Kings Vs Avalanche Game 1 Preview: Kings Looking To take a Series Lead

The Kings are taking on the Avalanche for their first game of the 2025-26 NHL Playoffs. The Kings have made the playoffs in their past 5 seasons, and the previous 4 have featured them facing the Edmonton Oilers in the first round. But this season is different, as the Kings are taking on the President's Trophy winners. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:00 P.M Eastern time. 

Here are the projected Kings lines for game 1: 

Artemi Panarin - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe

Trevor Moore - Quinton Byfield - Alex Laferriere

Joel Armia - Scott Laughton - Jared Wright

Mathieu Joseph - Samuel Helenius - Jeff Malott

Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty

Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke

Brian Dumoulin - Cody Ceci

Anton Forsberg

Darcy Kuemper

Here are the projected Avalanche lines for game 1: 

Artturi Lehkonen - Nathan MacKinnon - Martin Necas

Parker Kelly - Brock Nelson - Valeri Nichushkin

Gabriel Landeskog - Nazem Kadri - Nicolas Roy

Joel Kiviranta - Jack Drury - Logan O’Connor

Brett Kulak - Cale Makar

Devon Toews - Sam Malinski

Josh Manson - Brent Burns

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scott Wedgewood

The Kings' interim coach said that Malott, Turoctte and Kuzmenko are all available for the first round, but only Malott is expected to play in game 1. For the Avalanche, Kadri, who missed 4 games due to a finger injury, and Manson, who missed 2 games with an undisclosed injury, are both expected to play today. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar also said that he would not reveal lineup decisions, including his starting goaltender.

The Kings have done the hard part by making the playoffs, and now they have to prove they deserve to be there. They face the best team in the NHL. The Kings will have to get all of their players at their best, especially the offensive duo of Panarin and Kempe. 

While today is only game 1, it is still very important for the Kings to set the tone, and if they can steal a game on the road, that could be extremely impactful later in the series. 

While the Avalanche have not released a true starting goaltender, it looks like the Kings will start Anton Forsberg in game 1, and this feels like the right call, as Forsberg has won 4 of his last 5 starts for the Kings. 

Overall, the Kings can flip the series on its head with a win tonight. Game 1 between the Kings and the Avalanche starts at 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time, and the Kings are looking to go up 1-0 after today.