The Kings are coming off of a rough loss by the Montreal Canadiens and they look to bounce back against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Kings are coming off a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, a game that summed up the Kings' season and was underwhelming. The Kings held the lead after a go-ahead goal from Alex Laferriere and seemed in control before they had their 3rd-period collapse, and Montreal's Juraj Slafkovsky tied it. Nick Suzuki ended up scoring the game-winner in regulation. The Kings currently sit 3 points back of a playoff spot with 20 games remaining as they get ready to take on the Jackets.
Kings Projected Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Kings:
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
Darcy Kuemper
Anton Forsberg
Blue Jackets Projected Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Jackets tonight:
Mason Marchment - Adam Fantilli - Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson - Sean Monahan - Conor Garland
Cole Sillinger - Charlie Coyle - Mathieu Olivier
Isac Lundestrom - Boone Jenner - Miles Wood
Zach Werenski - Damon Severson
Ivan Provorov - Denton Mateychuk
Dante Fabbro - Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Jet Greaves
Injuries and Line Changes
The Kings have scratched Mathieu Joseph and Jacob Moverare for tonight's matchup. They will be without Joel Armia, who is out with a back injury. For the Blue Jackets, they will be scratching Jake Christiansen, Dmitri Voronkov, Danton Heinen, and Egor Zamula. For the goaltenders tonight, it looks like the Kings will go with Darcy Kuemper, and the Jackets will go with Elvis Merzlikins.
Kuemper is coming off a 23-save loss to the Montreal Canadiens, and he looks to bounce back tonight. For the Blue Jackets, Elvis Merzlikins will likely make the start as he is coming off an 18-save loss against the Utah Mammoth. So both goalies are looking to bounce back tonight.
Key Factors
The Kings need to be more consistent; they are capable of taking a lead but often lose it due to costly mistakes. The Kempe and Panarin duo has helped the Kings' offence immensely, and there are no signs of it slowing down.
Kuemper has been a little lacklustre recently, and in his last 3 games, his save percentage has been between .700 and .900. If he can return to his consistent form from earlier in the season, he will be a major factor in the Kings' playoff push.
The Kings' Blue Jackets game is a big one for both sides, as the teams are in similar standings positions, just in different conferences. Overall, the Kings need to treat this game like a playoff game because they are getting to the point in the season where every loss carries more consequences than earlier in the season.
My prediction for tonight's matchup is a 4-3 Kings win.