Bruins vs. Kings 2024 PRE-SEASON PREVIEW: Exhibition in Quebec City!

Just the facts

• The time: 7pm EST
• The place: Center Videotron, Quebec City, Quebec
• Place to watch: Streaming on BostonBruins.com, ESPN+, TVAS-2
• Place to listen: 98.5 The Sports Center

Know your enemy

• The Kings had a productive preseason, only losing to Utah early in training camp.
• LA is experiencing a French Canada residency of sorts this preseason; They face the B’s tonight and then the Panthers on Saturday.
• Jack Studnicka was a mainstay for the Kings in the preseason, but only time will tell if he gets a spot on the NHL roster.

Game notes

Bienvenue to Quebec City! Try the cheese curds.

The Bruins and Kings don’t typically see each other in preseason, but the NHL has decided to honor the government capital of French Canada with an east-west duel featuring two teams that would certainly appreciate the road trip to get away now from the constant hand-wringing about their squad at home.

Even though it’s a preseason game, the B’s have to be ready; In fact, the Kings have had a pretty strong run so far, with young talent like Quentin Byfield, Alex Laferriere and Alex Turcotte already meshing well with the Kings’ older talent like Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe and Trevor Lewis. Warren Foegele has also fit perfectly into the squad, which is good; You’ll need him to stay honest.

If the B’s want to stop these Tinseltown tyrants, they’ll most importantly have to counter LA’s net-front offense; This is usually facilitated by extremely strong play from the forwards in search of rebounds or by drawing the opponent’s defense outwards. Based on the games NaturalStatTrick has tracked, it’s clear that they have developed a strategy that works against their Pacific Division opponents.

Grid view

If Boston can deny the Kings those scoring chances and block the try points, they can lose a lot of the control they’ve had over their offense and shift the game more towards the play of the LA defense and goaltending, who are a little more of a question mark than you are maybe think. Aside from a single shutout against Anaheim, most of LA’s wins have come by a single scoring game, and so far only Darcy Kuemper and Carter George, who played half a game against Vegas, have posted a score above .900 SV% in black and Silver.

Additionally, it wouldn’t hurt the B’s to try to take advantage of the power play opportunities presented to them; The Kings are good for around three to four minor penalties per game this preseason. After a game as underwhelming as the one they just played against the Flyers, hopefully the B’s will show that they are more than thugs and blocked shots; You can overtake an opponent in just the same way.

It’s going to be a tough game and the news that there are NHL games back in the QC will probably create a really passionate atmosphere, but Boston can get a good win here if they trust in their abilities and attack the Kings there, where they are weakest.

See you there! Go B’s!