1/20 Preview – Perry Returns, PP Focus + Projected Lineup, Tonight’s Settings, Ward on Chances & Role, Gavrikov Returns

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Kings will play their final home game in the month of January as they host the New York Rangers this evening at Crypto.com Arena.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Since he joined the Kings in 2022, Fiala leads all Los Angeles players with four goals from six games played against the Rangers. The Switzerland native has collected six total points versus New York in that span. Forward Warren Foegele led the team last season with two goals and three points in the season series with the Rangers, including the game-winning goal at Madison Square Garden in December 2024.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held an optional morning skate today, following yesterday’s full-team practice.

Look for goaltender Darcy Kuemper to get the nod tonight between the pipes. Kuemper has a 10-4-0 record lifetime against the Rangers, with a .909 save percentage and a 2.58 goals-against average. Kuemper was in net for both Kings wins over New York last season, as he allowed just two total goals on 55 shots against.

Between yesterday’s practice day and today’s morning skate, here’s what we might see from the Kings in tonight’s game –

Kempe – Laferriere – Perry
Foegele – Byfield – Armia
Fiala – Turcotte – Kuzmenko
Malott – Helenius – Ward

Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci

Kuemper
Forsberg

The Kings assigned forward Andre Lee back to the Ontario Reign yesterday morning, to make way for the activation of forward Corey Perry. Should the team look for any lineup changes, defenseman Jacob Moverare is the only available healthy scratch projected for tonight’s game.

RANGERS VITALS: New York concludes the Southern California back-to-back this evening in Los Angeles, coming of an 5-3 loss last night in Anaheim.

From Peter Baugh of The Athletic, here’s how the Rangers lined up last night at Honda Center –

#NYR lines

Miller-Zibanejad-Perreault
Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière
Othmann-Laba-Cuylle
Raddysh-Carrick-Brodzinski

Gavrikov-Schneider
Robertson-Borgen
Vaakanainen-Morrow

Martin
Quick https://t.co/VxgfWHZ9O3

— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) January 20, 2026

Legendary Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick will get the start tonight against his former club, as confirmed yesterday by Rangers Head Coach Mike Sullivan. Quick is 1-1-0 with a .952 save percentage and a 1.18 goals-against average in three career appearances against the Kings. New York is currently without goaltender Igor Shesterkin and defenseman Adam Fox due to injuries.

Storyline Of The Day – Perr-er Play
The Kings will welcome back forward Corey Perry to the lineup tonight, after he missed the last three games to attend to an illness in his family.

As far as the power play is concerned, it’s much needed.

Before practice yesterday, the Kings had their top unit on the ice very early working on a few different things. Perry was included in that group, working at the netfront, joining Brandt Clarke, Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko. It’s generally the unit that’s worked the best, though with Kempe in for Quinton Byfield, who moved to the second group.

Looking at Saturday’s defeat in Anaheim, the power play was the biggest reason why the Kings lost. That’s not to say they played well at 5-on-5, because, well, they did not. Despite it, though, the power play could have driven a victory.

In the second period, the Kings had five power plays – FIVE – but got outshot in the period as a whole. They scored once in a 5-on-3 situation but had so many opportunities to pull ahead in a 1-1 game and they weren’t able to do it. They wound up losing 2-1 in overtime, a game they should have found a way to lead in but didn’t, another night when poor execution in important situations let the team down.

Enter Perry, who has just seemed to make that unit work this season.

“I think the one thing with him is you have pretty much a full-time presence at the net,” Hiller said. “He doesn’t like to wander too much, so he’s there. Any puck directed has got a chance, he tips them as well as anybody in the league. I would say that’s the confidence of the overall group and the simplicity.”

On that note, Hiller believes that Perry’s presence is something that really benefits Clarke at the top.

Seems like the two of them have connected on simple plays quite a bit this season. Perhaps having Perry at the net is encouraging Clarke to shoot more pucks, as opposed to dish it off. Hiller believes the two work hand-in-hand and having Perry back in front should really help Clarke as well.

“I think what you’ve seen specifically is Clarkie and him, there’s been a lot of assists that Clarkie’s got, they’ve ended up somehow on Perrs’ tape,” Jim Hiller said of bringing Perry back into the fold. “They haven’t been hard shots, but Clarkie has found a way to get it there and Perrs, whether he tips it, gets a rebound or makes a pass off it, he’s been able to do that.”

Perry shouldn’t be seen as a savior. But the splits kind of speak for themselves here since the holiday break.

