The Kings are in Tampa, taking on the Lightning, looking to snap their 4 Game losing streak.
The Kings remain in the state of Florida as they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. The Kings are in the 2nd half of a back-to-back after losing to the Panthers yesterday, 3-2. Tampa is also coming off a 5-2 loss to the Panthers and is trying to avoid a 3-game losing streak tonight. The Kings are looking for their 3rd win in December as they try to avoid sliding down the Pacific standings.
Projected Kings Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Kings tonight:
Alex Laferriere - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala - Quinton Byfield - Joel Armia
Warren Foegele - Alex Turcotte - Trevor Moore
Andrei Kuzmenko - Jeff Mallott - Corey Perry
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin - Cody Ceci
Anton Forsberg
Pheonix Copley
Projected Lightning Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Lightning tonight:
Jake Guentzel - Anthony Cirelli - Nikita Kucherov
Gage Goncalves - Brayden Point - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Pontus Homberg - Yanni Gourde - Zemgus Girgensons
Curtis Douglas - Nick Paul - Dominic James
J.J. Moser - Darren Raddysh
Ryan McDonagh - Max Crozier
Charle-Edouard D'Astous - Steven Santini
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
Injuries and Line Changes
With the Kings on a back-to-back, the lineup should have very minimal changes. Phillip Danault could return tonight, but no indication has been given that he will. Forsberg will get his second straight start after stopping 26 of 29 shots against Florida. Copley will back him up once again.
The Lightning are without forward Brandon Hagel as he is day-to-day after leaving the game against the Panthers with an injury. Tampa will also be without Erik Cernak (undisclosed), Victor Hedman (elbow) and Emil Lilleberg (undisclosed). The Lightning will start Andrei Vasilevskiy tonight, who returns after an undisclosed injury and has not played since December 2. Tampa also welcomes back Ryan McDonagh after he has missed the last 18 games with an injury.
Key Factors
The Kings need to be stronger overall, especially tonight against Tampa, which has some offensive firepower in Jake Guentzel and Nikita Kucherov. During this losing streak, the Kings' defence has not been particularly bad, but with how good Tampa is offensively, they will have to be extra sharp.
The Kings need other players to help provide offence. As recently as Kempe and Fiala, but the biggest issue is that Quinton Byfield has still not registered a point in December, as the Kings have played 7 games up to this point.
The Kings are desperate for a win, and if they can generate enough offence tonight, that will be their key to success against this Tampa team. If the Kings' superstars can show up tonight, that is what they need to walk out of Tampa with 2 points.