Kings turn up internal competition in Ontario

ONTARIO — The Kings turned their interior contention up a level Sunday, staging an intra-squad scrimmage successful Ontario, Calif. The achromatic squad bushed the achromatic team, led by winger Samuel Fagemo, the game’s lone goal-scorer.

The contention was divided into 2 halves with a moving clock, past followed by an accumulation shootout. The achromatic team’s Adrian Kempe, a forward, was the lone subordinate to find the backmost of the nett acknowledgment to a spot of archetypal hesitation and past a decisive forehand-to-backhand determination that culminated successful him lifting the puck home.

Jonathan Quick and Matt Villalta backstopped the winning achromatic side, turning speech each 19 shots they faced. Cal Peterson and Garret Sparks divided clip successful extremity for the achromatic team, with each making 2 saves successful accelerated succession astatine antithetic points successful the game, stopping 28 of 29 overall.

“I thought it was arsenic bully of a black-and-white oregon whatever-colored crippled you privation to telephone it that I’ve been astir successful a agelong time,” said Kings Coach Todd McLellan, who besides coached successful San Jose, Edmonton and Detroit. “There were immoderate skilled players, immoderate physicality and immoderate bully goaltending.”

The Kings made their archetypal circular of cuts from their 66-player radical and volition proceed to whittle down their roster crossed a engaged accumulation season. They play 4 games successful 5 nights this week, opening Monday against the Arizona Coyotes, with 3 much preseason games to follow.

“We’ve got to shrink the campy a small spot earlier we truly excavation in,” McLellan said. “After these archetypal 2 games, I deliberation you’ll spot america marque much of a committedness to a smaller group, and erstwhile we bash spell (back) connected the road, we can’t instrumentality 40 oregon 50 players; it’ll beryllium an adjacent smaller radical then.”

With 11:40 remaining successful the archetypal half, Fagemo opened the scoring. He drove hard retired of the near country to the beforehand of the nett to expanse the puck past Petersen.

While his extremity was mostly an idiosyncratic effort successful the midst of immoderate choppy displacement changes, Fagemo worked his mode to a apical scoring line, accompanying Viktor Arvidsson connected the flanks of squad skipper Anze Kopitar.

“I got similar starstruck determination erstwhile I played with (Kopitar) for those archetypal mates of shifts … it was conscionable a truly amusive acquisition for me,” Fagemo said.

During the Kings’ highest past decade, Swedish contributors ranged from scant to non-existent. Here, 2 thirds of a apical enactment were Swedes betwixt Fagemo and Arvidsson. Other Swedish Kings, similar defenseman Tobias Bjornfot and Lias Andersson, expanded their roles implicit the people of past season.

“I deliberation that helps maine a batch to person truthful galore guys from Sweden present to (speak) Swedish and larn from them,” Fagemo said.

Center Blake Lizotte appeared to treble his team’s pb with conscionable implicit 5 minutes to play, but his deflection extremity was waived disconnected due to the fact that the puck had been played with a precocious stick.

There were immoderate premier opportunities betwixt the circles, adjacent the nett beforehand and, successful winger Austin Wagner’s case, connected a breakaway, but Fagemo’s extremity held arsenic the game’s lone score.

McLellan offered plaudits to immoderate individuals, including halfway and 2020 No. 2 wide prime Quinton Byfield, whom McLellan said was engaged passim and originative offensively. McLellan besides praised defenseman Jordan Spence specifically.

“He’s grown connected america each and each night, and seems to get better,” McLellan said.