Adversity, every team faces it.
For a team struggling to score goals, the Kings have also been fending off challenges on several other fronts, as well. With several key players still struggling to make an impact, they’ve also seen their power play giving away momentum in games for the majority of the season. Through it all, LA has continued to show they can play defense and keep the puck out of their net.
That fact is about to be tested further, though, as the group will be without star netminder Darcy Kuemper for an extended period of time following a collision in Dallas. He’s out with an upper-body injury, so all eyes turn to Anton Forsberg. Thankfully for him, he’ll be facing a team he’s found previous success against. In six career starts against Florida, Forsberg holds a .929 save percentage and earned one shutout.
As coach Jim Hiller and his group prepare for the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup Champion Panthers — on their home ice, no less — someone will need to step up for LA. During times like these, it often takes a heroic performance by a player to score a couple of goals and get the team a win. Do the Kings have that player right now? Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala are the likely candidates, even though they’ve been the carrying the mail all season as it is.
There are expected to be a myriad of lineup changes tonight, as Quinton Byfield is said to be ready for a return. There was talk of Warren Foegele rejoining that line, forming a trio that had some success last season. Some of the other shuffling is not quite clear at the moment, as there were conflicting reports coming out of morning skate, especially with where Andrei Kuzmenko may slot in.
Phil Danault is not expected to play; he remains sidelined with the flu.
Statistically Speaking
— The Kings aim to split the season series against Florida at one game apiece. Forsberg was in net when the Panthers beat on Nov. 6 at Crypto.com Arena.
— In the Kings’ and Panthers’ last meeting on Nov. 6, Anze Kopitar, Corey Perry and Brad Marchand each scored, marking only the third time in the past 20 years that three players age 37 or older each scored in the same game, per NHL PR.
— Kopitar is set to skate in his 30th, and final, regular-season matchup against the Panthers on Wednesday. No Kings skater has collected more goals (9), assists (18) or points (27) against the Panthers in franchise history than Kopitar.
What You May Have Missed
Let the goalie shuffling begin:
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Panthers
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Laferriere – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Byfield – Foegele
Armia – Turcotte – Moore
Kuzmenko – Helenius – Perry
Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci
Forsberg
Copley
Likely scratches: (F) Danault, Malott and (D) Moverare
Injured Reserve: Kuemper
How to Watch the Game
Puck drop is set for 4:00 pm Pacific Time and will be televised by FanDuel Sports. Additionally, a Kings radio feed is available on the ESPN LA app.
Tony Granato will slide in as color analyst on the TV side for this road trip. Jim Fox is on holiday.
Get to know new Kings play-by-play voice John Kelly by checking out his interview here. He tells some interesting stories about joining the Kings broadcasts and what it was like calling games against them for most of his career.
Across the Ice
Florida is coming off a 5-2 victory over Tampa Bay on Monday. Here’s how they lined up in that matchup:
Luostarinen – Lundell – Reinhart
Verhaeghe – Bennett – Marchand
Samoskevich – Rodrigues – Greer
Gregor – Studnicka – Boqvist
Forsling – Ekblad
Mikkola – Jones
Balinskis – Petry
Bobrovsky
On This Day in Kings History
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