The Kings are playing the Wild in Minnesota after defeating them at home 5-4 in a Shootout on Saturday.
The Kings are looking to win back-to-back games against the Wild tonight. The Kings had a very strong performance on Saturday after defeating the Wild 5-4 in a shootout, with Brandt Clarke scoring the winner. If the Kings play as they did on Saturday, they can walk away with a win. The Wild will look to bounce back after that loss, and the Kings will have to be careful, as the Wild are a very strong team capable of strong performances after a loss.
Projected Kings Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Kings tonight:
Alex Laferriere - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele - Quinton Byfield - Joel Armia
Kevin Fiala - Alex Turcotte - Andrei Kuzmenko
Jeff Malott - Samuel Helenius - Corey Perry
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin - Cody Ceci
Darcy Kuemper
Anton Forsberg
Projected Wild Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Wild tonight:
Kirill Kaprizov - Danila Yurov - Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson - Joel Eriksson Ek - Matt Boldy
Vladimir Tarasenko - Ryan Hartman - Vinnie Hinostroza
Marcus Foligno - Nico Sturm - Yakov Trenin
Quinn Hughes - Brock Faber
Jonas Brodin -- Jared Spurgeon
Jake Middleton -- Matt Kierstad
Filip Gustavsson
Jesper Wallstedt
Line Changes and Injuries
The Kings will be without Trevor Moore for the 3rd straight game. The Wild will be without Zach Bogosian, who took a shot to his foot during the game on Saturday. Brock Faber is also expected to play after he did not participate in the morning skate. The goaltending matchup seems to be Gustavsson and Kuemper.
Key Factors
The Kings had a very solid performance on Saturday, and their beating the Wild was a huge win for multiple reasons. The first being that the Wild are a top-5 NHL team, and the Kings needed a win after looking like they were trending toward another losing streak. The other was that the Kings' offence was on fire in that game. Byfield had a 2-point night, and 7 forwards and 1 defenceman all had 1 point, so the entire Kings lineup was playing very well and getting rewarded for it.
Another aspect of Saturday's game that the Kings need to try to replicate tonight is the number of shots they had. They had 38 shots, which shows that their offence was getting pucks to the net and generating chances, which is something they have struggled with throughout the season.
The Kings' defence and goaltending have been solid and reliable all year. If the offence can continue to improve and provide results as they did on Saturday, this Kings team can be competitive enough to make the playoffs. Currently, the Kings are in the last wild card spot in the west, and with a win tonight, they would move into 3rd in the Pacific. My prediction for tonight's matchup is that the Kings win 4-2.