The LA Kings host the Minnesota Wild tonight, desperate for a win to avoid 3 straight losses.
The Kings have struggled recently, dropping their last game to the Lightning 5-3, and while the last goal was an empty-netter, they continue to struggle. The Kings have not put together back-to-back wins since December 6th and 8th, when they defeated the Blackhawks and the Mammoth. The Wild, on the other hand, have been one of the best teams in the NHL since trading for Quinn Hughes. The Wild are coming off a 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks and are playing their second game in 2 days tonight.
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 - Zach Bogosian
Jesper Wallstedt
Filip Gustavsson
Line Changes and Injuries
The Kings will be without Trevor Moore tonight due to illness, so Jeff Malott remains in the lineup. The Kings are also seemingly starting Darcy Kuemper in tonight's matchup. For the Wild, they did not hold a morning skate, and with Filip Gustavsson getting the win in Anaheim last night, it seems likely that Jesper Wallstedt will be the starter.
Key Factors
The Wild are averaging 3.12 goals a game, and the Kings are averaging 2.59 goals a game. The Kings are desperate to change that stat. The Kings also need to be much stronger on the power play as they rank 31st in the NHL with 15.7%. On the other hand, the Wild have a power play ranked 9th at 22.6%.
The biggest issue for the Kings this season has been the offence and the lack of scoring throughout the lineup. With them facing the Wild today and on Monday, it will be a challenge to improve the scoring, especially with Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber on the top defensive line.
The Kings have only 1 player above 30 points this season, and that is Adrian Kempe. The Kings also have only 2 players with more than 20 points. Kempe has been his usual self this season and remains a consistent player for the Kings. While the offence has been underwhelming this year, the defence and goaltending have been solid.
The Kings need some of their big players to step up sooner rather than later, and it all starts with Quinton Byfield, who has struggled since the start of December. If he can get going, it may be the spark the Kings need to return to the team they were at the beginning of the season. The Kings are 2 points back of the final wild card spot, and if they keep playing the way they have been, they could miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2020/2021 NHL season.