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.
Los Angeles Kings Projected Lines:
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
St. Louis Blues Projected Lines:
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