3/2 Preview – The DJDebut + Connors to Play, Moore Out, Doughty/Armia/Kuemper Updates, Afternoon Recalls, Morning Skate Approach

TODAY’S MATCHUP: After snapping a five-game losing streak on Saturday, the Kings now host the NHL’s best team, the Colorado Avalanche, tonight in Los Angeles.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Forward Adrian Kempe has an assist in both games against Colorado this season. Over the last five years, he has totaled 13 points (7-6-13) in 13 games played against the Avalanche, the most on the Kings in that span. Forward Corey Perry scored when these teams met back in December and has scored four goals in his last six games played versus tonight’s opponent.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held a full-team morning skate today at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo.

Coming off his second shutout as a member of the LA Kings and the tenth shutout of his NHL career, expecting goaltender Anton Forsberg to get the start again tonight against Colorado. Forsberg turned aside all 29 shots he faced in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Calgary and has posted a .908 save percentage since the calendar flipped to 2026.

Here is tonight’s projected lineup, based on what we have seen here over the last couple of days –

Panarin – Kopitar – Kempe
Turcotte – Byfield – Laferriere
Foegele – Connors – Perry
Malott – Helenius – Ward

Edmundson – Clarke
Anderson – Ceci
Moverare – Dumoulin

Forsberg
Portillo

Know for sure that forward Kenny Connors will make his NHL debut tonight against Colorado, while forward Trevor Moore (illness) is out of the lineup. Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith said that there are a couple of other players who could be game-time decisions, so we’ll wait until warmups to know for sure. Few updates below on several different players with regards to how the above lineup could potentially be impacted.

UPDATE – The LA Kings recalled defenseman Angus Booth and forward Jared Wright from AHL-Ontario. Both players are eligible to play in tonight’s game versus Colorado, in what would be their NHL debuts. In a corresponding move, forward Joel Armia was placed on injured reserve, while defenseman Jacob Moverare was designated as injured non-roster status. Will add some context in a bit.

AVALANCHE VITALS: Colorado enters tonight’s action winners of three out of its last four games, increasing NHL-leading totals in wins and points to 39 and 88 on the season respectively.

Per the Colorado team account, here’s how the Avalanche lined up in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Chicago –

Game 5️⃣8️⃣ pic.twitter.com/BGYTBCwedq

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 28, 2026

Colorado forward Martin Necas leads the Avalanche with three goals against the Kings this season, including two when these teams met in Los Angeles back in October. Necas has five goals in four games played versus the Kings since joining the Colorado organization. Forward Nathan MacKinnon has a team-high four points (1-3-4) against the Kings this season, giving him 23 points over his last 12 games in the head-to-head matchup.

Storyline Of The Day – Hey Mister D.J.
LA Kings Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith couldn’t help but make a joke when asked about his first opponent as organization’s new bench boss.

“Yeah, we’ll shutdown MacKinnon, Makar……maybe hope they get the flu.”

He understands who is on the other side of the ice tonight. The Kings, while building back up, still feel like they could be in a fairly fragile place. Smith didn’t shy away from that. Saturday’s win over Calgary was good, but the adversity was never really there. Never really tested. They will be tonight.

The Kings could give a very strong effort tonight and lose. That’s what Colorado brings. That’s not to say we can just write this one off, because with 23 games remaining, the Kings can’t really afford to write games off. When you win 24 of 59, you are not afforded that luxury. They’ve got to give it a go and they’ve got to try and find a way to get a result against the NHL’s top team.

“They’ve lost 10 games all year, they’re the best team in league at the moment, so what better team to play right now, to come out and play the way we play,” Smith said. “You can’t just sit there against the Avs and sit back, expect to check them out of the building the entire night and just take on water, because they’ve shown that they just beat teams every single night. We’re going to have to push back. We’ve got to make them play some defense. We’ve just got to go and play the game and see what happens.”

Got Herb Brooks in Miracle vibes there.

“You don’t defend them, you attack them.”

He’s right.

If the Kings sit back, they’ll lose, barring an Anton Forsberg masterclass. They have to work and find a way to establish their game, specifically in the offensive zone. Easier said than done, certainly, but this can’t be an evening of just defending. The Kings do need to defend well, but they need to force Colorado to defend too.

The Kings had a ton of offensive-zone time on Saturday against Calgary and the results were 37 shots on goal at even strength, tied for their most in any game this season. With all due respect to the Flames, because you’d say this about 25 teams, the Kings included, it’s another level to Colorado. But there are sustainables from Saturday’s game you’d like to see carry over. The Kings did a good job, especially in the final 40 minutes, of sustaining time at the right end of the rink. They didn’t sit back in the third period as they tried to extend their lead.

The types of things the Kings will have to do again today, just at a higher level.

Now, I think it’s fair to set expectations too. There should be a lot of optimism for the Kings. A lot of energy. Some real giddy-up.

But I hope those things are not fragile.

The coaching change, hopefully, should provide a jolt for a group in need of it. There’s no time to waste, especially playing at home, where the Kings have fewer wins than just two other NHL teams this season. With three more remaining on his homestand and a lot of important games down the stretch, these are things we’ve got to see some progress on, starting tonight.

