There are no lineup changes expected and Cam Talbot is expected to start two straight games for the first time this season.
After a big 5-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Kings are sticking with the, "if it ain't broke, don't change it," mindset going into Thursday against the Minnesota Wild.
There are no lineup changes expected and Cam Talbot is expected to start two straight games for the first time this season.
Ahead of last Saturday's game, Todd McLellan said he wanted Pheonix Copley in so Copley can get into his rhythm and get some games under his belt.
Based on these comments, I was wondering if Copley would get the nod based on the same line of thinking, but Talbot earned his start and gets it on Thursday.
We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves here, but if Talbot has another strong game, it will be interesting to see who starts on Saturday against the Boston Bruins.
The Kings new look nice line dominated on Tuesday and we'll see tonight if that was a flash in the pan or the new normal with Arthur Kaliyev alongside Phil Danault and Trevor Moore.
It's been a strong, 2-1-0 start for the Wild, who have been led by star forward Kirill Kaprizov early on.
Minnesota will be without young forward Matt Boldy and veteran defenseman Matt Goligoski. Opposite Talbot in Minnesota's net will be Talbot's former goalie partner, Marc-Andre Fleury.
Here's a look at the Kings' expected lines:
Forwards:
Quinton Byfield - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Alex Laferriere
Trevor Moore - Phil Danault - 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
Minnesota Wild Expected Lines:
Forwards:
Kirill Kaprizov - Ryan Hartman - Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson - Joel Eriksson Ek - Sammy Walker
Marcus Foligno - Marco Rossi - Frederick Gaudreau
Pat Maroon - Connor Dewar - Brandon Duhaime
Defense:
Jonas Brodin - Calen Addison
Jacob Middleton - Brock Faber
Dakota Mermis - Jon Merrill
Goalies:
Marc-Andre Fleury
Filip Gustavsson
One thing to keep an eye on is how the Kings handle an extremely physical Wild team. The Kings have struggled in the past when games get a little chippy and they can get pushed around a bit.
Rob Blake addressed this in the summer by adding Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andreas Englund, and tonight, we find out if that was enough.
Puck drops at 5:00 PM.