What a wild, wild season. And there’s still more to come!
With eight games remaining on LA’s regular season schedule, the Kings are back in the playoff picture following a thrilling overtime victory last night against St. Louis.
It’s rather remarkable to think about how up and down this season has been for Los Angeles, vacillating at different times between disappointment and optimism. Despite a roller coaster ride over the past six months, coach DJ Smith and company find themselves in a playoff spot — and with a chance to even create some distance from Nashville, who is right on their heels.
Tonight, when the extended homestand continues at Crypto.com Arena, it will be the Predators and Kings in a showdown for postseason positioning. Both clubs are locked in a fight for a wild card spot.
With this game also marking the second half of a rare back-to-back set at home, look for one lineup change. Darcy Kuemper is expected to get the start in net after Anton Forsberg manned the crease last night.
Beyond all the playoff talk, tonight will also serve as an opportunity for the home crowd to recognize and celebrate captain Anze Kopitar. The organization will hold a pre-game ceremony to honor him for becoming the all-time points leader in franchise history. On March 14, Kopitar passed Kings legend Marcel Dionne when he collected his 1,308th career point in New Jersey.
While the early festivities will be a proud moment for the player and organization, it only serves as the appetizer for what’s ahead. The importance of tonight’s game looms large in everyone’s thoughts. Tonight is yet another reminder that Kopitar only has as many games remaining in his career as the Kings give him. To ensure fans get to watch the future Hall of Famer play for an extra few weeks, a win tonight would be a pivotal step in that direction.
Game Day Reading
One of the Kings top five prospects, and their No. 1 hopeful in net, has officially signed with team. He and his brother are headed to AHL Ontario. More here:
Statistically Speaking
— Trevor Moore notched his first career overtime goal last night in the Kings’ 2-1 victory over the Blues. By doing so, he is the first California-born skater to score an overtime goal for a California-based team in NHL history.
— Adrian Kempe scored his team-leading 28th goal of the season last night versus St. Louis, which also marked his 40th career power-play tally. He is the 21st different skater in team history to hit the 40-goal plateau on the man-advantage.
— Brandt Clarke has four points in his last four games vs. Nashville, including a multi-assist effort in the Kings’ last matchup against the Predators on Oct. 25, 2025.
— Artemi Panarin skates into Thursday’s contest fresh off picking up his 50th assist of the year Wednesday night to clinch his eighth 50-assist campaign of his career. In doing so, Panarin became the eighth player born outside of North America with as many, per NHL PR.
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Predators
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Panarin – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Byfield – Laferriere
Armia – Laughton – Wright
Joseph – Turcotte – Ward
Dumoulin – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Anderson – Ceci
Kuemper (starter)
Forsberg
Likely scratches: (F) Helenius, Malott and (D) Moverare
Injured Reserve: Fiala, Kuzmenko (injury status updates here)
How to Watch the Game
Puck drop is set for 7:30 pm Pacific Time and will be televised by FanDuel Sports. Additionally, a Kings radio feed is available on the ESPN LA app.
More on the Kings’ changing TV situation for next season can be found here.
Across the Ice
Nashville is coming off a 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday. Here’s how they lined up in that matchup:
L’Heureux – O’Reilly – Stamkos
Forsberg – Haula – Marchessault
Jost – Wood – Evangelista
Schaefer – Svechkov – Kemell
Skjei – Josi
Hague – Perbix
Wilsby – Barron
Annunen
On This Day in Kings History
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