“Obviously we need a win, we need points, but if you break it down, it’s the process to get there, how we play, Smitty talks about the work ethic, so it starts with that, how we want to play as a group,” defenseman Mikey Anderson added. “Special teams have got to be better, so if we can go out there and try and win the special teams battle, break it down, you try to do enough of those and hopefully you come out with a win. It’s fun. It’s a good challenge to go against the best.”

3 To Watch For –
– As noted above, forward Kenny Connors will make his NHL debut tonight against the Avalanche!

Kenny Connors will make his NHL debut tonight for the @LAKings! Likely will center a line with Warren Foegele and Corey Perry.

Trevor Moore (illness) won’t play tonight.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 2, 2026

“It’s your first game in the NHL, so have fun,” Smith said, of what he would say to Connors in advance of his debut. “For the first time in your life, you’re playing against the best in the world and some of the players out there on the other team tonight are the best in the world. What an experience for him. The kid can skate, he’s responsible, he’s played really well down there. You only have one first, so get out there and have some fun.”

Forward Trevor Moore will miss out tonight due to illness, after he missed yesterday’s practice for the same reason. Another blow, coming off what I felt was a really strong game by Moore on Saturday versus Calgary. I really liked how that line fit together. The shuffle to compensate will be for Alex Turcotte to move up onto the wing with Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere, while Connors plays his natural position, centering a line with Warren Foegele and Corey Perry. Big games here for Turcotte, as a side note.

Smith added that Connors showed him a lot during yesterday’s practice, skated really well, and that he hopes this is a player who can “give us a spark” down the stretch. Connors was in line to feature in January on the long trip, but Anze Kopitar’s return from injury took that spot, which you’d expect for your captain. He was the correct recall, though, and he has earned this one too. Really nice start to his professional career in the AHL. Excited to see what he can do tonight.

– Also regarding tonight’s game, a few additional updates.

The Kings are expected to be without defenseman Drew Doughty and forward Joel Armia for the second straight game. Both players left Thursday’s loss to Edmonton with injuries and both players are out day-to-day.

Additional @LAKings updates –

Drew Doughty out tonight, could play Thursday or Saturday. Joel Armia had an MRI today, Kings should know more soon.

Also, D.J. Smith said Kings have a couple of players who are “questionable”, so could potentially be one more change at warmups.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 2, 2026

Doughty is a possibility for either Thursday versus the Islanders or Saturday versus the Canadiens, per Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith. That’s a positive. Armia had an MRI today, so we’ll learn more soon about how long exactly he might be out. Certainly jives with what I have heard, which is that Doughty felt the closer to return, but we’ll have to find out with Armia.

Additionally, goaltender Darcy Kuemper missed yesterday’s practice with an illness and the Kings recalled goaltender Erik Portillo from the AHL’s Ontario Reign this morning. Portillo was on the ice for morning skate and feels likely to backup goaltender Anton Forsberg this evening.

For Kuemper, the Kings will be cautious, considering his importance. He’s had a tough go of late, struggling to feel right after returning home from the Olympics, on top of an illness that seems to be going around and kept him off the ice yesterday. So, I would say I don’t expect Kuemper to dress tonight, with goaltender Erik Portillo recalled from the AHL’s Ontario Reign to back up Anton Forsberg, though that is unconfirmed.

“He’s had a tough go since coming back from the Olympics, the insomnia of the time change and then I believe one of his kids got sick and then he’s throwing up all [Saturday] night so he can’t go,” Smith said of Kuemper. “We’re going to get him healthy, we’re gonna get him feeling good. Let’s be honest, the 105 points a year ago was a lot to do with Darcy Kemper and how good he was. There were a lot of nights where we played even with the other team and Kemps was just better than them. Darcy Kuemper is a really good goalie and when he gets feeling good, it’s going to be a big reason why we get moving here and we get going in the right direction.”

Smith added that there are a couple of players who are “questionable” for tonight’s game. Seems like there might be something going around the team. We’ll have to wait for warmups to know for sure if anyone else might not play tonight.

So, Doughty/Armia out, Kuemper not confirmed out, but likely out. Portillo up and able to backup. Couple of others to look out for, which would require recalls from the Ontario Reign to replace. Away we go.

– Lastly, here’s one that I thought was interesting.

The Kings held a full-team morning skate today, which is a deviation from what would have been optional otherwise. Under Jim Hiller, the Kings rarely held full-team morning skates on days after a full practice, as they did yesterday.

For Smith, he felt that perhaps he could use it to just try and change up the routine a little bit.

“We’re trying to change it up a little bit,” Smith said. “We’ve got a day off tomorrow, so I think it’s just good to get the guys together. A couple of things are new and we haven’t been great at home. We’ll try this and see what happens.”

Nothing major, but worth pointing out, amidst a day of change. Everyone was on the ice and felt dialed in.

Kings and Avalanche. Lots of stuff here. Couldn’t ask for a much bigger test in D.J. Smith’s first game as the team’s Interim Head Coach. 7:30 start time in Downtown Los Angeles!