3/19 Preview – Kempe game-time decision, Armia out, progressing + 15 Left, Home Performance, Chances Against

TODAY’S MATCHUP: After collecting seven of a possible ten points from their recent five-game roadtrip, the Kings return home for two games at Crypto.com Arena, beginning tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Quinton Byfield scored the game-winning goal in overtime against the Flyers back in January, securing a 3-2 victory for the Kings. Forward Adrian Kempe, who is a game-time decision to play tonight, had the primary assist on that goal as he led the Kings with three points (2-1-3) in the victory.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held a full-team morning skate today at Toyota Sports Performance Center, in advance of tonight’s game in Los Angeles.

Coming off two victories in New York, look for goaltender Darcy Kuemper to get the start for the Kings in net, after he was off first following today’s morning skate. When these teams met earlier this season in Philadelphia, Kuemper made 19 saves on 21 shots as the Kings skated to a 3-2 overtime victory, Kuemper’s fifth career victory from ten appearances against the Flyers.

Here is how the Kings lined up during today’s morning skate –

Panarin – Kopitar – Joseph
Moore – Byfield – Laferriere
Turcotte – Laughton – Wright
Malott – Helenius – Ward

Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci

Kuemper / Forsberg

Forward Adrian Kempe is questionable for tonight’s game. He did not skate this morning after he missed Monday’s game in New York with a lower-body injury, though he did take the pre-game warmup, so missing today’s skate is not necessarily an indication. He’ll take the same process today, so consider him a game-time decision. The Kings also have defenseman Jacob Moverare as an option to check in, should they choose to make any additional changes.

FLYERS VITALS: Philadelphia concludes a back-to-back set here tonight, after they were in action yesterday evening in Anaheim, a 3-2 overtime victory at Honda Center.

Per Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer, here’s how the Flyers lined up last night in Anaheim –

#Flyers lines at practice in Anaheim

Bump-Dvorak-Konecny
Grebenkin-Zegras-Tippett
Barkey-Cates-Michkov
Grundström-Couturier-Glendening

Sanheim-Ristolainen
York-Drysdale
Seeler-Andrae https://t.co/1CdSkq5idQ

— Jackie Spiegel (@jackiespiegel93) March 17, 2026

Forward Travis Konecny had a multi-point game in the first matchup of the season between these two teams, as he collected both a goal and an assist. Overall for the 2025-26 campaign, Konecny leads his team in goals (24), assists (32) and points (56), pacing to lead his team in scoring for the fifth consecutive season.

Storyline Of The Day – The Final 15
15 Games Remaining.

As we’re here today, the Kings are tied for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, though they sit on the outside looking in by a tiebreaker. With a point or a win tonight, the Kings could move into that spot, depending on the result of the Seattle/Nashville game earlier in the day.

It’s the latter, though, that they need. A win, not a point. With 15 games remaining, it’s not about being in a playoff spot with 14 games remaining. It’s about winning tonight, moving into that spot because they won, moving closer to securing that spot and challenging for a better seed, which is firmly within reach. A win tonight and the Kings could move to within three points of the third seed in the Pacific Division, five points out of the division lead. Which is an absurd statement, considering the way this season has gone. But it’s up for grabs, if the Kings can take care of business tonight.

“All you can do is worry about the next one and the Philly game is as important as the Ranger game was,” Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith said today. “As a coach, you’ve just got to keep making sure that your team is getting more and giving up less than the other team. Over time, you usually win more than you lose.”

The Kings pulled out a 3-1-1 roadtrip on the East Coast, which is a good trip. Not an incredible trip, but a good trip. I think that seven points was probably the baseline for what you could accept and the Kings got that. Now, they head home, where they will play nine of their final 15 games of the regular season.

After the win in New York on Monday, Smith said that the goal now is to start delivering better performances on home ice. That message has certainly made it into the locker room as well.

“Every team in the league is having that same conversation, that’s your home barn, you want teams to be on their heels when they come in,” defenseman Joel Edmundson said. “They come in and it’s not a fun game. It’s basically play physical and get the crowd into it, teams definitely feed off the crowd and our favorite thing to do as a visitor is to get the crowd out of it right away. So, when you get that home crowd behind you, the game is a lot more fun. They’ve been great this year, we’ve just got to get some more wins for them.”

The Kings have just 10 victories at Crypto.com Arena this season. Only two teams – Vancouver and New York – have had fewer this season. Even when you factor in seven overtime losses, the Kings rank 30th in points and there is a large gap in that area. Just has not worked out for the Kings on home ice, though the Montreal game right before the trip was very close to being what they’re looking for, minus the late collapse.