With Perry: 7-for-18
Without Perry: 1-for-16

With Perry on that unit, the Kings have been productive. Without Perry, they’ve scored just once in five games and that was on a two-man advantage. It’s just looked a lot better with him in the fold and seems like everyone finds their place when he’s at the netfront. Hiller wants to see the Kings attack the net more with that unit and feels that adding Perry back into the fold helps in that area, with Perry helping the cause from there.

Even just from the standpoint of team mentality, players within the room have spoken to the presence that Perry has and how it impacts the group.

“He brings composure, for sure, and obviously the experience goes a long way, he keeps it even keel,” forward Alex Turcotte said of Perry. “We’re lucky to have him back. It’s definitely tough when he wasn’t here, but we understand obviously with personal stuff. We’re really lucky to have him and we need him.”

See how it goes.

The Rangers scored twice on the power play last night in Anaheim and they’re a Top-10 power play this season. Kings would do well to find something from that unit as well in tonight’s game.

3 To Watch For –
– Should be an interesting game tonight, against an interesting opponent.

The Rangers have won two more games than the Kings this season, yet earlier this week, they came out publicly to speak about their intentions to sell veteran players for younger players and future assets. Shows the difference between the East and West right now. The Rangers have 21 wins but are nine points back of the second wild card. The Kings have 19 wins but are two points back of both a wild card position and a Pacific Division spot, with a game in hand.

One organization is fully throwing in the towel, the other insists everything is fine.

Leads to questions from the Rangers perspective, certainly, on how tough it must be for the veterans there in particular, considering all of the speculation that exists as a result of the statement.

It’s a game that, if you’re the Kings tonight, you have to go out and win the game. You just have to. Rangers are playing their third game in four nights and their management has publicly stated their intentions to trade veteran players for draft picks and prospects. The Kings should be a desperate team, considering where they are currently at, and on paper, they’re coming into this game at a good time.

It’s one thing to say the word desperate. Another to go out and show it. Tonight’s a night when they have to go show it, especially when you consider the above.

– As noted above, the Kings did make one roster move yesterday, as they loaned forward Andre Lee to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. With that, it means that forward Taylor Ward remains with the big club and will play tonight versus the Rangers.

Both players were up on emergency recalls, so with Perry back, the Kings had to assign one to the AHL. Hiller called it a “really hard decision” and relayed it had very little to do with Lee’s game. More to do with Ward and how he’s shown himself in limited time.

“He had the post and the crossbar, would have made a big impact in the game, so that’s the two things you look at there is he can really shoot the puck,” Hiller said of Ward. “He’s a dependable, two-way player but I think – and not just me – he’s got more offense in him, he’s got a little bit more [than we thought]. He had that great preseason, he just looks like he might have the ability to score a little bit too. I think that’s probably why it’s giving him the nod, just a little bit, as far as we think he might be able to add a little bit of offense for us.”

In some ways, you look at those plays Hiller mentioned as just another example of the Kings getting chances and not finishing them. I think with Ward, though, a player who really isn’t thought of as being a real source of offense, maybe it’s a little bit different. You don’t think of Ward as really being the guy who is expected to generate those chances. Yet he has been. He’s gotten into some high-danger areas and he’s twice beaten a goaltender, but not the post.

How does Ward internalize those chances?

“You just keep going,” he said this morning. “You can only do what you can do and I feel like I’ve been taking good shots, picking good spots and they just haven’t been going in, haven’t been getting a good bounce. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and eventually they’ve got to go in.”

Ward is expected to remain in the lineup on a line with Jeff Malott and Samuel Helenius. He had his best chance in Anaheim on a connection with Helenius, as he gained inside positioning off the rush and got a shot off after a Helenius assist, that was one of the two that hit the post.

It’s a combination he’s comfortable with and is keen to see continue.

“I think we’re just on the same page, we’ve played together for a long time in the minors and now up here, we’re familiar with each other’s habits and thought processes,” Ward added. “We’re on the same page. We try to keep it simple, create energy, be physical and play below the dots. When we’re both on the same page, it’s easy to read off each other.”

– Lastly, tonight marks the return of defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to Los Angeles.

Expecting a nice moment for Gavrikov during the first period, as the Kings honor his three seasons with the club, which spanned 196 games between the regular season and playoffs. A good teammate who brought good vibes to those around him, while playing an effective game on the ice. He’s been missed in both areas this season, that’s for sure. Hope he gets a nice reception for who he was while he was in Los Angeles.

Kings and Rangers, one last game in California before hitting the road for a six-game trip to end the month.