The Kings are in Buffalo, taking on the Sabres as they look to try to win their 4th straight game.
The Kings are coming off a huge win on Tuesday after they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-1. The Kings are currently tied with the San Jose Sharks for the last wild card spot in the West. The Sabres, on the other hand, have been absolutely incredible recently, currently sitting 7th in the NHL. The Kings are capable of beating top teams, as we saw on Tuesday, and they will need to play some of their best hockey tonight if they want to continue their road trip on a high note.
Projected Kings Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Kings tonight:
Corey Perry - Alex Laferriere - Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore - Quinton Byfield - Warren Foegele
Kevin Fiala - Joel Armia - Andrei Kuzmenko
Jeff Malott - Samuel Helenius - Taylor Ward
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin - Cody Ceci
Darcy Kuemper
Anton Forsberg
Projected Sabres Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Sabres tonight:
Zach Benson - Tage Thompson - Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker - Ryan McLeod - Jack Quinn
Josh Doan - Noah Ostlund - Konsta Helenius
Tyson Kozak - Peyton Krebs - Beck Malenstyn
Mattias Samuelsson - Rasmus Dahlin
Bowen Byram - Owen Power
Zach Metsa - Michael Kesselring
Alex Lyon
Colten Ellis
Injuries and Line Changes
The Kings announced that Alex Turcotte is out for the remainder of the road trip. The Kings are still without Kopitar but are hopeful he can return during this road trip. The Kings' lines look the same as they did on Tuesday, with Kuemper the only change, since Forsberg played on Tuesday. For the Sabres, they will be staring Alex Lyon, who is currently on a 9-game win streak and looking for his 10th tonight.
Key Factors
The Kings took a lead against the Red Wings and held it until the end against a very good Red Wings team, which was a pleasant surprise, as that has been a bad habit that the Kings have not been able to shake. The Kings' penalty kill was perfect in that game, going 4/4, which hasn't worked in the Kings' favour in the past. One player who has been playing better recently is Andrei Kuzmenko, who has 2 goals and 1 assist in his last 5 games, and the Kings are hoping that trend continues.
Darcy Kuemper gets the start tonight after Anton Forsberg stopped 27 out of 28 shots faced. The Sabres are rolling with Lyon, who has not lost a game in 2026. The Sabres have been playing their best hockey, and the Kings will have to be strong defensively. The Kings need to keep an eye on Thompson, who has 2 goals in his last 3 games. On the back end, the Kings' forwards will have to be wary of Rasmus Dahlin, who is coming off a 5-point performance, including a hat-trick.