Now’s the time to bring it and translate bringing it into victories.

Two at home this week and a seven-game homestand, beginning on March 28, which could define the season. The Kings have found renewed energy, tenacity and physicality here over the last couple weeks. With 60 percent of their remaining schedule coming on home ice, now is certainly the time to continue that style of play here in Los Angeles.

“You want that kind of reputation at your home rink, so I think it’s part of our identity, with the puck to the playoffs here,” forward Jeff Malott added. “I think if we can make Crypto pretty known that it’s hard to come into, and play in, that’s going to help.”

3 To Watch For –
– Since the coaching change, the Kings are playing much higher event hockey.

With that has come an uptick in scoring, certainly, but also an uptick in goals against, as the Kings have moved from 2.1 goals against, per/60 in 5-on-5 situations to 2.5, per/60. What’s interesting, though, is that while the Kings are allowing more shot attempts of late, they are allowing fewer high-danger chances. Under Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith, the Kings have allowed 9.8 high-danger chances, per/60, which is down from 10.8 prior to.

“As a whole, defensively, I don’t feel like we’re exposing ourselves a ton,” he said. “They have scored some but we’ve played some where we’ve checked real hard. There’s probably some games where we’ve scored more than we should have as well. I don’t see a huge drop off in how much we’re giving up, I just think there’s a lot more activity out there, where we’re pushing and the games being played faster.”

A big reason why, as Smith detailed, has been eliminating a number of the odd-man rushes against that had plagued the Kings over the past couple of months.

It was an area that he pointed out on Day 1 and something he now circled back on, noting it as a big area the Kings have worked to clean up. He pointed to coverage from the forwards as improving significantly, noting that everyone wants the defensemen to activate and extend plays, but that only works with proper coverage from the forward up high. That has been there, of late, which has limited those higher danger opportunities against.

“For sure,” Edmundson said of the forwards in coverage. “Right now, we’re playing as a five-man unit out there, everyone’s connected and we’re just working a lot harder and smarter also, so it allows us to pinch. When we have the chance, we obviously still have to make that read.”

When those chances have come, Smith has said the Kings have also done a decent job of making them 3-on-2’s and not 2-on-1’s. There’s a much higher execution rate on the latter, so if you can limit those as much as you can, you set yourselves up for success. Overall, Kings have done a pretty good job in that department of late, with the drop in high-danger chances against a good measurement of that improvement.

– Obviously, the hope is that Adrian Kempe can play tonight.

He is irreplaceable for the Kings. He’d be irreplaceable for just about every team, considering his 30-goal and 70-point pace. Kempe is on an eight-game point streak entering tonight’s game and the Kings certainly need him down the stretch. Since the line of Kempe, Anze Kopitar and Artemi Panarin was put together, they’ve been the team’s most dangerous line offensively, combining for eight goals as a trio in seven games played at 5-on-5. Factoring in all situations, those three players have been on the ice together for 12 goals for since Panarin joined the team.

Naturally, having Kempe healthy and able to play is important in that area. There’s certainly hope that he can play tonight, but it will be a decision that will come after warmups, as it did in New York. Kempe took the full warmup including line rushes, but was a late scratch, with forward Mathieu Joseph filling in. If Kempe cannot go, I’d expect the same adjustment, with Joseph filling that spot, as D.J. Smith spoke about yesterday HERE.

The Kings will likely mix and match in that department, with Joseph playing the bulk of the minutes in that spot, but with others rotating in at times. The hope, though, is that Kempe is able to play. Kings certainly need him both at even strength and on the power play. A huge piece to the puzzle down the stretch.

– Lastly, a day of progress for forward Joel Armia.

Armia skated today, in a full-contact jersey, though a morning skate doesn’t exactly have a ton of contact in it. Still, it’s progression. Tomorrow’s practice will likely be more telling. Armia is not going to play tonight but if he is a full participant tomorrow morning, perhaps there is a chance for Saturday against Buffalo. That one has certainly not been ruled out. He was on the ice for a harder morning skate today than the players playing had, so it was a good test in ramping up the intensity a bit. Looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings, as Armia is an important piece to the puzzle for the Kings in a couple of different situations.

Kings and Flyers, to kick off an important pair of games in Los Angeles before heading back onto the road. 7:30 PM puck drop at Crypto.com Arena!