The Kings are in St Louis, taking on the Blues tonight, as the Kings continue to chase down a playoff spot.
The Kings are visiting St Louis tonight as they take on the Blues. With a win tonight, the Kings would move into the last wildcard spot in the West. The Blues, on the other hand, are currently on a 3-game losing skid, and they are looking to snap that tonight. The Kings are coming off a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers. That was a strong game for the Kings, as they were able to get a lead and not allow the Rangers to crawl back. It was a very strong performance.
Kings Projected Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Kings tonight:
Corey Perry - Alex Laferriere - Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele - Quinton Byfield - Joel Armia
Kevin Fiala - Alex Turcotte - Andrei Kuzmenko
Jeff Malott - Samuel Helenius - Trevor Moore
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin - Cody Ceci
Darcy Kuemper
Anton Forsberg
Blues Projected Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Blues tonight:
Jonatan Berggren - Brayden Schenn - Jimmy Snuggerud
Jake Neighbours - Pavel Buchnevich - Jordan Kyrou
Otto Stenberg - Dalibor Dvorsky - Mathieu Joseph
Alexey Toropchenko - Nick Bjugstad - Robby Fabbri
Philip Broberg - Colton Parayko
Tyler Tucker - Justin Faulk
Cam Fowler - Logan Mailloux
Joel Hofer
Jordan Binnington
Line Changes and Injuries
The Kings will still be without Anze Kopitar, who is out with an upper-body injury. Corey Perry is joining the first line alongside Alex Laferriere and Adrian Kempe. The Blues are missing quite a few guys, including Robert Thomas, who is out with a lower-body injury. The Blues are also without Pius Suter (ankle), Oskar Sundqvist (skate laceration), and Dylan Holloway (ankle). The Kings are electing to start Darcy Kuemper, who will face Joel Hofer.
Key Factors
The Kings played a strong game against the Rangers on Tuesday and should bring that performance into tonight's game against the Blues. The Kings were able to produce offence and also have good defence and goaltending against a strong offensive Rangers team. The Kings have had problems holding a lead, and in the Rangers game, they did so even after the Rangers scored the only goal in the 3rd period. The Blues are in a losing skid and have not had the greatest season this far, and the Kings need to take advantage of that and walk away with 2 points.
The Kings will be looking at their top line tonight, and with Perry getting bumped up, that line can provide the Kings with some strong offence. On the back end, Brandt Clarke has been very good for the Kings this season, not only for his contribution on offence but for how strong he is on defence. Clarke has 3 points in his last 5 games and is a player to watch tonight, especially with the Blues missing some key guys.
Overall, this game feels like a must-win for the Kings. My prediciton for tonight 5-1 Kings win.