Tonight, coach Jim Hiller and the Kings will look to make it back-to-back victories over the Wild, as they once again host Minnesota at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.
For most of the season, the Kings have struggled to find ways to collect wins on home ice. Saturday night was another instance where nothing came easily for the group, yet they came away victorious. LA had one-goal leads four separate times and yet found themselves tied after 60 minutes. They even had a power play in overtime but failed to end it there. Thankfully, for Hiller and his group, they were able to outlast the Wild in the shootout and picked up their first win of 2026.
From all indications, the team is starting to play better hockey on a consistent basis. Although they’re only holding a record of 2-2-0 in their past four starts, it feels a little different than just a few weeks ago. Much of that is due to key players starting to produce, along with timely goals from depth players. When this group has Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala, and Quinton Byfield putting up points, and Jeff Malott and Sammy Helenius scoring timely goals, they become much tougher to beat. Mix in a healthy Darcy Kuemper, and Hiller has a recipe for success most nights.
The biggest question mark heading into tonight is the status of Trevor Moore, who has now missed back-to-back contests with an illness. If the Thousand Oaks native is ready to make his return, the key topic then turns to who Hiller will sit in his place — we’re assuming Malott.
In goal, Kuemper will be looking to settle into a nice rhythm after missing time in late December. The future Olympian will be fighting for playing time when he heads off to represent his country, and how he plays on a nightly basis in the immediate future is sure to have an impact on how much ice time he’ll see in Italy.
Statistically Speaking
— Anze Kopitar is set to play in his 71st, and final, regular-season game against the Wild. No active skater has played more games against Minnesota than Kopitar’s 70, which is also ranks sixth-most all-time in NHL history.
— Byfield is set to skate in his 300th career NHL game on Monday. His plus-40 rating over his 299 career regular-season games is the third-highest among 2020 NHL draftees.
— Corey Perry enters Monday’s game one helper shy of becoming the 28th different active skater to reach the 500-assist mark in their career.
— Brandt Clarke scored the game-deciding goal in his first shootout attempt on Saturday vs. Minnesota. He is the fifth different Kings defenseman to score in a shootout, and the second to tally the game-decider in their first shootout attempt. (The other: Lubomir Visnovsky on Feb. 18, 2007 at ANA).
What You May Have Missed
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Wild
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Laferriere – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Byfield – Moore
Fiala – Turcotte – Kuzmenko
Armia – Helenius – Perry
Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci
Kuemper (unconfirmed)
Forsberg
Likely scratches: (F) Mallott and (D) Moverare
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.
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
Minnesota is coming off a 5-4 loss to Los Angeles on Saturday. Here’s how they lined up in that matchup:
Kaprizov – Yurov – Zuccarello
Johansson – Eriksson Ek – Boldy
Tarasenko – Hartman – Hinostroza
Foligno – Sturm – Trenin
Hughes – Faber
Brodin – Spurgeon
Middleton – Bogosian
Wallstedt
On This Day in Kings History
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