The Los Angeles Kings host Islanders on Thursday at 7 p.m. PST at Crypto.com Arena with two roster questions still open. Kevin Fiala skated in regular practice work Wednesday and was used on a first power-play unit, but his season debut remains unconfirmed. Drew Doughty did not practice after blocking a Steven Stamkos shot Tuesday, and Peter Laviolette called it a maintenance day “right now” to “let things settle down.” Neither player’s Thursday status should be treated as official until the Kings say who is in the lineup.
Los Angeles is 5-9-2 and has lost two in a row after a 3-0 shutout loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. The New York Islanders are 7-6-4 with 18 points and arrive as the sixth game of the Kings’ homestand, with the Calgary Flames due Saturday. The official NHL standings are the source for those records. The practice information comes from Zach Dooley’s notes at LA Kings Insider, which remain the most detailed on-the-record account from Wednesday, along with Laviolette’s and Mats Zuccarello’s comments there.
The Kings’ official practice media session with Zuccarello, Joel Edmundson and Laviolette, above, is the current video from that skate. Practice lines are not a lineup. They are a clue, and clues still have to be labeled as such on a morning when the lineup card has not been posted.
Fiala’s debut is closer, not confirmed
Dooley reported that Fiala was in a forward group with Quinton Byfield, Zuccarello and Scott Laughton, while Artemi Panarin, Alex Laferriere and Adrian Kempe stayed together and Trevor Moore skated with Alex Turcotte and Corey Perry. On the power play, the first unit was five forwards: Panarin, Kempe, Fiala, Byfield and Laferriere. Dooley noted that the Kings would not spend those reps on Fiala if a return were not being considered, either Thursday or in the near future. That is a reasonable reading of a practice. It is not a confirmation that he will play against New York.
The broader medical timeline is still messy. An NHL.com status report earlier in the week said Fiala is nearing his season debut and that it could come as soon as Thursday against the Islanders, after multiple fractures to his left lower leg at the February Olympics and a follow-up procedure in September. ESPN, citing sources, has reported that the Kings expect him back this week. CBS Sports, in a listing last updated Nov. 7, still had him on injured reserve and expected out until at least Nov. 14, which would be Saturday against Calgary. Those items do not all say the same thing. Thursday cannot be called official unless the Kings activate him and dress him. Laviolette, after Monday’s practice, would not confirm a Tuesday debut. Tuesday’s official game sheet did not include Fiala among the dressed players or the scratches, which was consistent with a player not yet activated. That remains the last official game-night fact.
Doughty’s maintenance day is not a lineup decision
Doughty blocked a Stamkos slap shot with his right foot mid-third period Tuesday on a penalty kill, returned for one shift, and did not take another, as Dooley recounted. He then missed Wednesday’s practice. Laviolette called it a maintenance day “right now” so things could settle, and said they would see how it progressed. CBS lists Doughty as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The coach’s “maintenance” language and a secondary day-to-day tag are not the same as being ruled out, and they are not the same as being cleared. Dooley wrote that he believes the plan is for Doughty to be available “at the very least.” That is an informed opinion from the team’s site, not a Laviolette confirmation, and it is flagged as such.
Erik Gustafsson also missed practice and remains day-to-day. Dooley wrote that Gustafsson has not skated with the team since Saturday against Pittsburgh. The Kings worked with five defensemen Wednesday, which made pairings hard to read. If Doughty plays and Gustafsson does not, Los Angeles would again be looking at the six defensemen who finished Tuesday, including the Brian Dumoulin-Cody Ceci pair that Dooley noted was on the ice for both even-strength goals against. If both sit, the roster math gets tighter, and any recall would have to be announced. None of that has been announced.
Zuccarello sounded healthier than the 3-0 score
Laviolette said he thought Tuesday was the best he has seen Zuccarello play since joining the Kings. Zuccarello, who returned Tuesday after missing six games with an upper-body injury and logged 11:13, was candid about the start of his year. “My body wasn’t playing on the same team as me in the beginning, I wasn’t contributing to the team,” he said. “It’s better to feel healthy and 100 percent, so you can actually try and help. … The last game was a really good step. I felt good. I felt more normal than I have been all year.” Those comments are on the record. They do not mean he will be pushed into larger minutes Thursday, especially if Fiala and Doughty are still moving through their own ramps.
The Islanders are 7-6-4. New York has its own unconfirmed injury questions, including earlier NHL.com reporting that Mathew Barzal, Matias Maccelli and Ryan Pulock were being evaluated on the trip; that is not a Thursday lineup. The Kings’ starter is also unconfirmed; Anton Forsberg started Tuesday, and Darcy Kuemper remains in the conversation.
The homestand still has two games left
Thursday is the sixth of seven home dates, with Calgary on Saturday. The Kings have already mixed a 7-2 win over San Jose with losses to Pittsburgh and Nashville on this stand. Laviolette, after Wednesday’s practice, told The Sporting Tribune that there are “different ways of not finding success on any given night” and that the group has “kind of fallen into that.” Accountability, in his words, can mean a conversation, a change, or taking a player out of the lineup. That is the coach describing a standard, not previewing a scratch list.
The verified story Thursday morning is simpler than the speculation around it. The Kings host the Islanders at 7 p.m. PST. Fiala practiced in a regular role and on the first power play, and his debut is still unconfirmed. Doughty had a maintenance day after a blocked shot, and his availability is still unconfirmed. Gustafsson remains day-to-day. Practice lines are not the lineup. Until the Kings post that lineup, those are the limits of the report.
Notes and conflicts
- Fiala. Practiced in regular and power-play groups. Thursday debut unconfirmed. CBS listing of IR until at least Nov. 14 conflicts with reports that a debut could come Thursday and is flagged.
- Doughty. Missed practice; Laviolette called it a maintenance day “right now.” Thursday status unconfirmed.
- Gustafsson. Day-to-day, has not skated with the team since Saturday, per Dooley.
- Lines. Wednesday combinations are practice looks, not a confirmed lineup.
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