A change of scenery and perhaps a change of fate.
After going down 0-2 in the series, coach DJ Smith and the Kings return home tonight, where they hope to reset and make it an interesting series by finally putting a win on the board. Coming off a heartbreaking — and frustrating — overtime defeat on Tuesday in Colorado, things look eerily similar to how they did for much of the regular season.
In LA’s first 82 games of the campaign, the team often had trouble holding late leads and winning contests in overtime. The same was true two nights ago. LA had a third period lead in Game 2. Then, after tying things up with just over three minutes remaining in regulation, Colorado ultimately won it early in overtime.
That was then. That was there. Now the attention shifts to the Kings’ home ice and local crowd.
For them to pull back into the series and give themselves a fighting chance, they’ll need to score. Artemi Panarin has the Kings lone pair of goals thus far, and the other big names will need to start chipping in some offense. This isn’t to say the group as a whole isn’t playing well. Smith has actually commented about liking what he’s seen from his group. They have been physical and aggressive yet just haven’t been able to put enough pucks past Scott Wedgewood on the other side.
With scoring gone scarce, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see forward Andrei Kuzmenko draw back into the lineup. At this point, having a player with his offensive talent in the press box adds that much more pressure to the guys on the ice. We’ll have to see what Smith is willing to divulge at morning skate before adding him to the projected lineup below. Other than that possible change — and maybe a Taylor Ward sighting — nothing else is expected to shift around in Game 3.
They Said It
COMING SOON, AFTER MORNING SKATE
Statistically Speaking
— How many Stanley Cup Playoff games have the Kings played at their DTLA arena? Well, Thursday night will mark the 64th time they’ve hosted postseason action at Crypto.com Arena. Now you know.
— Artemi Panarin skates into downtown Los Angeles having found the back of the net on the man-advantage in both Games 1 and 2 in Denver. In doing so, Panarin became the eighth different player in Kings history to score a goal in their first two career postseason games with the franchise and just the fourth to do so in the last 25 years, joining Andrei Kuzmenko (2 GP in 2025), Troy Stecher (2 GP in 2022) and Fredrik Modin (2 GP in 2010).
— Panarin is also just the fifth Kings skater to score on the power-play in each of his first two Stanley Cup Playoff games. The others: Dave Taylor (1988), Chris Kontos (1989), Fredrik Modin (2010), and Andrei Kuzmenko (2025).
— The Kings are now winless in five tries against Colorado this season at 0-4-1.
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Avs
Below is how the Kings lined up last time out. If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Panarin – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Byfield – Laferriere
Armia – Laughton – Wright
Malott – Helenius – Joseph *
* possible change coming, see above
Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci
Forsberg (starter)
Kuemper
Likely scratches: (F) Kuzmenko, Turcotte, Ward and (D) Moverare and (G) Copley
Injured Reserve: Fiala (injury status updates here)
How to Watch the Game
Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm Pacific Time and will be televised locally 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
Here is how Colorado lined up for Game 2:
Lehkonen – MacKinnon – Necas
Kelly – Nelson – Nichushkin
Landeskog – Kadri – Roy
Colton – Drury – O’Connor
Makar – Toews
Burns – Manson
Kulak – Malinski
Wedgewood (starter)
Blackwood
On This Day in Kings History
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