With one game remaining in their regular-season schedule, the Kings still don’t know whether they’ll finish third in the Pacific Division or drop to the first Western Conference wild-card spot, which means they don’t know who they are. ll face when the Stanley Cup playoffs begin next week.
But this much is certain: They’ll open on the road, and their starting goaltender will be someone other than Jonathan Quick for the first time in postseason play since Felix Potvin was in net for their first-round Game 7 loss to Colorado on April. 29, 2002.
Should the starter be Joonas Korpisalo, who was acquired from Columbus with defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov for Quick and two draft picks, or should the honor go to Pheonix Copley, who saved the Kings’ season after Cal Petersen imploded and Quick’s struggles threatened to hold back a team with championship ambitions?
Will it be Korpisalo, who has nine games’ postseason experience with Columbus in the 2020 pandemic bubble — including stopping 85 of 88 Tampa Bay shots in an epic, five-overtime loss? Or Copley, who has no NHL playoff experience but is a key reason the Kings earned the right to play beyond Game 82?
“I don’t know,” Korpisalo said Wednesday, after the Kings practiced in advance of their finale Thursday against the Ducks at the Honda Center. “I think it’s the head coach’s decision to announce whatever he’s doing with the lineup. I don’t know yet.”
Coach Todd McLellan has generally alternated Copley and Korpisalo. With Korpisalo coming off a shutout of Vancouver on Monday, it would be Copley’s turn Thursday and Korpisalo’s turn to open the playoffs.
But Copley wouldn’t even say if he had been told he would start Thursday against the draft lottery-bound Ducks, whose team total of 23 wins is one short of Copley’s career-best 24 wins this season.
“I don’t know yet,” said Copley, who is 24-6-3 with a 2.64 goals-against average and .903 save percentage in 37 games. “As of right now it’s just kind of business as usual. We still have one more game left. We’re both just preparing and we both know we can help this team win.”
By quaint but annoying tradition, coaches rarely divulge information about injuries and starting goalies during the season. Getting anything out of them around playoff time is nearly impossible. Asked Wednesday about injured forwards Gabe Vilardi and Kevin Fiala, McLellan said he hoped they’d be ready to start the playoffs, adding, “We have our fingers crossed.” Which really doesn’t say much.
McLellan was similarly vague about his playoff goaltending plans, saying that although the situation might appear to be up in the air, that’s not the case for the coaching staff. “We have a fairly good idea of what we’d like to do, and when Game 1 rolls around we’ll have that guy in there ready to go,” he said. Or, as former Kings coach Darryl Sutter used to put it, be there for the song — the anthem — and you’ll find out.
There are many strong reasons to believe Korpisalo will be the playoff starter — and that he should be.
The Kings gave up a lot of emotional and strategic capital when they traded Quick, a core member of their two Cup championship teams, a third-round draft pick and a first-round pick for Korpisalo and Gavrikov, who are both eligible to become unrestricted. free agents after the season. General manager Rob Blake didn’t create that kind of upheaval to acquire a goalie who will be a backup when the real season begins.
Korpisalo has earned the right to be the playoff starter by going 6-3-1 in 10 games with the Kings, with a 2.03 goals-against average and .926 save percentage. His playoff experience is limited to a qualifying series win over Toronto and a five-game loss to Tampa Bay in 2020, but he was also the backup to Sergei Bobrovsky during Columbus’ 2019 upset of Tampa Bay and a six-game loss to Boston. “Those were really good experiences to see what the playoff game is all about,” he said.
Copley, signed as a free agent last summer for minor-league depth, became a folk hero after he was called up in early December. He won his teammates’ respect gradually with his calm, steady play. Korpisalo had to prove himself immediately to players who were stunned that Quick had been traded and were angry the news had leaked before Quick could talk to Blake in person, rather than by phone. Quick was a fixture, someone they thought would be a King forever. Until he wasn’t.
The transition wasn’t easy for Korpisalo, but his performances have won everyone over.
“With Jonathan being part of the deal there was a lot of emotion involved and there was the fact that we had to deal with one leaving and one entering and how the chemistry was going to play out,” McLellan said. “But Gavrikov and Korpisalo coming together, I think, was a benefit to those two. They supported each other and the team opened up their arms after an emotional day or two and welcomed them quickly and it made it easier for those two.”
Korpisalo said he has loved every minute of his time with the Kings but wants to wait for the season to end before he discusses his future. “There’s bigger things than contracts right now,” he said. “It’s focusing on playoffs and whatever happens, happens. My focus is on the playoffs right now.”
Designating Korpisalo the starter — with the hope Copley can again calmly step in if needed — will give the Kings the best chance of making a long and successful playoff run.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.