Kings Vs Mammoth Game Preview: Kings Playoff Hopes Are In Danger

The Kings are on the second game of their back-to-back; they dropped their first game to the Buffalo Sabres 4-1. The Kings scored the first goal halfway through the first period, but after that, it was all Buffalo, as they scored 4 unanswered goals. The Kings have fallen out of a playoff spot, and with the Predators winning today, they are once again 3 points out. The Mammoth are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, so they will be looking to bounce back. 

Here are the projected lines for the Kings tonight: 

Artemi Panarin - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe

Trevor Moore - Quinton Byfield - Alex Laferriere

Alex Turcotte - Scott Laughton - Joel Armia

Jeff Malott - Samuel Helenius - Mathieu Joseph

Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty

Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke

Brian Dumoulin - Cody Ceci

Darcy Kuemper

Anton Forsberg

Here are the projected lines for the Mammoth tonight: 

Clayton Keller - Nick Schmaltz - Lawson Crouse

JJ Peterka - Logan Cooley - Dylan Guenther

Jack McBain - Barrett Hayton - Michael Carcone

Alexander Kerfoot - Kevin Stenlund - Kailer Yamamoto

Mikhail Sergachev - MacKenzie Weegar

Nate Schmidt - John Marino

Ian Cole - Sean Durzi

Karel Vejmelka

Vitek Vanecek

The Kings did not have a morning skate since they played yesterday. The Kings have scratched Jacob Moverare, Taylor Ward, Jared Wright and are still without Andrei Kuzmenko due to injury. The Mammoth are dressing the same 18 skaters they used in the loss against the Anaheim Ducks. 

The Kings are in must-win mode, with only 13 games left this season. With them currently 3 points back, they need to make up ground, and this game is a great time to start. The Kings need to protect the lead when they have it and stay in the driver's seat. 

The Kings have also allowed 9 goals in their last 3 games, and that needs to change. This team has been solid defensively throughout the season, and they need to get back to that. As with Panarin, the offence has been better, but the Kings need to play better defensively. 

The Kings are likely to start Darcy Kuemper, and the Mammoth are likely to start Karel Vejmelka, so the goaltending matchup is a big one in tonight's matchup. The Kings have been relying on the Panarin-Kempe duo, and while that has been working well, the depth forwards have to start producing for the Kings. 

If the Kings can play stronger defence and get that depth scoring, they can capitalize on more mistakes, and with the Mammoth being a younger team, the Kings can use that to their advantage.

Overall, the Kings need to win this game to stay within a point of the last wildcard spot. My prediction for tonight's matchup is a 3-1 Kings win.