The Los Angeles Kings' season can come to an end Sunday afternoon as they try to avoid the sweep and extend their season.
The Los Angeles Kings are down 3-0 to the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs and will look to avoid a sweep and extend the series to Game 5.
Los Angeles has been in this series for the most part in all three games; the game has been decided by one possession. With the first two games being played in Denver, the Kings lost by just one goal, and Game 3 at LA was a one-goal game until the Avs scored an empty-net goal to seal the deal.
Other than that, the opportunities have been there for the silver and black, but they just haven't been able to capitalize on offense, despite playing great defense led by goaltender Anton Forsberg.
Not only will a win Sunday afternoon extend LA's season, but it will also help extend Anze Kopitar's career, who will likely play his final game if the Avs bring in the brooms.
Start Time and TV Schedule
Who: Los Angeles Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche
When: 1:30 p.m. PT
Where: Crypto.com Arena
Watch: TNT, FanDuel Sports Network West
Kings Projected Lines
Artemi Panarin - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore - Quinton Byfield - Alex Laferriere
Alex Turcotte - Scott Laughton - Jared Wright
Jeff Malott - Samuel Helenius - Taylor Ward
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin - Cody Ceci
Anton Forsberg
Darcy Kuemper
Avalanche Projected Lines
Artturi Lehkonen - Nathan MacKinnon - Martin Necas
Ross Colton- Brock Nelson - Valeri Nichushkin
Gabriel Landeskog - Nazem Kadri - Nicolas Roy
Parker Kelly - Jack Drury - Logan O'Connor
Devon Toews - Cale Makar
Brett Kulak - Sam Malinski
Nick Blankenburg - Brent Burns
Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood
Key Factors
For LA to win this game and force another game in Denver, they need to come out aggressively, as they did in Game 3 at home, and put pressure on the Avs' defense. The Kings have done a good job defending Colorado's power play, holding them to 0-for-9 in all three games of this series, but LA, meanwhile, is 2-for-12, barely capitalizing on its stops.
Everything has come so tough for the Kings, especially scoring against Avs goaltender Scott Wedgewood, who has been a monster under the crease for Colorado with a .923 SV%, saving nearly every shot that Los Angeles throws at him.
Will Anton Forsberg stay hot? The Swedish goaltender had a solid Game 3, but took a bit of a drop off compared to the first two games at Denver, and still made several key saves.
And what kind of changes will we see from the top line for Los Angeles? The top line of Kopitar, Artemi Panarin, and Adrian Kempe takes most of the blame, as they were pretty much nonexistent offensively in Game 3. Panarin does have two goals and two points through three games, but Kempe, who ended the season on a hot streak, hasn't lived up to expectations
With Kopitar likely playing his last NHL game on Sunday afternoon, the motivation should be there for the veteran and the rest of the team to try to extend their season.
Notes and Updates
For the Kings injury report Kevin Fiala (fractured leg) remains out and for the Avs Josh Manson (upper-body) is unlikely to play.
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