Game Day Preview: Dubois Good to Go & Laferriere Back as Kings Take on Blues

The Los Angeles Kings had a minor scare on Thursday night when Pierre-Luc Dubois crashed into the post and did not return, missing practice on Friday.

But Dubois participated in the team's morning skate and is penciled into the lineup for tonight's game against the St. Louis Blues per Todd McLellan.

McLellan also confirmed that Alex Laferriere would draw back in after not playing on Thursday.

McLellan and Laferriere mentioned the potential benefit of sitting out a game for such a young player. It gave Laferriere a chance to reset mentally and focus on doing what made him successful in his first few games.

Cam Talbot was not on the ice this morning, meaning he's the expected starter on Saturday.

St. Louis is coming off a tough 5-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks, so I expect them to come out with a little extra intensity tonight.

At morning skate, McLellan highlighted the Blues' potency off the rush and their size on defense as keys for this game. 

After breaking their respective point streaks on Thursday, I'd also expect a strong performance from both Adrian Kempe and Quinton Byfield.

Forwards:

Quinton Byfield - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe

Kevin Fiala - Phil Danault - Trevor Moore

Alex Laferriere - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Arthur Kaliyev

Carl Grundstrom - Blake Lizotte - Trevor Lewis

Defense:

Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty

Vladislav Gavrikov - Matt Roy

Andreas Englund - Jordan Spence

Goalies:

Cam Talbot

Pheonix Copley

Forwards:

Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Kasperi Kapanen

Brandon Saad-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Alexey Toropchenko-Kevin Hayes-Jakub Vrana

Sammy Blais-Oskar Sundqvist-Jake Neighbours

Defense:

Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko

Torey Krug-Justin Faulk

Marco Scandella-Scott Perunovich

Goalies:

Jordan Binnington  

Joel Hofer