Lineup Leans On Familiar Faces With One Intriguing Twist
ABTV and the Los Angeles Kings have settled their television broadcast team for the 2026-27 season, and the setup looks built around continuity. John Kelly is back in the lead play-by-play chair, Jim Fox returns as the top analyst, and the rest of the rotation includes several familiar Kings voices in Jarret Stoll, Daryl Evans and Tony Granato, giving the broadcast booth a steady, recognizable feel for fans who have followed the club for years.
The one addition worth watching is Alec Martinez, who will join the mix on select telecasts as part of a broader group that should keep the network flexible throughout the season. Kings broadcasts will again be widely accessible through cable, satellite and streaming providers, along with DAZN and select over-the-air airings, so the next step is seeing how the new-look presentation settles in once the games begin. [Read more 🡒]