The Washington Capitals and Los Angeles Kings will wrap up their two-game season set on Thursday night. The Capitals took the first game from LA, 3-1 in DC on December 22.
Former Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper served as David Rittich’s backup in the loss but, per the Kings’ Zach Dooley, he will start against Washington on Thursday. The start will be Kuemper’s first against the Capitals since being traded to the Kings for Pierre-Luc Dubois last June.
Kuemper struggled in his second season with the Capitals last year. In the second season of the five-year, $26.25 million contract he signed with the club in 2022, Kuemper went 13-14-3 with a 3.31 goals-against average and a .890 save percentage.
He eventually lost his starting job to Charlie Lindgren, who will be in the Capitals’ net against the Kings. Lindgren took the reins and led the Caps to an improbable playoff appearance despite their minus-37 goal differential.
“Hockey-wise, it was really tough,” Kuemper said last June. “It was really frustrating at times. Obviously, we weren’t winning as many games as I would like and not playing as much. That’s always tough to deal with. I just kept working through it, and although I didn’t get to play a lot, I came to work every day, worked on my game. I’m looking forward to the fresh start next year and just getting back to playing how I like to play, proving that last year was just a one-off and getting a bunch of wins and helping the team.”
So far, the 34-year-old netminder has done just that with the Kings, posting a 20-8-7 record with a 2.26 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage, and two shutouts. Per MoneyPuck, Kuemper has saved 11 more goals than expected this season, a plus-15.8 improvement from last year.
The Capitals will also have two former Kings making their first appearances in LA since departing over the offseason. Dubois, who has eight points (3g, 5a) for the Caps in six March games, played just one year for the Kings despite inking an eight-year contract with the club as part of a 2023 sign-and-trade deal with the Winnipeg Jets.
Dubois has spoken about how not having a clear role from the first moment he stepped on the ice for the Kings hampered his one season in LA. He recorded just 40 points (16, 24a) in 82 games last season. He has 40 assists alone with the Caps in 65 games this season.
“Take it as you will, but I’ve always needed to have clear instructions to do my job 100 percent,” Dubois said last September. “I get mixed up when there are gray areas. I question myself too much. I’ve been working on that since I was young. And there, from my first conversations with the team, I didn’t really know what was expected of me. I didn’t know where I stood. You can’t play well when you question yourself too much.”
Matt Roy will be playing his first-ever game against the Kings as he spent all six prior years of his NHL career in LA before signing with the Caps in free agency last July. Roy has picked up his offense in recent weeks, recording 10 points (10a) in his last 15 games.
The Kings have been hot lately, winning three in a row coming into Thursday night’s game. They currently sit third in the Pacific Division, one point back of the Edmonton Oilers for second with one game in hand.
