Nov 5, 2024; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Los Angeles Kings right wing Adrian Kempe (9) skates with the puck against the Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber (7) in the first period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images.ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Wild (37-25-5) is back in action tonight for a game against a Western Conference opponent in the Los Angeles Kings (36-20-9).
The Wild held an optional morning skate on Monday which included defenseman Jonas Brodin. Wild head coach John Hynes said after morning skate that Brodin is listed as day-to-day.
Hynes also said that Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek are progressing off the ice. Some good signs for the Wild.
Minnesota isn't expected to make any changes to its lineup tonight. Filip Gustavsson will start his fourth consecutive game and his eighth in the Wild's last nine games. Hynes did say that there could be a few game-time decisions.
The Wild have two extra players tonight. Forward Brendan Gaunce and defenseman David Jiricek.
Los Angeles is on a five game winning streak and is 5-3-2 in its last ten games. They are 2-0-0 against the Wild this year as well. They have outscored Minnesota 9-2 in those two games.
Former Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper will start tonight. He has been incredible this year and is entering Monday's game with a shutout streak over 150 minutes.
The Kings are not expected to make any changes to their lineup. They will go with the same lineup for the sixth consecutive game.
Here are tonight's lineups (subject to change).
Wild Projected Lines
Matt Boldy - Marco Rossi - Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson - Freddy Gaudreau - Gustav Nyquist
Yakov Trenin - Ryan Hartman - Vinnie Hinostroza
Devin Shore - Brendan Ganuce - Justin Brazeau
Defense:
Jake Middleton - Brock Faber
Declan Chisholm - Jared Spurgeon
Jon Merrill - Zach Bogosian
Starting Goaltender: Filip Gustavsson
Scratched: Brendan Gaunce, David Jiricek
Injured: Kirill Kaprizov (lower), Joel Eriksson Ek (lower), Jonas Brodin (lower), Marcus Foligno (upper).
Kings Projected Lines
Andrei Kuzmenko - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele - Phillip Danault - Trevor Moore
Kevin Fiala - Quinton Byfield - Alex Laferriere
Tanner Jeannot - Samuel Helenius - Alex Turcotte
Defense:
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov - Jordan Spence
Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke
Starting Goaltender: Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Akil Thomas, Jacob Moverare, Kyle Burroughs, Trevor Lewis.
Injured: None