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The Kings’ plus and minus points from the first warm-up game

The Kings’ plus and minus points from the first warm-up game

The Los Angeles Kings started their preseason training on Monday in Utah with a game in which they lost 3-2 in overtime.

The result doesn't matter and you don't want to draw too much conclusions from a single warm-up game, but there were some outstanding players that we would like to talk about in today's plus and minus post-game article.

Plus points:

Alex Turcotte:

It would be difficult to find a bigger positive than Alex Turcotte in this game. I've said it before and will repeat it throughout the article: we can't make any final judgments based on a single preseason game, but it's really difficult not to be excited about Turcotte's performance.

As the Kings' number one center, Turcotte competed all evening against NHL regulars such as Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse and was more than able to keep up.

Turcotte not only survived against real top-6 talents on Monday, he beat them with flying colors.

He stood out with his dynamism and positioning every time he was on the ice, and grew into the game with his playmaking skills.

Early on, he seemed to throw the puck around a bit and not really try to find a specific pass into the attacking zone, but toward the end of the game he was splitting gaps and passing through layers to lead the way for his teammates.

If he continues to play consistently like this, there is no way he would only play as a fourth liner in the first game.

Eric Portillo:

We know that Erik Portillo is an extremely talented goalie with his size and outstanding athleticism and that he can play at the professional level, but on Monday he showed that he can also hold his own against NHL talent.

I won't pretend to know much about the technical side of goaltending and won't go into his positioning or his rim work in net, but he saved the pucks he should have saved and some he shouldn't have saved, and that's always good.

The two goals he allowed were not his fault, otherwise he locked the door.

He will be an NHL goalie by this time next year, maybe sooner if LA gets a few injuries.

Minus'

Samuel Fagemo:

Yes, that's a bit harsh, and again, you shouldn't expect too much from a single warm-up game. However, Samuel Fagemo was very mediocre in this game.

He hasn't been bad, but as an outsider looking to make the NHL roster, he'll have to excel at every opportunity he gets.

He only really stood out on the Kings' 5-on-3 power play when he was fed one-timers, but he didn't do much at 5-on-5.

In his defense, playing on the same line as Francesco Pinelli and Jeff Malott was not ideal for him. Perhaps if he had replaced Trevor Lewis alongside Turcotte and Akil Thomas, things would have been different. But he will have to excel if he wants to make the NHL roster.

Against Vegas, I'd like to see a Thomas-Turcotte-Fagemo lineup because I still have some faith in Fagemo, but he really needs to turn things around.

The D-core:

Like Fagemo, the Kings' D-core wasn't bad on Monday, but it wasn't particularly good either.

All the issues we knew existed with every player were still there and surfaced at times.

Joel Edmundson, Andreas Englund and Jacob Moverare are all slow and limited when they have the puck on their sticks.

Brandt Clarke is incredibly talented but still needs work physically, in the defensive zone, etc.

It's probably unfair to expect more from these players, as most of them are simply who they are, but if no one stands out, it's not a good sign.

This reinforces my opinion that there is no reason to play Edmundson or Englund instead of Moverare, although Edmundson will certainly get that spot due to his contract.

If/when Edmundson gets injured, the Moverares should be the place.

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