LA Kings at Detroit Red Wings Preview: Projected Lineup, Key Points, and More

The Los Angeles Kings take on Todd McLellan and the Detroit Red Wings tonight in game two of the five-game road trip.

Look Back at the Last Meeting:

These two teams met back in November, with the Kings winning 4-1. Adrian Kempe scored twice while David Rittich stopped 17 of 18 shots.

Key Points against the Detroit Red Wings:

1. The Todd Father

The Kings take on former bench boss Todd McLellan for the first time since he was fired just under a year ago.

After a disapointing start under Derek Lalonde, the Red Wings pivoted to McLellan in a very similar spot to when the Kings did. Both LA in 2019 and Detroit this season were in the midst of a rebuild, looking for a coach to guide them out of this struggling phase. Despite never getting out of the first round, McLellan overall was a good hire for LA, guiding the Kings to a record of 164-130-44, for a winning percentage of .550. Now, Detroit is seeing the benefit of McLellan.

Across his first fifteen games as the Red Wings bench boss, the Wings are 10-4-1, putting themselves right back into the wildcard hunt in the Eastern Conference.

2. Kevin's Coming

Kevin Fiala has looked much better here in the second half of the season for LA, including a two-point night in Columbus. Across Fiala's last five games, the Swiss forward has six points, including nearly doubling his assist total on the season. Something else interesting to look at across this set of games is his increase in shots.

During this five-game hot streak, Fiala has taken 22 shots, giving him an average of 4.4 shots per game across that span. Jim Hiller's message to Fiala was wanting him to shoot more, mentioning Fiala's PDO as a reason for some of his offensive regression.

Look for Kevin Fiala to keep shooting the puck here in Detroit.

3. Success Against Detroit

The Kings have been the better team in this recent battle, winning seven of the last 10 matchups, including a six-game winning streak. For this instance, we will specifically deep dive into the most recent matchup against Detroit and how the Kings can duplicate that performance.

The Kings won that game back in November in every category. A 4-1 win more than doubled the Red Wings shots while out-hitting them and winning more faceoffs. At that stage of the season, it was one of the best games the Kings had played, and it was due to their start.

The Kings struck twice in the opening frame while also outshooting Detroit 15-5. For another win tonight against the Red Wings, look for LA to come out strong in the first.

LA Kings Lineup Notes:

The Kings welcomed back forward Alex Laferriere in Columbus on Saturday, with him skating alongside of Kevin Fiala and Phillip Danault. Here is how the lineup in it's entirety looked:

Look Across the Ice at the Detroit Red Wings:

Detroit is coming off a huge 2-0 shutout victory against Tampa on Saturday. Here is how they lined up for that one.

Offensively, the Wings are led by 2020 draft standout Lucas Raymond. The Swedish-born winger has 52 points across 49 games so far this season.

Coming off his second shutout of the season, look for former King Cam Talbot to get the start. Playing under Todd McLellan once again, Talbot is 13-10-1 with a .906 save percentage and 2.90 goals against average.

The Red Wings are without Patrick Kane and JT Compher, while Vladimir Tarasenko is a game-time decision.

How to Tune In:

Tonight's puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. PST and 7:00 p.m. EST and is available to watch on FanDuel Sports Network West. An audio-only feed is available on the ESPN LA App. Go Kings Go!